Czars and Czarina's
Trip Start
Jul 02, 2008
1
20
31
Trip End
Jul 25, 2008
St. Petersburg,
Russian Federation
Saturday, July 19, 2008
A big day ahead of us, and I mean BIG! We have booked our most expensive tour of the trip for today. An eight hour excursion to see Catherine's Palace and The Hermitage, with lunch included. After a quick breakfast, we met and were ushered off and onto busses once again. The drive today took us out of the city and to Pushkin, the small village outside the city where the nobility built another set of palaces for the summer. The drive took us from the old part of the city, to the burbs first, where you could see the remains of the massive public works under the Communist government. Large, impressive structures meant to awe and inspire, show strength and superiority. We followed a long boulevard, listening to our expert guide regale us with Russian History and quickly point out the buildings and monuments as we sped by. If you blinked, you missed it
We head towards the Palace!
. I am sure most of the bus missed most of it, by the time she mentioned something, we were usually just abreast of it and they were still looking or thinking it was the last thing she mentioned. Again, a benefit of being younger and going on one of these tours, you can keep up most of the time. Soon we were in the charming village of Pushkin, home of Catherine's Palace, and off the bus with our radio headphones on so our guide could talk to us, she would not have to yell, we could hear, and a certain amount of dignity for all was had by keeping it quiet.The palace is stunning. Just what you would think it would look like from the photo's. Large and imposing, stretching on in both directions, and then curing back to create a massive courtyard. A band played Dr. Zhivago as we walked up, and we got our stickers if we paid the extra 5$ to take photo's inside the Palace. There was another cruise ship tour there as well (the M.S. Rotterdam and the Celebrity Celebration had docked next to us the night before) but we were able to get right in ahead of them. And thank God we did, by the time we had gone through about 5 rooms, I looked out the window and the line to get in stretched a good 500 or 600 feet! The inside of the palace is nothing short of spectacular. I won't go on and on about it, but will share a few photo's and we can look through the book together next time you visit us when we are home
Outside the Palace!
. Interestingly, it is a reconstruction. After the Nazi's had left, the palace had been looted, burned and what was left had fallen in to great disrepair. Much of the art and such had been hidden, stored other places, some of it even taken home by the curators to protect it form the invading Germans, but the building it's self had suffered greatly. The restoration work is amazing though, and it looks much as it had when the Czars and Czarinas had lived there, right down to the Amber room. It is visually stunning, and over whelming as well. Our tour lasted several hours, during which I shot photo's and the guide talked non stop, going from room to room fairly quickly. You could spend a whole day or two here, examining each space, but we only had until 11:30, and had not arrived until just before 9. And there were the gardens to see too!I love gardens, and they were lovely. Long rows of hedges separating the various spaces, large Romanesque statues, out buildings, the English garden and so on. Again, over whelming. But the sun was warm, the sky blue, and the day wonderful! (we'd lucked out with two stunning days in St. Petersburg weather wise!)
Then it was off to lunch, which was lovely. And a nice beer, glass of wine and some folk music
Michael with his ear pieces on!
. It was fun, and I even got dragged up on stage to dance with one of the performers. She was surprised when she indicated I should kick ala Russian style, and I was able to kick quick high! See what a beer and a glass or two of wine can do for you. Michael tried to take pictures with my camera, but it is set on a high pixel setting and takes a few minutes to get set, so he missed it. I have the memories though, and it was fun. I went on the terrace afterwards to catch my breath and enjoy the view of the lovely little garden below.Back on the bus we headed back into the city, and the Hermitage. None of us really remembers the trip, except maybe Bob. I went right to sleep, as did Michael and Carol said she was just closing her eyes, but I saw her head bob at least once!
We arrived at the Hermitage, and it was a madhouse. Tons of people in the entry hall, tons of languages, but our guide was able to get us in and up the steps to the beginning of the tour. First off is the statue of Justice, which they say everyone stops to take a picture of and holds things up since it is on the steps. There was no one on the steps except us, and most of the group walked by so I was able to get a clear picture of her! Then we were off into the collections of European art...
Carol acts as tour guide!
. Wow! I want to come back just to spend days in the Hermitage. There is so much to see. And we saw a fraction of it, and quickly at that! Our guide talked non stop, and it wasn't just B.S., she was truly knowledgable, and spoke not only of the artists and their work, but painting strokes and composition. She was a gem. After an hour and a half of the classic European collection, we headed into the modern art area... which was stunning. I could go on and on again, but there was so much I don't know where to begin or what to say. It is said if you spent 2 seconds with each piece of art in the Hermitage, it would take two years non stop to see everything! Like I said, I want to come back (in the winter when it cold, and no one is here) to spend a few days just roaming the exhibits. We never even saw the ancient Roman, Greek or Egyptian collections, and maybe saw 1% of the European and Modern collections. There is a lot to see. On a funny note, we were in a room viewing the European collection, and it was stuffy and warm... and I caught one of the matrons almost dozing off. No, she really was nodding off. I cannot blame her, I would have as well (each room had at least one or two of these women keeping an eye on people, and making sure you had a sticker on your camera indicating you paid to take photo's). Anyway, I was about to take her photo when she woke up.
Inside the guilded room
Understandably she shook her finger at me saying no, no, and I showed her the camera indicating I had not taken her picture. Even with the language barrier, we both laughed about it and knew what the other was saying.Soon we were back on the bus and headed back to the ship. It had been a full and lovely day, leaving me with a strong desire to return to Russia, and St. Petersburg. Fortunately Irene and Baron are moving to Moscow later this year, and we owe them a visit.
Sail out was amazing. The channel the ship sails out is narrow and dredges by the Soviets, so we had quite a wake as the ship moved thorough the waters. washing over the low sides of the channel. At one of the islands, we saw subs docked and I got a photo. Bob mentioned at dinner he had been upset to see them, but not get a photo. Fortunate for him I will be making copies of all my pics for him and Carol. Soon we were in the open sea, and it was another formal night.
I will confess that I like the formal nights, I just wish the food was as good as we looked. Ah well, after wards Michael and I gamed a bit, then headed for a spin on deck and a photo of the midnight sunset. Then off to bed, tomorrow is Helsinki, and Michael and I will be on our own for the day since Carol and Bob have arranged a tour!
