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Published: October 26th 2010
Up at 7, breakfast, bus. The bus takes us along Nevsky Prospect, which is the main and most famous street of St. Petersburg. Galina points out significant sites along the way. As you draw near to the waterfront, each building becomes an architectural masterpiece of its own, usually a variation on the typical St. Petersburg motif of a square building with one predominant pastel shade (yellow, orange, green, peach, etc.), high windows decorated with elaborate lintels, and one or more main doors with archways. The bus turns along the waterfront of the Neva River and proceeds pass magnificent squares and palaces, including the Winter Palace (Hermitage) and the Bronze Horseman (Peter the Great) proudly guarding the city.
Our first photo stop is Resurrection Church, aka Church of the Spilled Blood. It commemorates the assassination on this point of Tsar Alexander II, killed by a revolutionist's bomb. This church is in the crazy cupola style so often seen in Moscow, with cupolas decorated in fantastical colours and patterns.
The bus then takes us across the river to Vasilyesky Island, which boasts the famous Rostal columns, celebrating the city's sea victories. We cross another bridge that takes us to the far north bank of the Neva. We stop at a souvenir shop offering exquisite products with prices to match. Then we enter the Peter and Paul fortress, an imposing structure with walls 30 metres thick. Inside is the P&P Cathedral, a stunningly beautiful church where all the Russian tsars (with one exception) are buried. An interesting addition is a shrine dedicated to the last tsar Nicholas II and his family who were all murdered by the Bolsheviks and whose remains were only discovered 15 years or so ago and re-interred here in 1998.
We continue on to visit the famous battle cruiser Aurora, which fought in 3 wars and was never defeated, then cross back on another bridge to the south side of the Neva. Our next stop is supposed to be the massive Kazan Cathedral, which we have seen at a distance and which Vi and I visited last time we were here, but we run into absolute gridlock in the downtown. Because our tickets to the Hermitage are for 2:30, the tour director decides to forego Kazan and head directly to lunch. We arrive at the Troika Restaurant a half hour late but eat quickly to make up the time. The meal is great, and includes an excellent soup (like borscht but no beets), poached salmon and pistachio ice cream.
Back on the bus and on to the Hermitage. This museum, the former winter palace of the tsars, truly has no equal in the world. There are really two collections: the building itself, which is room after room of breathtaking beauty, and the paintings and other works of art that decorate the walls. If you spent one minute looking at each item in the museum, it would take you 15 years without a break to see everything. We see works by Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rubens, Van Dyke, Titian and so many more. It is sensory overload. Although many people end up straying, I stick with Galina the entire time, who knows the Hermitage like the back of her hand and provides very interesting narration about those works and aspects of the building that she judges most significant, given our time constraint of about 2 1/2 hours. We move very quickly, practically jogging at certain points, in order to use our time to best advantage.
Rendezvous at the bus at 6 pm. Returning to the hotel, we are immediately ensnared once again in a terrible traffic jam. It takes us an hour to get back, which is the time we are supposed to already be at a restaurant some distance away from the hotel for dinner. In any event, I want to check up on Violet, so I skip the dinner entirely and walk to the Medem clinic.
I'm happy to say that Violet is fine, in good spirits and doing well. I spend a couple of hours with her at the clinic and then walk back to the hotel. The clinic is looking after extensions to our visas for medical emergency. The wrinkle is that I have to move into the clinic myself, so I will be saying goodbye to the group tomorrow morning, then moving lock, stock and barrel to the clinic until Vi is ready to return home.
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Teresa Dedman
non-member comment
Best wishes
Dear David. I have been keeping up on your daily blog and have enjoyed it immensley. It makes me feel I am travelling along with you and I'm seeing the world through your eyes. Thank you. I am really sorry to hear about Violet's bad luck. Give her my love and best wishes for a speedy recovery. Tell her the pool girls are keeping up with the travel blog and send along their best wishes as well.