The past two days we were in Saint Petersburg Russia - absolutely amazing. Warning in advance - a long post - tons to cover. It will be difficult to convey what we saw - and the pictures don't really capture it - but we will try to share some of the experience. So much is literally over the top - so extravagant. It's fair to say we were most excited - and nervous - about this stop on the cruise. We had never thought we would visit Russia - but are so glad we had the opportunity and it was much more than we expected.
To maximize our time we signed up for the 2 day "ultimate experience". It was jam packed. We had to meet the first morning at 7:15am which meant waking up before 6:00am. We got back to our room after midnight - and started again this morning before 8:00am. We arrived back on the ship tonight just before 6:00pm and have now set sail. During the two days it was pretty much non stop - but it was awesome - and with such a short time we wanted to ensure we did as much as possible.
The tour was arranged through our ship - and we spent the past two days on bus 44 - with the amazing Alexandria, call me Sasha, or Alex, or whatever you choose :). We all chose Sasha. She was born and raised in Saint Petersburg - her family has been here for generations. Today she shared that her great grandmother survived the revolution of 1917, WW I, and WWII including the siege of Leningrad. Talk about living through history. Sasha spoke incredible English - and had a great sense of humor with some fun stories to share. She taught us how to say "I Love You" in Russian - I can't spell it - but here's how to pronounce it "yellow blue vus" (say bus with a 'v'). By the end we definitely felt the love.
Given the weather in Saint Petersburg, the cruise ship season is May - October. We are actually the last ocean cruise until Spring. Viking has river cruises that run for several more weeks. The tour guides make most of their money during the cruise season - but do other things during the off season. Sasha does some private language tutoring and also helps with translating and dubbing movies. She said that Bollywood arrived here long before Hollywood - so that is what she was raised on (born in 1988). Often she helps with dubbing India movies to Russia - but sometimes she is asked to help with the English subtitles to movies. One cute story - they called her up and asked her to help with Russian subtitles to one of the India James Bond movies. After finishing they called her and asked her to dub it - live. She said 'sure' :). She then worked at home trying to match the words to the lips - a definite challenge! During the movie she provided the voice of James Bond, the Bond girl and the villain - talk about versatility :). Here's a picture of her.
One quick commentary about the extravagance we saw on display in both the royal palaces and the churches and how it struck our group. It really was over the top. Sasha said in the palaces the intent was to show how much money they had - and that it became almost a competition to be the most extravagant. Honestly, it felt the same way in the churches. While it was amazing to see everything - with a fair amount of 'oohs' and 'aahs' - you couldn't help but reflect on how the royals and the church took so much from the people who were struggling. It gave at least some context for the revolutions that occurred.
Our first day started at Catherine's Palace - the winter palace for the Tsars. The palace was first built in 1717 as a "hunting grounds" for Peter the Great. His wife Catherine I gave it to him as an engagement present. The quotes are justified as it was always a bit extravagant and rather large. Throughout the 18th century it was further expanded by Elizabeth I. She really liked luxury and extravagance - which is evident throughout literally every room.
Over the top doesn't even describe the experience of walking through the rooms. There is excessive use of gold leaf - seriously - excessive.
We also had the chance to have a traditional Russian drink - Vodka :). They left a bottle on the table for the group - and told us we needed to do it as shots. Craig and I both had two - really quite nice! Everyone also did the traditional Russian toast which is to say "Nasdarovje" followed by linking arms and taking your shot. Our table was great - we sat next to Don and Heidi. Lots of fun.
A traditional Russian music group also performed - and by the end of the meal they were distributing the traditional "instruments" for us to join in. I gave it a good try - I think I did better than the infamous kazoo incident at the Blues game (that's a different story) - but still know I am not going out on tour with them any time soon :)
After lunch we visited the Hermitage Museum - incredible display of artwork over the years including a lot from the big European artists (Rembrandt, Pissaro, Monet, etc.). The portraits were great - and so was the building and architecture. The name Hermitage comes from the fact that many of these art museums were originally private getaways for their owners to store and admire their own artwork. It allowed them to "get away from it all" - or to be a hermit for a while. Eventually they were opened up to the public and took the name Hermitage.
Picture of the largest vase on display anywhere - yep the people in the background are "life-size" :).
Our ship is Viking Jupiter so we thought a selfie with Jupiter would be appropriate :)
During our tour of the city today we had a chance to stop by the statue to Peter the Great. It was commissioned by Catherine the Great after she gained power by a palace coup that led to the abdication by her husband Peter II and his assassination seven days later. She wanted to connect herself to her earlier, well regarded predecessor Peter the Great to help add some legitimacy to her reign. The statue has Peter sitting heroically on a horse with the hoofs crushing a large snake that represents all of his, and Russia's, enemies. It is perched on a large rock shaped like a cliff.
The statue sits in front of Saint Isaac's Church. This was originally the city's main church and the largest in Russia. It was constructed between 1818 - 1858. It apparently is still the fourth largest cathedral in the world.
Our next stop was at the Church of Spilled Blood - also called Church of the Savior on Blood. The church was dedicated to memory of the assassinated tsar Alexander I. There is actually a section of cobblestone inside the church that has stains from his blood.
Inside was amazing with all of the walls and ceiling covered in mosaics. Impossible to capture with pictures - but here are a few attempts.
A quick story about the church. Many of the churches in Russia were destroyed when religion was outlawed starting in 1917. There was a list of churches planned for destruction and this one was on the list but not near the top. Before they were able to destroy it, WW II started and they decided not to waste the time and money on destroying it themselves as they assumed it would be destroyed during the war. Fortunately there was some damage from the war but it was limited. Years later remodeling and reconstruction was undertaken to restore the church. One of the workers who was working on one of the domes of the church discovered an unexploded and still active bomb from the war in the rafters. They were able to safely disarm and remove the bomb. The bomb was located above the mosaic pictured below that is in the ceiling. It was apparently right above the fingers of Jesus that show his thumb and ring finger touching - which is how the fingers are placed before crossing oneself. So, it is said, God saved the church.
Here is the temple that enshrines the cobblestone containing the blood from the assassination.
Our next stop was lunch with more traditional Russian cuisine. Today we had beef stroganoff - different than what we typically have in the States. This one had a tomato based sauce and was served with mashed potatoes. Really quite tasty. I think no one was more surprised than Craig with how much he enjoyed Russian food. We have some new recipes to experiment with when we get home!
Peterhof Palace was built in 1708 by Peter the Great. It served as the summer palace for the royals.
Following are some pictures of the interior - did I mention extravagant?!
There were so many paintings throughout the palace. There is a story about the one pictured below which depicts an explosion on a ship. It is actually a replacement for the original. During Catherine the Great's reign, a guest at one of her parties was in the military. He told her the original painting was nothing like reality. Well, that didn't sit well with Catherine the Great. She had the painting destroyed. She then ordered the artist to paint another one. To ensure it was realistic she ordered a ship blown up while the artist watched. What can you even say...
And, of course, more gold leaf...
And gold chairs...
And gold clocks...
One of the many dining areas in the palace. This was for "informal" meals.
Another one for the more formal occasions.
Catherine the Great loved porcelain - not just on the tables - even many of the chandeliers were porcelain.
The furniture was beautiful - gorgeous wood with a lot of intricate details.
In most of the rooms, the wallpaper and furniture matched. It tended to be heavily patterned and was always silk. That said, just because you have money doesn't mean you have good taste :)
Even the royals had short beds. Apparently the doctors said it was better for your health and digestion to sleep sitting up.
Peterhof has beautiful gardens. Apparently it has been compared to the gardens at Versailles. We have not been there (yet) but our son Matt says it is one of the most beautiful places he has ever visited. We look forward to experiencing it one day. Here is a picture of the palace from the garden.
The grounds were really big - we had an opportunity to walk a bit and enjoy. There are 150 fountains and 4 cascades. It was beautiful and peaceful. Here's a few pictures from our walks.
Heading back to our ship tonight we had a special treat. We rode on a Hydrofoil for our first time. Basically, it's a boat that as it gains speed the hull raises out of the water and you ride on the hydrofoils that decrease the drag and increase the speed. We traveled at ~70 km/ph - it was a great way to get back to the city.
As with each of the places we have visited, it is wonderful to get a chance to meet the people, learn about their culture and better understand history from their perspective. This was certainly also true with our visit to Russia. Growing up during the Cold War - we thought of Russia through that lens. We actually commented that we hadn't thought about how much history there would be from before the Soviets. And, as is often the case, it is a good reminder that there are always multiple sides to a story. We all live in a world filled with a lot of different perspectives - and can learn from, and hopefully better understand, each other if we are open. We also have been fascianated by how history has shaped the cultures and the people. In Russia, they have been through so much - and always found a way to survive. It has created a culture of resilience and confidence in their ability to tackle any challenge they might face. As Sasha said, you aren't going to scare us after what we've already been through and survived.
I hope you can feel how much we enjoyed our visit - truly special.
Nasladit'sya poyezdkoy! (Enjoy the Ride!)
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