St. Petersburg, Russia

Thursday, August 22, 2013 St. Petersburg, Russia


First day of two days in St. Petersburg. We have signed up for two days of excursions plus an evening at the ballet.

The ship has several excursions that you can sign up for in each port of call (for a price...they are not included in the cruise price). It is a way to see highlights of the different stops of the itinerary.

Our first day's itinerary included a tour of Catherine's Palace, the summer home of the Russian tzars in the town of Pushkin, just outside St. Petersburg.  We also visited a couple of famous churches in St. Petersburg, St. Isaacs and Church of the Spilled Blood.  Before boarding the tour buses we had to go through immigration at the pier. The Russians have strict guidelines which must be followed as to documentation, no smiling, stay orderly, etc. The ship excursion people took care of all visas, etc. for us.

Once aboard the bus we rode for a long time, passing through downtown St. Petersburg. My overall impression is ugly buildings and backed up traffic. Most people live in high rise rather unattractive apartment buildings. St. Petersburg has 5 million inhabitants so it is very congested.

Housing in St. Petersburg

A bit more upscale

  We arrived at the palace and our entry into the building was marked by a small band of uniformed musicians. Once inside we were led about by our guide who provided a running commentary complete with anecdotes about Catherine the Great, her family, and their life. We went through room after room of heavily ornate walls, ceilings, inlayed wood floors, period furniture. One is struck by the opulence of the heads of state in those times. The attached photos will give an idea of this.

Summer Palace of Catherine the Great

Ornate Porcelain

Detail of filagree.  Wood carving with gold leaf.

Great hall-throne room-ballroom.  So glad to see such efficient
multi purposing of space.

Beautiful inlaid floors

More floors

Porcelain heaters.  Coals were placed inside to take the
chill out of the room.

Set up for a simple meal!

Proper dress for affairs of state

Back of palace overlooking gardens

 We took a brief walk about the garden area before heading for lunch. We drove a long way through traffic to a shopping mall with a food court. Not very elegant but a good way to feed a bus full of tourists. We had a Russian pancake, which is somewhat like a crepe with savory or sweet fillings. Pretty tasty really.

Lunch at food court.  We chose fast food over MacDonald's
Burger King, and KFC

Russian pancake.  This crepe like batter was cooked and filled
with your choice of sweet or savory filling.  

St. Petersburg has lots of canals and bridges

 Back to the bus again and off to St. Isaac's church, the largest in St. Petersburg and center of the Russian Orthodox Church in the city. As with all the points of interest, crowds are huge and traffic around the sites is very congested. The church is beautiful and contains an impressive array of paintings and art. The vastness of places like this stretch the imagination.

St. Isaac's Cathedral

Paintings of various saints

We were able to hear our guide through earpieces

Next we went to the Church of thr Savior on Spilled Blood. This is a gorgeous church which is decorated inside with mosaics-not one painting-all mosaics. What a sight.  Words can't describe.  Our reaction: goosebumps of awe.

Church of the Spilled Blood

All art is mosaics - no paintings

 We got back to the ship a little after five which gave time for a brief rest before before heading back out to go to a ballet of excerpts from Swan Lake. A lovely evening of classical ballet and beautiful music executed by talented professionals.

Whew, long day. We were back at the ship at eleven pm, just a few hours before our eight a.m. departure for day two's excursion highlighting The Hermitage Museum! 

Back to ship after the Ballet