St Petersburg, jewel of the Russian north

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So we have finally arrived in St Petersburg (the old Leningrad, but you guys all knew that already), home of the Hermitage and Winter Palace, and the initial driver for our booking this cruise all those many months ago. And it didn’t disappoint.

The locals tell us that St P only gets 60 days of sunshine per year, so given we have just snaffled 5 of them in succession, we almost feel blessed. Mind you that doesn’t mean we have been sunbathing, or swimming in the River Neva, and I guess the closest I can compare it with is a crisp but sunny Canberra winters day - starting the day at around 5 degC but finishing somewhere between 12-15 degC. But you can at least dress for the cold, and our guides tell us that queuing for the Hermitage for over an hour in pouring rain and zero degrees is not a whole lot of fun!

Although to be fair we have only seen a small sample of St P, we have all been very impressed by it. There is not a building over 5 stories high or likely newer that 50 years old in the whole city area, with refurbishing of original facades mandatory. Almost all buildings that are within cooee of the main tourist attractions, and thus likely to be viewed by foreigners have already been tastefully refurbished, on the outside at least. So it could well be confused for a Paris or a Prague or many other similar European cities. There are also a series of canals, which give it a mini-Venice look, but sans gondoliers (too cold?). I thought it was more attractive than Moscow, although the latter has some particularly unique attractions, and in some way seemed to me to have a bit more ‘mystique’ to it, although we are advised that the crime rate in St P leaves Moscow for dead (pardon the pun!).

St Petersburg is very much about the two ‘greats’, Peter I and Catherine II. Our history lessons on the cruise with regards the Romanovs proved useful, as we kept coming across statues, paintings and other momentos to a variety of Peters, Catherines, Nicholases, Alexanders etc. I guess its fair to say that the three major visits were to the Hermitage/Winter Palace, right in the heart of St P; Catherines Palace at Tsarskoe Selo (Pushkin), some 30kms south; and the Summer Palace, on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, some 30km west of St Petersburg, all of which originated from that era.

The first of these is a grand ensemble of buildings, located on the banks of the Neva, which houses one of the world’s great art collections. The museum contains masterpieces of Rembrandt and Picasso, as well as a variety of prehistoric, classical and oriental art. Joan and Joy displayed their cultural superiority to the boys by returning there for a second day, and were not disappointed. Catherine’s Palace was established as a country retreat by Catherine, wife of Peter the Great. It comprises a series of heavily decorated rooms, but without a doubt, the ‘jewel in the crown’ is the famed Amber Room, a room with all panels made from a variety of different coloured amber pieces. This palace was extensively damaged in WWII, and restoration is an ongoing task. The Great Palace at Peterhof, and its accompanying smaller palaces, fountains and landscaped gardens was also commissioned by Peter the Great. He intended the site to resemble, and indeed rival, Versailles in France, and in my view it goes very close.

There were many other interesting attractions in St P itself. Amongst these were the Church on Spilled Blood (not dissimilar in some ways to St Basil’s, but not as well known); St Isaac’s Cathedral, the largest in Russia, which is now a museum with a collection of 19th C art; Peter and Paul Fortress, a magnificent baroque cathedral, which is the burial site for many of the Romanovs; Mariinskiy Theatre, one of the world’s premier venues for opera and ballet; and the famed Nevskiy Prospect, the main streert in the cultural heart of the city, now housing many cafes and chic boutiques as a sign of the new modern Russia.

We even managed to slide in a bit of culture in our short stay here. On our first night, we attended “Swan Lake” at a small theatre just off the Mariinskiy, and then the following night attended an evening of Cossack dancing and singing. While both performances were by local groups, which mightn’t make it to the great stages of the world, they were well presented, and the costumes were great. I even managed in pick up a couple of potential lineout men for the Wallabies while at the ballet, although I’m worried about whether they will stand up to the rigours of the All Blacks et al!

One of the fascinating aspects of Russian life was the tradition of newly weds hiring a stretch (and I mean streeeetch) limo and doing the rounds of the city with all their buddies (and copious wodkas!) to be photographed in various poses at sites that supposedly will bring them good luck. With Russia having about the highest divorce rate in the world, maybe they need it! At times, there was almost a traffic jam of these limos (hands up if you’ve ever seen a stretch pink vintage car or a stretch Hummer) and jostling each other for position, but we saw plenty of Marit Safin and Maria Sharapova lookalikes in these outings, as well as a few James Bond evil-looking types.

So Russia is over and out. A great experience, a clearly developing nation, with the young people leading the way, but still lots to be done. And I really do wish they would smile a bit more, but the ravages of the wars and the transition from Communism seem to have taken a heavy toll. So this arvo, we fly to Budapest, for hopefully some warmer weather and warmer smiles ….

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