It seems that I failed to carefully read the material about this trip when it came to entering Russia. The information it turns out advised you that you must have a visa in order to enter Russia. The only alternative is to sign up for a ship sponsored shore excursion that involves the use of a Russian guide who is with you all the time. So, we signed up for a two day intense tour of St Petersburg that included all the major sites related to St Petersburg’s imperial history. St Petersburg was founded by Peter The Great and was to become the capital of Russia. Moscow later became the capital. During the USSR Communist era, it was renamed Leningrad, but the original name, St Petersburg, was restored after the fall of the Soviet Empire in 1991.
After visiting with the smiley Russian lady at Passport Control, we get our temporary visa and we are off. We take a bus to Peterhof, the town of Palaces, fountains, parks and the most brilliant of all the summer residences of the Russian tsars followed by lunch at a typical Russian restaurant then return to the city to visit the Hermitage Museum.
There is still much evidence of Soviet era housing blocks in St Petersburg. They are not as drab as many of those in Eastern Europe, but they are not very modern. When the communist era ended in 1991, most of the people of St Petersburg were given the opportunity to own what was all state housing under the communist system. However, still today approximately 10% of the people still live in shared communal housing where the family lives in one or two rooms and shares the common living facilities, kitchen and bath with the other families living in the apartment.
The modern toll road leading from St Petersburg to the town of Peterhof.
Above, some of the new homes owned by the newly rich Russian people.
We arrive at Peterhof Palace. This palace was built by Peter the Great as a summer palace about 30 miles southeast of St Petersburg. It sits on the Baltic Sea away from the city.
The first amazing thing about the palace is the golden domes. Not gold paint, real gold coated. It is amazing that the communists did not tear it all down and sell it after the 1914 revolution. However, the first edict issued by the communist officials was to nationalize all the property of the former Romanoff family. The second was to order the preservation of all the palaces in order to turn them into state museums and allow the peasant masses to go through them. It was thought that by seeing how the royalty lived compared to a Russian peasant, it would instill the revolutionary flavor among the masses. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside the palace. Take my word for it, the rooms were unbelievable. Each one more grand than the next. The ceilings were painted with murals very much like Versailles outside Paris. That was no accident because Peter the Great had visited Versailles and wanted a palace that would be just as splendid as the French palace.
Above, the fountains and waterfalls coming down from the palace. There are no pumps for these fountains are all gravity fed. There is a nearby spring that feeds the reservoir. The fountains are turned on at 10:00 a.m. for the day then the spring refills the reservoir overnight. The second photo is the famous statue of Sampson tearing apart a lion. The lion was the symbol of Sweden and it celebrates the Russian victory over Sweden in which Russia annexed from Sweden the territory that today is the country of Finland.
Above, another view of the church. Below, a wide angle view of the palace.
Below, a cascade waterfall and one of the magnificent fountains.
Above, oddly, Peter the Great built the palace, but he actually preferred to stay in this “small” chateau away from the family.
The two photos above were taken when the fountains came on to the sound of the 1812 Overture. Can you hear it in the picture?
Not sure what is advertised on the board above, but the price is in rubles. The operating hours of the restaurant are 11:00am to 1:00am. Below, on the highway back to the city to visit the Hermitage.
We arrive at the Hermitage. The Hermitage is located in Catherine the Great’s Winter Palace. She had a grand art collection that was only available for viewing by her and her guests. It was housed in a room in the palace called the Hermitage. Todays Hermitage takes up the entire Winter Palace and photos are allowed inside. A museum inside a palace, a double treat.
Above, The Hermitage sign in Russian and the smiley Russian guards overseeing everything.
Each room is more spectacular than the next.
Above left, paintings of all the great Russian generals. Below, the throne room containing Catherine’s throne.
Below, an amazing mechanical clock that was a gift to Catherine. All the parts move, the peacock spreads its tail feathers and the animals move.
Above, a view of the Neiva River from the Winter Palace.
Even the doors are a work of art.
Above, a totally erotic painting said to be one of Catherine’s favorites.
Above, a sculpture of a dolphin and a boy depicting a dolphin saving the boy.
Above right, a lapis covered table.
Below, a bride having her wedding photo taken on the stairway of the grand entrance at the Winter Palace/Hermitage.
Above right, our bottle of Russian water cost a lot less than water in the US.
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