Baltic Cruise 2015: St. Petersburg Russia-Days 11-12 (Part 1)

Saint Petersburg, Russia-Days 11-12

Wow!

It is very tough trying to describe this second largest city in Russia. We were here for two full days and spent a good deal of time driving thru the city going to different venues.

The city was originally named Petrograd (Peter's City), Leningrad later (after the revolution) and eventually St. Petersburg.

It is said to be the cultural capital of Russia with 65 theaters for all the non-video arts, museums everywhere (an intense native nostalgia for the past?), thousands of buildings done in solid concrete. Green and white for the royal palaces (mostly of Catherine the Great's time), lots of yellow for the rest. Dull brown is also a favorite. Apartment buildings everywhere and almost no evidence of single family residences anywhere in the city proper.

Our guide, Maria, did a great job for the two days of our tour "Ultimate St. Petersburg". She has a teaching degree in Chemistry but has been accepted to start medical school in September. Her English was very good and she was not reluctant to answer pointed questions about life in Russia as she knows it for the last 30 years. She was well versed in Gorbachav, Kruschev, Putin and more. She was also able to provide real life information on employment, daily life, and more. Quite a pleasant change from previous tour guides.

Maria our intrepid guide

Bazillions of concrete block apartments for miles

The port is very security aware. Each time we left or returned to the ship, we had to pass through passport control. As Russia requires a visa for anyone not always with the tour guide, no one was allowed to wander anywhere. Also, do not ever try to enter or leave the country without a passport.

How to describe the tour? Big buses, small(ish) groups on each, lots of discussion about the history of Russia, unbelievable images of super-opulent lifestyles. It truly boggles the mind to think that the original gold statuary and filigree everywhere was actually solid gold leaf. When the Nazis were overrunning Russia and during the siege of Leningrad, most of the palaces were looted and destroyed. Palaces for summer, palaces for winter and the occasional small mansion in between.

Our first tour was of the Summer Palace, built for Catherine the Great and only used by her for 2 years before she died. Mind blowing.

Summer Palace. At least a city block long, four sides of a square

We had priority access, head of the line stuff.

One of the rooms. Gold everywhere

After the first tour (the Summer Palace) we were driven to an enormous restaurant building that is used only for tour lunches I suspect. Peasant Fare was what we were promised and Peasant Fare is what we got. Borscht, meats, vegetables and (naturally) Vodka served well chilled. Quite a building to see, touristy as hell but neat.

Shades of backwoods Russia!

After lunch, a trip to the "Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood". Has to be seen to be believed.

The Hermitage has to be seen to be believed. Spread across 5 buildings, the museum boasts a collection of more than 3,000,000 pieces covering just about every topic of the past. No more than 7% of the entire collection is ever on display at any one time and the contents are frequently changed out.

Only one building was built specifically for the Hermitage Museum, the other 4 were appropriated by Empress Catherine the Great to house her growing collection. Photography is allowed inside but without flash. We took @ 3,000 pictures, only a few shown here. For presentation times for the Lee and Toni-Russia Hermitage show check your local listings!