St Petersburg

On arrival at St P we were greeted by specialist tourist company DenRus. On walking to the van I started to cross the grass reserve but was told this was a jail able offence so quickly jumped back onto the road. Welcome to Russia. We had a small group of 13 traveling by minibus and our guide Elena was excellent with her knowledge, humour and subtle jibes at the establishment.

Although the day started cool and grey one of our earliest stops was at a shop for a shot of vodka. Initially we were all a little sceptical given it was 9:00 but then I and Robin succumbed –conclusion - it has considerable merit. It certainly helped the male travellers while the ladies shopped.

 

Outside it was hardly noticeable as a shop, more of an advertising hoarding.

Suitably fortified we travelled some 27 kms South to the city of Pushkin and Catherine’s palace. (Catherine 1 the first wife of Peter 1 or Peter the Great.) This was her summer residence and was gradually extended over the next century. The façade is almost 300 m long and internally had numerous rooms….but we would cover it all in 2 hours!!

So at best some highlights. There are many halls and rooms all of which are just spectacular. Clearly cost was never an issue with gold leaf everywhere (including the onion tops in the earlier picture).

This is a dress worn by Catherine – but only once, all her dresses were worn only once, never mind the days of sewing gold thread and the like into the gown. In one of the shops in St P a sign read “value is not measured by cost but the length of time something is used”. On theme in each of the rooms was a wonderfully blue tiled chimney that concealed the heating system.

This bureau was stunning with its detailed inlay.

We then moved onto Peterhof, Peter the Great’s summer residence. (It has more than 30 rooms so is a place rather than a house.) The building is stunning from the outside but our main focus was the garden.

Here there are 174 different fountains and 4 water cascades. There are some that are operated by stepping on a cobble which Peter, by allowing his guests to walk ahead, normally gained huge amusement from. Disappointingly I missed this particular walkway.

The gardens were built to compete with those in Versailles (see August 2012 blog) and with the main canal does have some similarities. In the background is the sea and across the water some 30kms away is Finland.

The gardens were very colourful and included gravel swirls which added to the spectacle.

Here is Sampson (representing Russia) wrestling over the jaws of a lion representing Sweden.

And here is our mob wrestling for the best position in the photo.

The last part of the first day of our tour was a trip to the Metro. The stations are stunning with their statues atop large columns and are immaculate and are referred to as the palaces of the people.

The elevators up and down are also something to behold being about 100 metres long. Stand to the right or get bowled over by those running up the left hand side.

We got back to QV for a quick shower and change and then took off for a performance of the Swan Lake by the Russian ballet. The theatre was fantastic and we had two boxes for the 7 of us that went. The ballet was enjoyable (I am not sure it was their No 1 performers) and the champagne and caviar on the balcony during an intermission made it an unforgettable evening. 

 

The next day we were off half an hour later at 7:30 – a lie in!! Our first port of call was to the Aurora which was launched in 1900 and participated in the 1917 Bolshevik revolution. Aurora apparently refused to carry out an order to put to sea and then fired a blank from her forecastle gun which signalled the start of an assault on the Winter Palace. This began Lenin’s rule and the USSR.

Although part of the maritime museum she is maintained by cadets from the nearby maritime college.

We interrupted our tour briefly for this famous view of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood (more a little later in the blog).

We then boarded a cruise boat for a trip along the river Neva. St P is described as the Venice of the North and has numerous canals and these were the main routes for getting around town. Many have been filled in and replaced by roads. However, Brugge’s claim (see 2012 and earlier blog) to be the Venice of the North is really usurped by St P. Here is the DenRus gang which comprised our mob and two Scots Stuart and Rita.

This view under Trinity Bridge shows the two Rostral columns with the Stock market building between them. They were built in 1805 – 1810 and did serve as lighthouses (the flame from the top is some 10 feet and are lit for special occasions). They also imitate the Roman practice of displaying the prows of captured enemy ships.

We were quietly cruising under the bridge (indeed some were nodding off) when this hydrofoil raced by us waking us up and seriously rocking the boat.

St P was relatively quiet being a Saturday and with many away holidaying. The following day there was to be a Navy celebration and we got caught up in some of the practice activities. There were two ships and a submarine with their crew looking resplendent as the admiral went past.

When we went ashore so did the admiral and his team. Here they are having a chat in front of the Monument for St Peter the Great which was dedicated in 1782. St Isaac’s Cathedral is in the background. 

What was exciting (for some) was when this huddle broke up and passed us the Admiral reached out and shook Robin’s hand. Needless to say Robin then refused to wash his hand for the rest of the trip although we were allowed to kiss it. It is comforting to know that the Russian elite are happy to acknowledge the people.

A different view of the Monument.

We then went to the Hermitage (which comprises four buildings the best known being the Winter Palace). It is difficult to describe this other than that we were overwhelmed. This is hardly surprising bearing in mind there are some 3 million exhibits. The entry starts with some stunning “vases”.

One of our first galleries was dedicated to Monet whom we really enjoy. We had visited his garden west of Paris some years ago and can recall some of the views.

Next door was a gallery for Picasso – not sure that Lynne was all that impressed.

We then moved onto a different level with numerous paintings of Russian generals. It is the sheer number of them and how young they died which was striking.

Then of course there were other Generals, like Wellington.

Inlay work also abounded and this table top caught everyone’s attention.

And a bit of gossip, Catherine the Great liked a little erotic art…

Having seen the Hermitage in 2 hours it was time to move onto the Church of the Savior on Spilt Blood. The outside is readily recognisable but inside has to be seen to be believed. All the walls and ceilings are decorated in mosaics. They shimmer.

Close up the individual tiles can be seen – it would be interesting to know how many were used in the church – we are talking millions.

It is difficult to get a good unobstructed view of the outside from close to the building and hence our earlier stop but here goes...

We then visited the Palace Square which is bounded on one side by the curved General Headquarters and the Winter palace on the other. In the centre is a high granite obelisk called the Alexander column depicting an angel leaning against a cross.

 

Our final visit was to the Peter and Paul Fortress. This is the location of where the first brick was laid in 1703 that started off the city and was built to keep those marauding Swedes away. Unfortunately it then was used in a similar way to the Tower of London and used to imprison 'politically harmful" people.

The inside has a wonderful gate and dome. It also houses numerous tombs of the Tsars as well Peter and Catherine.

Undertaking a tour of St Petersburg in 2 days was both stimulating and tiring. The city’s treasures are immense and certainly worth the visit. One measure is that I took over 400 photographs and have culled very few.  I must also give a plug for DenRus who managed the tour well, ensuring we visited at different times to the cruise tours and only caught glimpses of the melee of these larger tours.  

 

The other item I should mention is that we had two great lunches during the trip. Both came with wine but on the second day unfortunately Lynne and I wore a few glasses of red down our back when the waiter tilted his tray too far. Result: he was quite upset, nearly all our team thought it was hilarious and those affected at least came away with a free St Petersburg T shirt!