St. Petersburg, Russia - Day 2

On Monday, May 19 it was St. Petersburg, Russia--Day 2

Morning came much too early as we were up and off the ship by 6:30 am.  We quickly moved through customs and found Elena and our bus.  We lost 4 in our group today—yesterday was just too much for them.

We leave the port just after 7:00 am and take another scenic drive with our first stop at the Rostral Columns or victory columns.  Inspired by similar towers built by ancient Greeks and Romans to celebrate naval victories, there are two columns decorated with anchors and studded with the rams from captured ships. 

Next to the columns is the Kazan Cathedral.  It was modeled after St. Peter’s in Rome.

Across the street is an art nouveau building with a globe-topped turret.  At the base is an unlikely symbol—an American bald eagle wearing a stars and striped shield on its breast.  The building is known as the Singer House, once the Russian headquarters of the American sewing machine company.

We were near a Starbucks and Gwen, who collects their mugs, wanted to go buy one. 

Unfortunately Elena translated the word under the Starbucks sign that said, “Coming soon” so no  mug for Gwen in Russia.

We did pass by a familiar restaurant.  McDonald’s.

And we stopped at the monument to Catherine II, aka Catherine the Great

Then it was off to board a canal boat for a water view of St. Petersburg.

We got a nice view of the Peter and Paul Fortress we would visit later today.

And a very nice water view of the Winter Palace.

Peter the Great

We passed by the Russian cruiser Aurora.  It is now a museum about the ship that was used in the Russo-Japanese war in 1905.

An enterprising young man ran to every bridge and would wave at us as we passed under.  He must have run for 20 bridges and always beat us there and was waving madly.  Many of us rewarded him for his effort with some coins as we left the boat.  Terry showed him the Boston Marathon logo on his jacket…the boy immediately responded with “Boston”!

Back on the bus we headed to Yusupov Palace, which we had seen the outside from the boat ride.  It was a palace that was once owned by one of the richest families in Russia.  It’s mostly known as the site of the murder of Grigori Rasputin, the man known as the Mad Monk who was closely associated with Tsar Nicolas’s family before the revolution in 1917.

We took a tour of the ornately decorated rooms in the palace.  It felt like it was still occupied by the Yusupovs.

Beautiful inlaid wood floors

We went into a large hall where we were introduced to some Russian singers who gave us a very nice short performance. 

And then into the ‘home theater’.

The next part of the palace tour focused on Rasputin’s murder.  Elena told us the story of the assassination plot and the eventual murder.  He was poisoned, which didn’t kill him, then shot several times and then attacked with clubs.  Finally his body was thrown into the Neva River.  They wanted to make sure he was dead.  There were mannequins representing the conspirators and Rasputin.

We went for a subway ride. Since the subways in St. Petersburg are decorated so nicely, they have become a tourist destination.  

We entered through the modern ticketing system and saw the first mosaic artwork.  

We then went down the longest escalator in the world…433 feet.  It moved much faster than the escalators we are used to.  The subway stations are very ornate and clean and modern.  We rode through two stops and saw each unique design at each stop.

We boarded the bus and Elena passed out hot sandwiches to be eaten as we drove out of the city headed to Peterhoff Gardens.  She called them a ‘pancake’ and they were thick crepes stuffed with chicken breast and some kind of cheesy dressing.  They came in a foil pouch to keep them warm and were quite good! 

Peterhof was the palace built by Peter the Great.   He ruled Russia from 1682-1725.  He transformed his country into a major European power.

Since we had toured so many other palaces, we were only going to tour the gardens and fountain area.  The palace exterior is beautiful and is compared to Versailles.  But the reason to visit Peterhof is for the fountains.  The palace was constructed nearly 300 years ago.  The most remarkable feature is that the fountains are operated only by gravity from reservoirs in the upper gardens.

There were fountains and gardens everywhere.  It all was a beautiful sight!

Headed back into St. Petersburg, we stopped at the Peter and Paul Fortress.

This was actually the birthplace of St. Petersburg since it was the first structure to be built there.  The main building in the fortress is the cathedral.  Its exterior is very pretty with the gold decorations.

The interior was quite different from the other Russian cathedrals we had seen, since the predominant color was green.

The alter was really gorgeous.

What makes this cathedral very special is that all of the tsars of Russia are buried there.

The tomb of Nicholas II and family that were murdered at
the start of the revolution in 1917.

As we headed back to the ship, we reflected on the past two days and declared it was all a wonderful, but exhausting time.  And it was some of the best siteseeing we have ever experienced.  What a magnificent city!