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This morning we had an early wake-up call, as the ship docked at the port in St. Petersburg, Russia. The shore excursion this day, under blue skies and mild temperatures, was expected to be challenging--lots of stairs, walking and crowded tourist venues. It turned out to be even more grueling than expected, and by the time we limped back to board the ship at 5 o'clock, we were virtual zombies.
The city of St. Petersburg (pop. 5.2 million) has a rich and glorious history going back to Peter the Great (1689-1725), whose vision it was to turn the city into an imperial capital. He was largely successful in doing so, and thus commenced the 300-year reign of the Romanov dynasty.
After passing through the Russian passport control at the dock, we boarded our tour bus, then headed for the Winter Palace. Magnificently located on the bank of the Neva River, this Baroque-style palace is perhaps St. Petersburg's most impressive attraction. Many visitors also know it as the main building of the Hermitage Museum, which ranks with the Louvre (Paris) and Prado (Madrid) in terms of the vastness and quality of its holdings.
Our tour guide (Ludmilla), a native
of St. Petersburg with a wealth of knowledge (and a charming personality), led us among throngs of other tour groups into the Winter Palace at a special entrance on the river side of the massive building. Even though we were entering at a time before the museum opened to the general public, we felt as if we were in a herd of cattle, squeezing our way through the various palace and museum rooms.
The marble staircases in the Winter Palace, which was the czar's official residence, are stunning. The so-called Ambassador's Stairs were built by Italian architects between 1754 and 1762, in Elizabethan Baroque style, with stairs that rise only a few inches at a time. The marble stairs, gilded decorations covering the walls and the alabaster statues create quite a sumptuous setting. One can easily imagine how visitors of that era were impressed and humbled by the power and glory of the Romanov dynasty as they entered this palace.
After walking (and shoving) our way through some of the elegantly appointed rooms, such as Peter the Great's throne room, the War Gallery of 1812, and the Pavilion Hall (with its fantastical Peacock Clock purchased by Catherine the
Great), our guide led us into the Hermitage Museum section of the palace. Since the museum's collections are so extensive, we concentrated first on the Italian masters, including works by Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Raphael and Michelangelo; then into an area where the paintings of Rembrandt and other Dutch masters are on display.
Our visit to the palace and museum lasted about 2 hours, after which the bus drove us to our lunch venue, a glitzy restaurant on the top floor of an upscale, multi-level shopping complex that appeared to be brand new. After lunch we walked for several blocks until we reached the Church on Spilled Blood, so named because it was built on the site where Czar Alexander II was assassinated in 1881. Although we did not visit the interior, it's the multi-colored, gilded onion domes for which this church is so famous.
One of the biggest churches in the world, St. Isaac's Cathedral, was our next destination. With its brilliant, gold dome visible from many parts of the city, it has been run as a museum since Soviet times, with church services held only in a side chapel. The gigantic scale of this church becomes
apparent when you view the massive granite columns and stonework, both inside and outside. The interior embellishments, mosaics, and religious iconography complement the majestic character of this cavernous space.
By this point, after 6 hours of walking, climbing stairs, jostling among crowds, hopping on and off the bus, etc., Dee and I were pretty much done for the day. After a stop for souvenir shopping at a huge retail outlet crammed to the rafters with mostly junk, both of us started to nod off during the ride back to the ship. Somehow we managed to shuffle our way up the gangplank, had a few drinks, ate dinner and then hit the sack. Tomorrow morning we'll arrive in Helsinki, Finland, but we've decided to cancel the brief shore excursion we had booked, opting instead for a day of R&R.
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Jeni
non-member comment
No Collusion!?
I’m exhausted reading all you covered and I got dizzy looking down from the lunch spot. The church of spilled blood architecture is impressive. Happy to hear that you are going to have more R&R today and I hope lots more cocktails! ?