St. Petersburg

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Hello everyone,

St. Petersburg is fabulous. The Hermitage Museum is the biggest tourist attraction. It was built in 1764 and was originally used as the winter palace. Catherine the Great lived there alone in the original 330 rooms. Although she didn't lack "company" she referred to her solitary existence as living like a hermit, hence the term Hermitage. Different Czars added on to the winter palace until it reached 1,100 rooms. If you visited each of the three million exhibits, you would walk 24 kilometres! The ballrooms could accommodate 5,000 dancing couples. We would later see the tack for Catherine's horse that was decorated with 1,000 diamonds. The cover on a family bible was encrusted with 3,000 diamonds. No wonder the citizens got cranky.

We also visited Peterhof, the summer palace of Peter the Great. He was more than 6'6" tall, but suffered from agoraphobia so the ceilings in his castles were low.

During WWII, St. Petersburg withstood 900 days of bombing. The Hermitage was not damaged because the Germans thought the city would fall easily and they wanted the goodies that were stored in the Hermitage.

We learned that during the 900 winter of 1941-42 German forces blocked supply lines thinking that the citizens of St. Petersburg would have to surrender. They never gave up. One in three died from starvation, disease and cold.

During one of the tours, one of the passengers asked the tour guide how she could talk about these people--"weren't they really awful?" She replied, "we Russians love our buildings and our history. It doesn't mean that we admire the people who built the buildings."


Bye for now,
äîííà

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Photos

1
Smolny Cathedral and Nunnery. Catherine the Great really liked blue. This is the actual shade of blue.

2
Emblem Hall at Hermitage. Room of gold columns. 20 km. of gold leaf used.

3
The grand staircase at Hermitage. Made of white marble.

4
The throne room at Hermitage.

5
Amazing chandellier and ceiling in ballroom at Hermitage.

7
The original palace was also filled with marble statues, urns, etc. This wasn't the biggest!

8
Outside of the Hermitage--one small part of it.

9
In 1985 a nut walked into the Hermitage with a water bottle that held acid. He threw it at this Rembrandt and destroyed 70%. It took 17 years to restore.

10
The square in front of Hermitage.

11
Peterhof was summer palace of Peter the Great--one hour out of St. Petersburg. These are the grounds.

12
These fountains are run completely by gravity--no pumps.

13
There are 170 fountains and 50 statues--most covered in gold leaf. Many damaged during WWII--still being restored.

Comments

[Selma]

This is Waterfront Festival Weekend
The photos are great and your not looking too bad yourself travelling lady. Selma

[gary]

love these pictures,
thanks for including so many pictures with your excellent commentary. darren and i are travelling through your eyes. how kewl is that!