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Published: November 27th 2012
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Monday, September 6th--Saint Petersburg, Russia
From the meeting with Polina we learned that there was a free shuttle bus that operated every half hour from the ship to the subway. She had given us the prices for the optional tours to be available on Monday and we thought they were very expensive. We had also had it with being herded around the previous day with 10 minutes stops not giving you enough time to see things. Anyway, we felt we could maneuver on our own for the day. We wanted to go out to Peterhof and view the gardens and fountains of Peter the Great with plenty of time to walk around and stop when and where we wanted to. The palace itself was closed on Mondays, so we only got to tour/walk the extensive gardens.
We caught the bus to the metro with no problem and then rode the subway to a stop several blocks from the Hermitage. The subway is deep in the ground judging by the fact that you first went down one of the longest escalators I have ever been on. Longer than any in Atlanta or London. Even that wasn’t deep enough as
you then had to take a few steps on a platform and then get on another escalator. The subway cars themselves were old and rusty and the station’s doors completely closed such that you can’t in any way get close to the tracks. They were solid metal doors, which made it really hard to see the names of the upcoming station let alone recognize it in the Cyrillic alphabet. We got there by just counting the stops made to the exit we had planned to use, and then by walking up a very upscale street to the Hermitage.
In front of the Hermitage, was docked several hydrofoils that took you out for about a half hour ride toward the Baltic Sea on the Neva River to Peterhof. Peter the Great opened Russia up to Europe and built the first fleet of ships. His palace was built close to his port. I am not even going to try and explain the fountains as they are more than anything we have ever seen. Valerie’s pictures and short videos provide just a little glimpse of the gardens.
One thing you will see there, but may not understand, is that the
gardens had many, many “joke” kind of fountain places—you would sit on a bench to admire a lovely fountain—like a metal tree made into a fountain with separate metal flowers circling it-- and then you would be surprised by a spray from behind the bench soaking you. On both sides of a main path were hidden water spouts that would spray anyone that was in the path every so often. Can you imagine a carriage carrying well dressed folks to the palace getting sprayed with water? You will see a man running from the spray in one of Valerie’s shots. Also there was a small fountain that had a dog chasing four quacking ducks going round and round.
Much of these gardens were destroyed during World War II when the Germans occupied the area and bombed the place. It has since been restored and re-gilded. No pumps were-are used. All fountains—and there are hundreds++ all these spouts –were “powered” by natural springs and water pressure only.
After spending 2.5 hours wandering the park and taking the ride back, we walked around the town, had a little lunch and then made our way
back to the ship. That evening we had the presentation of the captain and crew with champagne and toasts and then got our cruise underway slipping under the Big Obukhovsky Bridge, which is a double span cable stayed bridge.
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