St. Petersburg

We met our guide Svetlana at 7:15 am as soon as we could get off the ship. Even so, we were the last of six participants in our independent excursion to St. Petersburg. We thought passport control would be a nightmare, but we got through quickly and easily. We began with a general bus tour of the central city, then rode an escalator half a mile under the Neva river to see the Admiralty Station of the beautiful subway under St. Petersburg. Next we headed south for the little town of Pushkin. There we saw the summer palace built by Princess Elizabeth and named for her mother Catherine I. It is without any doubt the most beautiful human creation I have ever seen. The rooms covered in gold, the perfection in the gardens, and the sheer opulence of the palace defy description. Then we had lunch at a quaint restaurant that served us borscht, beef stroganoff, and ice cream with a cookie. After lunch we toured the Peterhof Gardens then rode in a hydrofoil boat back to the center of town. We toured the fortress built by Peter the Great, and were amazed again by the dazzling cathedral holding the remains of all of the Imperial rulers of Russia. Surprisingly, we had the church to ourselves. Perhaps it was the cold weather today that kept the crowds away. We came back to our ship tired, happy and ready for tomorrow's adventure.Read more