Museum viewing to last us a lifetime!!

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It didnt really get dark during the night as both of us woke very briefly at different times and we both remarked in the morning that there seemed to be light beyond our curtains to the room.How you would exist here during the end of June when it is basically light for 24 hours is beyond us.It is quite difficult to think that it is well time to go bed at even 11pm when it is so light outside.
We had a choice of 8 differnt sets of continental breakfast and opted today for the 'classic'because it had cereal which we hadn't had any of for a few weeks.The cereal turned out to be a sort of semolina with fruit which was quite different but not the cornflakes we thought we would get!!!Never mind it was tasty and with the juice,rolls,cheese and pastry we were well filled and ready for the day.
Outside it was overcast and a bit chilly with the prospect for the day being showers.So we decided to head for the Hermitage,one of the largest museums in the world taking in also the Winter Palace.The Lonely Planet says you could take days to do the museum in full but we thought a few hours would be enough for us.
We joined the queue with a guy from Holland who was originally from Boston along with his sister and mother in front of us.He had a very weird accent and said it had come from living for 20 years in Holland.It is always good to pass the time with your neighbours while you wait in queues and you meet some very interesting prople.We swapped stories about our trips to Boston and places we had seen there and before we knew it we were in the museum.
We could have taken a guided tour or purchased an audio tour but s after all the Benvie Budget Adventure so we opted for a wander on our own and takingin what we would see as we went.Fortunately everything was labelled in English so that made understanding the exhibits much more easy than we had experienced in the museum in Moscow.
It was soon very obvious just how big this place was as one room led to another and on and on.........
The building was purpose built as a museum and someone must have known over 100 years ago that they wouldn't have any difficulty filling it with exhibits.
The major rooms in the Winter Palace that adjoins and forms part of the museum had a long history and all that we passed through were just magnificent finished so ornately and with delicate taste.We shall try and cover them by including photos with this text.
We lost count of the number of world famous artists who had paintings on display from Rembrant to Cezane to Gaugin to Moet and more.
The museum had built its collection through the years from the Russian royal families but also from overseas.
Avoiding the various groups with guides was initially a bit of a trial as the groups tended to gather around a particular exhibit and most of the time the commentary was in a language other than English.After a while the groups seemed to disappear and we moved more freely taking in the things that interested us the most,which was almost everything on display as it was so fascinating.
We then realised that the tour groups ran for 2 hours and with most of those starting at 11am they came to an end at around 1pm and then a second batch started up at 2pm.
We lost count of the number of rooms we went into and through and after 3 hours we needed a reviver and we had only done one of the three floors.So it was downstairs for a coffee and chocolate bar.
This did the trick and we went back for another 3 hours fully charged.
The building itself is magnificent and very grand but the collection of exhibits even surpasses it.Quite something else and a real highlight of the trip so far and will be always remembered.
We took the short walk back to our hotel,which is very well located near so many of the attractions,and purchased a couple of cheap beers at R29 each and revived ourselves before heading for dinner at the Tower Pub down the road.The pub had photos of London around the walls but the menu was mostly Russians specialities and we dined on a Goulash and spicy sausages.
Again the light seemed to keep us up but eventually tiredness after our full day at the museum overtook us and we called it a day near midnight.

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Photos

The Coronation Room,The Winter Palace
A magnificently finished room in the Winter Palace that forms part of the meseum

Comments

[Rin]

*Wow* at that Rembrandt painting!!