ST. PETERSBURG (1)

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St. Petersburg - Day one.

It will be difficult to describe the city of St. Petersburg without the overuse of “awesome”,” beautiful”, “spectacular” and other superlatives. It is a city of contrasts and it is vibrant and busy.
As our tour bus leaves the port we see huge apartment blocks built in the Soviet era. Laundry can be seen hanging in front of the windows and some of the windows are covered with newspaper and plywood. The cement is crumbling and it is a depressing welcome, all the more so since the weather is cloudy and threatens rain. Shortly we see masses of new construction, huge apartment buildings but built with style and faced with brick and stone. We are on Basil Island, the largest of the 42 islands that make up the city.
Planned by Peter the Great, he intended the city to resemble and function like Amsterdam. The swamp was filled in; the islands created and canals the primary means of transport. Now, many of the canals have been filled in but the streets are still wide and straight. Our bus takes us through the older districts where the buildings are 18th century and in remarkable condition. Many of the Soviet era construction is showing wear and tear. We approach the Neva River and Canal and the storied view of St. Petersburg presents. Immense buildings decorated with gold, intricate sculptures and plaster decorations. The Hermitage, the Winter Palace, the National Theater group are resplendent in their decoration. We pass by churches, the domes gleaming with gold and mosaics, one more ornate than the other. There are small plain churches that were closed under the Soviets and are now open and remodeling. Under communism, there were forty churched permitted to operate in St. Petersburg. Now there are over one hundred.
We are heading to Catherine’s Palace. Originally built by Peter, he gave it to his wife Catherine the First. Their daughter, Empress Elizabeth, hired an Italian Architect to expand and remodel the modest mansion into the immense Baroque palace we see today. When Catherine the Great came to the throne, she hired a Scotsman to continue the remodeling in a less ornate style.
The rooms we were allowed in contained paintings of the Tsars and Tsarinas, beautiful inlaid tables and desks of precious woods, giant stoves entirely covered in Dutch blue and white tiles that, for me, clashed with the marble and gilt walls. The floors were parquet using precious woods and in intricate designs. The most elaborate room was the Amber Room containing twenty-six panels of intricate amber mosaics. Originally a gift From King Frederick of Germany, it was looted when the Nazis occupied the Palace during the siege of Leningrad and carried to Germany. The Germans have continued to possess the panels and what is in the palace today are exact duplicates. The siege lasted for over three long years and the Russians never let the Germans enter the city. Over a million citizens of Leningrad died of starvation and disease.
We were unable to explore much of the palace grounds that are spectacular in their own right. Light drizzle was falling as we made our way to the bus.
We enjoyed lunch in a modern hotel and rested our feet. Lunch was salad, mystery meat with gravy, veggies and rice served with a glass of red or white wine and completed with a slice of chocolate cake. Devoured everything but the “meat”.
Next, the Hermitage!

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