St Petersburg,Russia

St Petersburg ,Russia.

Where to begin ,Russia is a whole different world ,so I was up at 4.15 am just to make sure it was the same way in, through the Old Russian Navy base ,which we pass very close to ,between two small Islands, and then through a very shallow channel ,bracken coloured water ,very shallow ,to the very modern Terminal..I didn’t stay up, I may add… The Terminal is even bigger now, several Berths for the many ships that come, some HUGE ones ,Regal and Sapphire Princess, and today Navigator of The Seas ,today, make us look tiny and that is fine…
Our mission this time was to see The Hermitage ,so many wonders here. For Holland America guests, we were able to make an evening visit , in the day time it is very congested ,with ques for miles ,and you have to keep moving there are so many groups…but for us in the evening, when it is closed to most, we saw it all… The journey in a great treat in its self, seeing the monuments, spires ,and domes glistening with gold ,along the way. Crossing the river Neva, a very large river ,that has its origins in the biggest Lake in Europe, huge bridges that all open during the night, so that shipping comes right to the heart of the city ,where there is still Ship Building going on, almost in the centre..
Our guide Alexander ,was a character ,full of tales and gems to tell us ,slightly down at heel, but seemed to know the Hermitage well… First glance is just jaw dropping, the Gold and the mirrors on the stairs, the beautiful paintings on the ceiling, marble staircases..the rooms are huge, and there is so much to take in, a Palace ,and now an art gallery ,full of the treasures of the world.. Mosaics of the tiniest kind, a huge clock made entirely of tiny pieces, and the Paintings, of every well known person you can think of, the beautiful inlaid wooden floors gold on the walls, that is cleverly reflected by mirrors ,and the chandeliers ,which were once with candles, but now have electricity.. Huge paintings of their military people ,in great halls. Then the china/porcelain, and that is from all over the world…The Amber, their treasure, which is not available now easily anyway ,but more on that later.The views from the windows on the upper floors out to the Neva, are stunning as well, but it is old glass, and double glazed with space between so distorts the picture somewhat.. We had a leisurely wander ,able to see everything in detail with just our ships groups and a privileged few alongside.. Goya and Rembrandt with their own huge displays. I cannot pretend to love some art, and even our guide was able to say, they had good and bad times, and one The Prodigal Son, so renowned, I tried to see beauty but no…not in the eye of this beholder…I took pictures of that which I liked, and there were some, Michael Angelo ,had some treasures, but all food for the soul ,and a great deal of it, we spent hours gazing at it all, and finding more along the way, certainly a most wonderful ,memorable ,experience, amazing to be able to photograph almost everything… It didn’t end there, we came out through the gardens, into a beautiful square, on dusk..saw the Artists display of cats for the Soccer World Cup ,one for each team, cute, then out into the huge square ,with the Obelisk ,gift from Egypt, it is massive reaching into the pale blue night sky with the clouds that look painted ,the scale of it all is so impressive..Looking back on the beautiful Hermitage in the evening light. Quite breath taking…
Waiting for the bus there was a Souvenir shop ,of course, we preferred to be outside with many, by the canals, watching the world go by, and so interesting ,our Alexander had a small contingent join him for a bit of Vodka tasting, and he was last on the bus.!!! Smelling strongly of the tastings..so that made for some amusing stories along the way…!
Parts of the city have older apartments, crumbling and very shoddy, all lived in and apparently by several generations of one Family, Fuel is cheap, aprox 70 cents US a litre. The streets are clean, many green spaces in some parts, and flowers in elevated containers, throughout the city, petunias ,flourishing. Huge dogs, you would not believe how huge…unseen ever before, and do they live in an apartment well yes they do…as that is all there are..! Many new cars of the BMW, Mercedes kind, some of these are raced at speed ,amongst the traffic ,there must be some tragic accidents, possibly been sampling as well.!!! I mean high speed… Many observations in St Petersburg, where over 5 million people reside .Sun shining at 10 pm and light much later of course in this part of the world, very cold during the day, bitter wind ,but calm for us later on. You are not free to roam here ,unless on organised tours, or with a private tour group ,so restricted to a degree. I was unable to get the tour to the Subway and Markets only offered on the 2nd day ,but ,a wonderful first day in Russia..
I need to make two Posts especially for the photos ,so another one later. Scarce internet, and our phones only text from here… Enjoy, Love from us, Faye and SamLäs mer