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Wednesday 29 May and the choices this day included a trip to Peterhof. CS and PP had planned to stay two more days in StP after leaving the Viking vessel so this was another opportunity to take full advantage of the away from the city excursions on offer. Viking had arranged for us to get there quite early and we were the only bus in the lot when we arrived. The weather continued to be delightfully sunny but CS underestimated the strength of the breeze, so purchased a very Russian style shawl at the Palace to reduce the chill.
Peter I's intention of building his own 'Russian Versailles' to impress western visitors of his day, continues its effect. The Palace itself is a reconstruction based on photographs and descriptions retained after the WWII destruction of the building. Many of the smaller artefacts had been saved and were back on display in their original state. The Chesma Hall depicting huge canvasses devoted to the battle of that name in which Russia gained a naval victory over Turkey, is particularly splendid. One story goes that the artist's first attempts were not regarded as realistic enough so a battle ship was
expressly destroyed in a mock battle so he could see what it looked like. The result is quite convincing.
The main feature of the place is the gardens and in particular the fantastic fountains. We had a good vantage point to see the display as the waters in the Grand Cascade started to flow right at 10am. The cascade of fountains in front of the palace leading ultimately down a channel to the Gulf of Finland is indeed a sight to behold, particularly for one like CS who has built many a garden water feature herself, knowing that the water here flows on the principle of gravity alone, without the benefit of a pump. One spout throws water as high as 60 feet. Apart from the extraordinary beauty of the process it is an amazing engineering feat but also one that requires an abundance of collected water, because none of it is recycled back into the system.
On our return journey we passed one of the residences of current President Putin.
Our final organised outing with Viking consisted of a canal tour in some of the canals that weave through the
city. Seeing buildings and features from the vantage of a boat gives a different perspective on every place, as CS and PP have discovered many times on their paddling and boating excursions. A light-hearted diversion in our sight-seeing came about when we became aware of a young lad waving down at our boat from the second bridge we passed under. We soon realised that he was running from bridge to bridge to be at the top every time we passed, to wave at us. His yellow tee-shirt and loose cardigan were easy to spot and, as he no doubt intended,we found his performance quite endearing. He made it all the way around - no mean feat - and was rewarded with suitable rouble contributions. PP, a seasoned marathon runner himself, ventured to tell the lad he had real promise in that regard.
Our last evening on board involved CS and PP taking our turn as 'table nazis' and just as well because we came close to losing not one but both of our usual sitting places. The woman who CS beat to the punch was not amused but was finally prevailed upon to give up both tables
The Grand Cascade
The fountains just starting not exactly with good grace. On this night in particular we felt justified in organising for us all to sit as feasibly as possible, together.
We had collected gratuities (in addition to those we had individually submitted for the staff as a whole) for Julia and Kathrin as we felt they had absolutely given our group outstanding service. Julia was very moved, claiming she had not been so appreciated before. No doubt we will only be the first not the last to value her in this way.
Of course dinner was followed by music, dancing and frivolity in the Sky Bar till late. Our group was splitting up and different smaller groups dispersing at different times over the next 24 hours. Hugs and tears and laughter saw CS and PP off to our cabin for the last time. We managed to catch up with some of our number briefly in the morning but then our cab arrived and we were off to the city again. What a wonderful adventure we had had, thank you guys for your company - we look forward to the 'de-briefing' and reminiscing back home in due course. Enjoy France,
those of you who are doing that!!
Viking had arranged a taxi to our hotel and we got there comfortably considering the ever present crush of traffic. The hotel proved to be exactly where CS was expecting it to be so that was a definite plus. CS and PP spent that day and the next exploring StP on our own. Our penchant for walking was not abated and we probably covered in the order of 12 k over those days, stopping along the way for suitable refreshment. For dinner we booked into a lovely little Jazz Club restaurant and enjoyed some very pleasing live music during and after the meal.
The hotel was comfortable enough but the service lacked attention and care. Several young women, invariably working in pairs (which meant chatting to each other and resenting any intervention by guests) 'manned' the reception desk, breakfast room and bar. The bar stocked nothing except beer so needless to say we did not fraternise it. We did find a place called Makaroni just up the road where a lovely young Russian woman chatted and entertained us with stories and advice about wine.
The Grand Cascade & the Palace
The waters run into the Gulf of Finland The last day in StP we spent mostly in the Russian Museum concentrating on the art from late 17th century to end of 19th century. We have now seen the 'Barge Haulers' up close and it is magnificent, as are so many other of Repin's fine works. There were lots of other splendid works by others, too, of course. Back to the hotel to collect our bags and it was good-bye to this amazing city.
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