A Day at The Hermitage

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After what seemed like a long day - especially finishing with the 2-hour night walk - we did have a good night's sleep. Our tour of the Hermitage was schedule for a 10.30am pick-up. We woke to darkness outside - so automatically thought it was still very early. We had forgotten that we are close to the north pole - so the sun rises later in the morning. On checking our clock - we found out it was 08.30am - and still pitch black. We never did see the light of day until around 10.00am!!!

After the usual "prep" time we made our way down to the breakfast room. What seems like a massive spread - closer inspection told us that about half was the usual "northern" country dishes of various pickled vegetables, fish and meats. We decided to play safe and just go with toast/bread, eggs, bacon and a variety of coffee that our palates was not quite used to. On inquiring if a cappucino was possible - we were told we could have one for 200 rubles (about AU$5). No thanks. Based on the provided coffee we were not so sure the cappucino would be of the variety we would expect for the price. In Kingscliff we can get great cappucino for $5 - and we feel that is a little expensive!!!

Breakfast finished with, teeth cleaned - we were down in the lobby area to meet our guide for the day - Nicholas. Outside we bundled into a nice warm vehicle driven by "Alexei".- and proceeded toward the heart of the city - the Hermitage Museum and Winger Palace. En route Nicholas pointed out some landmarks and important buildings and answered a few questions that we had. After 38 years - I did not recognise anything until we found ourselves near St. Isaac's church. In 1980 we had to meet our Intourist guide at a hotel that was near St. Isaacs - and while the tour group was using the hotel's restroom facilities - I did a quick run outside to take some photos of the church. Unfortunately cannot find any photos relating back to that visit. As we passed St. Isaacs and hit the river - many buildings became familiar on the other side. The Peter and Paul Fortress was the dominant one. Shortly after that we approached Palace square dominated by the column of Alexander the Great which jogged my memory. We entered the Hermitage via a group door and passed through security - along with many many Chinese tourists. Geez - they are pushy tourists!!!!!

During the next 4 hours - Nicholas escorted us through the various galleries and rooms of the impressive building. We learned about the Romanovs and the turbulent period leading to the Russian revolution, as well as the countries involvement in wars that left the country in economic ruin. We saw lots: porcelains; gold and silver; mosaics; stained glass; ceramics; armour and weapons of war; clothing styles through the century; architecture. Then there was the works of art by some of the world's renowned painters. I definitely couldn't remember the tour of 1980 - so there were a lot of questions for Nicholas. It was interesting to find out that he studied Russian history - so he was well versed in the various rooms that had relics pertaining to it. The amount of treasures in this museum was unbelieveable - and hard to thing that the city still offered many more museums with various treasures - like the Faberge Museum etc. Two days in this city was just not long enough. I would say a week if you really want to visit all the museum both inside and outside the city.

The tour finally concluded around 2.30pm and as we did not want to be taken back to the hotel - we said goodbye to Nicholas at the nearby Church of the Spilled Blood. From there we started to make our way toward the city centre. It was cold - and we looked for a local warm tavern to take a rest. We found a cafe that served the popular Russian dish of "borscht". Basically it's like a beetroot soup, sometimes with added vegetables like cabbage, potatoe and onions. I had a pumpkin cream soup with sour cream. We shared our soups - but Kathie really liked the borscht. After warming up - we donned our winter gear and headed off again to find the centre. It wasn't long before we were at the main drag - Nevsky Prospekt. The 8-lane avenue is lined with modern shops, boutiques, shopping centres, coffee shops, restaurants and such. The Christmas decorations along this street are amazing - and must have taken months to assemble. They go for the whole length of the avenue - which is 4.5kms long!!! And this is just one of the decorated thoroughfares in the city!! We had decided to walk back to our hotel via another poplar district of the city - Sennaya Square. It was now around 5.00pm and we needed more sustenance - and came across a modern hamburger joint Ketch Up Burgers. We decided to try a local burger and fries here as the place was quite full and seemed to be a meeting point for all ages. Burger bars appear to be the "flavour of the month" and can be found everywhere in the city. Prices seemed to be on the way to matching those in Australia. 1 burger, small salad, wedge fries, 1 lemonade and 1 beer - 1430 rubles (AU$32). And - the waiter made sure that we knew that a "service" charge" was not included - and we could pay it direct to him!!! (we found out later that when "tips" are made as part of the bill - the establishment gets 75% and the server 25%. The Russian Mafia still exists in many forms. No wonder he wanted it paid direct to him!!).

With full bellies - we made our way out into the dark of day and continued our walk back to our hotel. It was good to get back to the room and relax. For Kathie - it was the "end" of the day - but for me it was just a rest before going out to explore the local area again. For the record - we had 5.5 hours of light for the day. It gave us an insight for the following day. No need to get up so early !!!

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Photos

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Porcelain vase in The Hermitage

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One of the many chandeliers in The Hermitage

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A wedding party outside The Hermitage. The longest HumVee I have ever seen!!

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The Church of the Spilled Blood

Comments

[Pat]

A day at the Hermitage
Really interesting, gives a new view of Russia.

[Koalat]

Russia
Yes Pat - it was quite a change from my first visit