Day 6 (12 Sep) Peterhof and Shabbat

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The day started sadly. David had not been able to join the tour as his mother had taken a turn for the worse. Jill had come on the tour by herself but she left first thing in the morning to go back to Israel in the event that her mother-in-law passed away and was flown from the USA to Israel for burial.

And on a happier note, after breakfast we got on the bus and wished Penina a happy birthday in the usual Trekkers way - with a song of course. Penina very kindly gave out goody bags, party bags with all sorts of sweets, bubbles and balloons. This was whilst driving to the hovercraft pier as we were to take the hydrofoil to the Peterhof Palace. We had a half hour wait for the hovercraft and so, at the request of Michael our tour leader, Ellie, Steve and I (Lesley) sang all nine verses of Ilkley Moor B'at 'at. For our non-northern readers this is a Yorkshire folk song about a young man courting Mary Jane on Ilkley Moor (a cold place) without his hat.

We boarded the swift hydrofoil and in half an hour we reached the jetty at Peterhof Palace. The palace is situated on Kotlin island in the gulf of Finland. Peter the Great captured this from Sweden in 1705 and the palace was started in 1714 as his summer palace. The palace is famous for its 200 fountains which were a great technological feat - they work without pumps. Natural spring water flows down from hilly sources, with gravity providing the energy to send fountains of water high into the air. The water is only used once and the water is then released into the Baltic Sea. The centrepiece of the fountains is Samson defeating a lion. This represents Russia's defeat of Sweden on St Samson's day. The grand opening was in 1723

The palace is really a series of palaces laid out like Versailles. We walked between the fountains to the entrance where we were given pretty purple overshoes, even Penina's ski poles had overshoes. These were to protect the floors. I had a different theory: it was to save on the polishing because the hoards of visitors polished the floors as they walked around.

The palace is ornate with lots of gold decoration. There are numerous paintings including a set depicting naval battles. Another room is decorated with a great many portraits of ladies but if you look closely you will see that the artist used just a few models wearing different clothing.

After Peter's death Elizabeth used this as the official summer residence and remodelled part of the palace. Catherine visited it once or twice but preferred the palace at Pushkin which we will visit on Sunday (see Day 8 blog).

In the 19th century Peterhof Palace was used for partying and balls and in 1904 prince Alexis was born there.

In 1917 it was nationalised and converted into a museum. We detect a recurring theme of revolutionary attitude regarding nationalising all properties of the rich and nobles, and establishing museums.

In WWII the palace was taken over by the Nazis and significantly destroyed. Since then although there has been considerable restoration there is still a lot going on.

Then the group walked in the gardens and I sat and enjoyed the sunshine. When the group met up we ate our packed lunches and then we all walked back through the gardens stopping for our group photo. Then on the bus and back toward the city of St Petersburg, a longer slower ride than via hydrofoil boat.

We drove back over the flood barrier. At various times of the year the winds push the waters into the cities causing great floods. It was decided to build a large dam which was started in 1974 and finished in 2011.

In the gulf of Finland are 4 natural islands and 19 man made islands, some of which we could see from the bus. Peter built a fortress on each island to protect St Petersburg from potential invaders, but fortunately they were never used.

The bus dropped us at the hotel before late afternoon, giving us extra time to prepare for Shabbat. That evening we walked to the Golden Cafe to light lights and then to the Grand Choral Synagogue for the evening service beginning with kabbalat shabbat. This is St Petersburg’s most impressive Jewish edifice and a local architectural landmark which we will tour on Monday (see Day 9 blog). We women climbed up to heaven and heard nothing but echoes. The men couldn't hear too much either and they were with all the action. Don pointed out that the minimal singing was barely audible and men who wanted to hear the Rabbi's sermon walked right up in front of him during his remarks. I will make no further comment.

After the service we walked back to the Cafe for a lovely Shabbat meal, and finally back to the hotel for a relatively early night!

Note: SCROLL DOWN to see more pictures than fit around the text. ALSO we suggest current followers reread our previous days in this trip because we are updating the blog details and photos as we discover more highlights to add.

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