What was expected to be the highlight of our trip certainly was (as was the physical toll – we lost another hour traveling from Helsinki and are now 11 hours off PST (Cali time). By the time we finished with St. Petersburg we had gone three consecutive evenings with less than six hours sleep but it was certainly worth it.
We docked at 7:00 a.m. and the first ordeal was to clear Russian immigration. There was not a cruise terminal per se (although we were told one was under construction) so our docking point was in the middle of a freight shipyard with crates and heavy machinery surrounding us; not very picturesque but gave you a slice of what real Russian life was all about. The entrance to our docking point was lined with run down military ships of the old Soviet Navy, some half submerged. It must have been true that the government spent all their resources on military endeavors at the expense of the common people. Some things in there culture have changed drastically since the break-up of the former Soviet Union and some things have not (like militaristic presence everywhere and a general mistrust of foreigners). After about 45 minutes of queuing we cleared immigration and boarded our tour bus for the first of two complete days of guided sightseeing. Our first stop took about an hours drive outside of St. Petersburg itself and was to Peterhof, former summer residence of the Russian tsars. The building inside was covered in brilliant paintings and tapestries as well as incredible grand rooms where receptions and gatherings were held by the old aristocracy. As impressive as the inside was the outside grounds were unbelievable, over 150 fountains and numerous private gardens adorned with statues and cascades. Some of the pictures taken from the exterior of the Grand Palace are overlooking the “Grand Cascade” which has the largest fountain ensemble in the world (you’ll be able to identify it quite easily)!
We boarded the bus and headed back into St. Petersburg itself for a traditional Russian lunch. Suffice to say we were VERY hungry when we got back to the ship! The picture from the first days lunch was of a sort of pancake adorned with sour cream and fish eggs (I tasted them, Jo did not). Lunch came with vodka which smelled like jet fuel, most folks in our group didn’t drink the vodka but gave their ration to another group who thought it would be great fun to see how much they could consume; we didn’t see them again after lunch.
We then went on an hour long canal-river cruise to take in the sights of St. Petersburg from water. The weather on the first day of the tour was fabulous, about 70 degrees with bright sun. Our guide said that St. Petersburg gets about 40 days of sunshine a year and we were lucky enough to experience one of them…as you read on our luck wouldn’t last!
You could tell this to be true as just about everywhere we went people were laying about sunbathing. Natasha (our guide) summed up the weather situation in St. Petersburg with the saying: “we have nine months of expectations and three months of disappointment”.
The canal-river tour was neat and a little boy stood over the first bridge we passed under waving wildly (the lad in the orange shirt in the pictures), we thought how odd. He then ran from bridge to bridge over the entire hour, some were pretty long distances but he made it to each one. Our entire tour covered several miles of canals through very crowded city streets and he didn’t miss a one of the bridges. After the tour he met us at the pier and everyone gave him a Euro or two, he must have made over $100 total from the entire group…enterprising and entertaining!
We ended the sightseeing portion of our day by taking in Nevsky Prospect, Russia’s most famous street for its magnificent palaces and shops. We saw many wedding parties out in the streets as it’s customary to travel around the city for photo stops in full wedding attire at the various sights. In this general area we walked to Decembrists Square where the Peter the Great equestrian statue is located.
Our tour ended about 4:00 on day one and we headed back to the ship to grab a much needed bite to eat and get changed for an evening of Russian ballet. We went to the State Opera and Ballet Theatre of St. Petersburg Conservatoire where we got to see a performance of Swan Lake complete with a full orchestra. It was very nice but the theatre itself was very warm (they don’t have and really don’t need central AC) and we were very tired so the three hour performance was a bit much. Mom & I made it back to the ship around midnight and headed to bed in preparation for day two of our sightseeing excursion which was to begin at 7:00 sharp.
Musical vibe for the Chapter: David Bowie: “Sound & Vision”
Towel Fun: Pigeon
We docked at 7:00 a.m. and the first ordeal was to clear Russian immigration. There was not a cruise terminal per se (although we were told one was under construction) so our docking point was in the middle of a freight shipyard with crates and heavy machinery surrounding us; not very picturesque but gave you a slice of what real Russian life was all about. The entrance to our docking point was lined with run down military ships of the old Soviet Navy, some half submerged. It must have been true that the government spent all their resources on military endeavors at the expense of the common people. Some things in there culture have changed drastically since the break-up of the former Soviet Union and some things have not (like militaristic presence everywhere and a general mistrust of foreigners). After about 45 minutes of queuing we cleared immigration and boarded our tour bus for the first of two complete days of guided sightseeing. Our first stop took about an hours drive outside of St. Petersburg itself and was to Peterhof, former summer residence of the Russian tsars. The building inside was covered in brilliant paintings and tapestries as well as incredible grand rooms where receptions and gatherings were held by the old aristocracy. As impressive as the inside was the outside grounds were unbelievable, over 150 fountains and numerous private gardens adorned with statues and cascades. Some of the pictures taken from the exterior of the Grand Palace are overlooking the “Grand Cascade” which has the largest fountain ensemble in the world (you’ll be able to identify it quite easily)!
We boarded the bus and headed back into St. Petersburg itself for a traditional Russian lunch. Suffice to say we were VERY hungry when we got back to the ship! The picture from the first days lunch was of a sort of pancake adorned with sour cream and fish eggs (I tasted them, Jo did not). Lunch came with vodka which smelled like jet fuel, most folks in our group didn’t drink the vodka but gave their ration to another group who thought it would be great fun to see how much they could consume; we didn’t see them again after lunch.
We then went on an hour long canal-river cruise to take in the sights of St. Petersburg from water. The weather on the first day of the tour was fabulous, about 70 degrees with bright sun. Our guide said that St. Petersburg gets about 40 days of sunshine a year and we were lucky enough to experience one of them…as you read on our luck wouldn’t last!
You could tell this to be true as just about everywhere we went people were laying about sunbathing. Natasha (our guide) summed up the weather situation in St. Petersburg with the saying: “we have nine months of expectations and three months of disappointment”.
The canal-river tour was neat and a little boy stood over the first bridge we passed under waving wildly (the lad in the orange shirt in the pictures), we thought how odd. He then ran from bridge to bridge over the entire hour, some were pretty long distances but he made it to each one. Our entire tour covered several miles of canals through very crowded city streets and he didn’t miss a one of the bridges. After the tour he met us at the pier and everyone gave him a Euro or two, he must have made over $100 total from the entire group…enterprising and entertaining!
We ended the sightseeing portion of our day by taking in Nevsky Prospect, Russia’s most famous street for its magnificent palaces and shops. We saw many wedding parties out in the streets as it’s customary to travel around the city for photo stops in full wedding attire at the various sights. In this general area we walked to Decembrists Square where the Peter the Great equestrian statue is located.
Our tour ended about 4:00 on day one and we headed back to the ship to grab a much needed bite to eat and get changed for an evening of Russian ballet. We went to the State Opera and Ballet Theatre of St. Petersburg Conservatoire where we got to see a performance of Swan Lake complete with a full orchestra. It was very nice but the theatre itself was very warm (they don’t have and really don’t need central AC) and we were very tired so the three hour performance was a bit much. Mom & I made it back to the ship around midnight and headed to bed in preparation for day two of our sightseeing excursion which was to begin at 7:00 sharp.
Musical vibe for the Chapter: David Bowie: “Sound & Vision”
Towel Fun: Pigeon
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