Thursday, August 22, 201
This was a big day. One of our primary reasons for taking this particular cruise was to visit the city of St. Petersburg, Russia and more specifically go to the Hermitage Museum. This huge museum, consisting of six historic buildings, holds three million pieces of art and artifacts, including the largest collection of paintings in the world. Obviously, not all items are displayed at one time. The bulk are kept in storage facilities. The museum.was founded by Catherine the Great in 1764 and has been opened to the public since 1852. For years it was her personal, private collection. The museum got its name from her saying she liked to spend time with her art collection alone as though she were a hermit.
Obviously you can only see a representative sample in two to three hours. Our guide has a "Top 30" so we gratefully followed her to and fro, seeing a lot but contemplating little. There just isn't time to stop and really take in what is being seen. Aside from that, it was a thrill to be there and see what we did see.
A note about the guide. She was outfitted with a microphone attached to a wireless transmitter. Each of us had an earpiece and we were surprised at how clearly we could hear her, even in a busy, loud environment.
Highlights of what we saw were the French Impressionists rooms, two paintings by Leonardo de Vinci (there are only twelve in existence, the Mona Lisa being the most famous), a fantastic gold peacock clock with multiple moving parts...it's hard to narrow it down.
The visit was over all too soon and alas, we had to leave. We had gotten to the museum for an early entry, an hour before usual hours, that the cruise ships seem to have engineered. When we left the place was mobbed. We, surprisingly, were able to get around with what seemed like minimal crowds. This was truly a memorable experience.
After another food court lunch we headed by bus to Peterhof, the summer residence of Peter the Great. The highlight here was the impressive and grand gardens and fountains. As you will see in the photos, there are plentiful and elegant fountains, all fed by natural water without the use of pumps.
After spending about an hour there we went back to the city via hydrofoil, were picked up by our bus and transported to the ship. One last pass through immigration and we were on the ship and on the way to Talllin, Estonia, our next stop on this amazing itinerary.
This was a big day. One of our primary reasons for taking this particular cruise was to visit the city of St. Petersburg, Russia and more specifically go to the Hermitage Museum. This huge museum, consisting of six historic buildings, holds three million pieces of art and artifacts, including the largest collection of paintings in the world. Obviously, not all items are displayed at one time. The bulk are kept in storage facilities. The museum.was founded by Catherine the Great in 1764 and has been opened to the public since 1852. For years it was her personal, private collection. The museum got its name from her saying she liked to spend time with her art collection alone as though she were a hermit.
Obviously you can only see a representative sample in two to three hours. Our guide has a "Top 30" so we gratefully followed her to and fro, seeing a lot but contemplating little. There just isn't time to stop and really take in what is being seen. Aside from that, it was a thrill to be there and see what we did see.
A note about the guide. She was outfitted with a microphone attached to a wireless transmitter. Each of us had an earpiece and we were surprised at how clearly we could hear her, even in a busy, loud environment.
Highlights of what we saw were the French Impressionists rooms, two paintings by Leonardo de Vinci (there are only twelve in existence, the Mona Lisa being the most famous), a fantastic gold peacock clock with multiple moving parts...it's hard to narrow it down.
The visit was over all too soon and alas, we had to leave. We had gotten to the museum for an early entry, an hour before usual hours, that the cruise ships seem to have engineered. When we left the place was mobbed. We, surprisingly, were able to get around with what seemed like minimal crowds. This was truly a memorable experience.
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| Up the steps into the Hermitage |
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| Monet |
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| Van Gogh |
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| Picasso |
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| Incredible inlaid floors |
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| Somebody's throne |
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| More amazing floors |
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| People lined up to enter museum |
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| Gold peacock moving clock |
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| Crowds lined up at Leonardo da Vinci's paintings |
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| Da Vinci |
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| Da Vinci |
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| Add caption |
After spending about an hour there we went back to the city via hydrofoil, were picked up by our bus and transported to the ship. One last pass through immigration and we were on the ship and on the way to Talllin, Estonia, our next stop on this amazing itinerary.
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| Very upscale mall |
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| The written language is something else |
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| New apartment construction in suburbs |
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| Fountains at summer residence of Peter the Great |
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| President Putin's St Petersburg palace |
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