Day 12 - Tuesday, St Petersburg

Our new digs worked out well: right next to St Isaac's - the third biggest cathedral in the world - and within walking distance of the Hermitage and other sites.

This day was a doozy which saw us on our feet pretty much all day. We started with a walking tour along the Neva, past the 'wedding palace' with a couple of wedding parties on the pavement, complete with stretch limos. A helicopter landed on a floating pad as we went past.

We checked out some tour ships and turned to walk past the New Holland 'island', where there were some brick rather than stucco buildings. Then there was a bit of a detour as I missed the Yusupov Palace through incorrect map reading. Back on track, past the Mariinskiy theatre to the St Nicholas Cathedral. It took a bit of looking to find the entrance to the park around the Cathedral - it was open on only one side. Once in, it was a pleasant stop under the trees to people watch. A couple of grandparents took grandchildren out for a walk - one ruddy-cheeked baby enjoying her day immensely as she was ferried around on her stomach in a pram, pigeon stalking. Some older women met among the pigeons.

 Mariinskiy Theatre

 St Nicholas Cathedral

Yusupovskiy Sad

I think this day was our first lunch at Yeliseev's, the amazing art nouveau building with the magical food store at ground level and the restaurant downstairs, with a window on the bakery. We both had borsch and I had very tasty meat pastries that I think are a local delicacy. Crispy on the outside and liquid on the inside.

After lunch, we went for our second visit to the Hermitage. I didn't take many photos, content to have the guide book and happy not to look at too much through an LCD screen. We retired thoroughly worn out, having visited every gallery we wanted and could find. Mum saw enough Grecian urns to last a lifetime and finally refused to look. There were so many exquisite things: the cameos a special treat, some extremely delicately carved. Mum made a friend who lent her his magnifying glass and gave her a ticket; we had no idea what it was since we read no Russian and he spoke no English.

Palace Square looking over to the Hermitage

Not more Grecian urns!!!

Day 11 - Monday, Peterhof

Peterhof was the official summer residence of the czars/tsars. Some great waterworks all fed by gravity - the water flows from reservoirs fed from a river one way down into the Gulf of Finland. That Peter the Great was a kidder, putting in joke fountains. The palace had the same fate as the Catherine Palace, pretty much left in ruins after the war. One notable exception was Peter's original residence down by the Gulf, which had been set with timed explosives, but the Russian army managed to stop the countdown.

The gardens were lovely and green - mostly trees and hedges, but with some pretty flower beds. Apparently Catherine the Great didn't like Peterhof very much as she couldn't escape the sound of water running. Certainly a lot of fountains. Also a lot of gilding. The statues are covered in the winter to keep them glistening. There is a ceremonial turning on and turning off of the fountains at either end of the summer, which have become so popular, what with the fireworks etc, that they do it several times now.

 Fountain with the statue of Eve. She and her opposite number, Adam, were buried in the grounds during the war to keep them safe.

 Peter's residence before the main palace was constructed.

 Waiting, waiting...

 Woohoo!

Day 11 - Monday, Catherine Palace

The first excursion today is outside St Petersburg to the summer palace of the royals, the Catherine Palace, named after Peter the Great's second, more successful wife. It was radically damaged and set on fire by the retreating Germans in WWII and 70 years later work continues on restoration. It is rather impressive, with a 400 metre facade and much gilding. The recreated Amber Room is a tribute to the skills of the restorers: though not exactly to my taste, the craft is amazing. There was one original panel retrieved, but the final fate of the Amber Room is still the subject of speculation after it was shipped off by the German army and disappeared, bombed or scattered or lining some millionaire's secret study.

The curators of the palace, like the ones in the Hermitage, saw the writing on the wall and got in early, packing up the moveable treasures and shipping them off to Siberia before the invasion.

Blue and sand-coloured facade. Trivia: Catherine the Great liked to swim.

Domes from the palace church

 The blue and white tiles cover heaters

 Perky

Kilos of gilding

Protection for the parquetry floors

A royal

Packing before the Germans arrived.

Scene of Catherine the G's morning perambulations and from where she allegedly shoved Voltaire's bust off the balcony after hearing about his support for the French Revolution.

Day 10 - Sunday, The Hermitage, St Petersburg

The setting for the Hermitage museum sometimes threatens to overshadow the artworks it holds. The state rooms are dazzling and the art is too much to take in, but rather gloriously so. Sensory overload. We took the included tour, which was a crush with hundreds of other tours, but found that things calmed down as we left the Da Vincis and Rembrandts behind and explored on our own. We refrained from snapping everything in sight and bought a guide book, but I couldn't resist snapping some rooms and the crowds around the poor little Da Vinci madonnas. We plan on going back, having bought extra tickets online, so we only cover a few sections, but are tired out after spending the day on our feet. I have museum neck from looking up, down, left and right.

The Winter Palace, Hermitage Museum

The prettiest room, where the peacock clock is housed

Looking out of the peacock clock room into the inner garden

There's a Da Vinci behind there!
You can get much closer than you can to the Mona Lisa, but all the cameras clicking away are a bit distracting.

Room after room after room

 By the way, here is a symbol of St Petersburg, the statue of Peter the Great on a horse. You can't see it at this angle, but his horse is treading on a snake. The official explanation is that it is a symbol of the Swedes, who were defeated by Peter. Locals say it is his first wife.
There are many horse statues around the place, many of them accompanied by nekked men.

Behind Peter is the top of St Isaac's - the third largest cathedral in the world. We will be staying opposite it when we leave the boat.

Day 9 - Ballet in Catherine's Theatre in the Hermitage

I'm slowly catching up with posts a week after getting home, now the jet lag seems to be beaten.
On our first evening in St. Petersburg, we went to the ballet, Swan Lake, in the theatre Catherine the Great built onto the Winter Palace. It was pretty special. Though we thought the backup dancers were a bit off tempo, the head swan was elegant and absolutely beautiful. The surroundings were rather good. Still very light at 11pm when we got out.

 Sometimes a chandelier is the only option

A quartet greeted us in the antechamber and played in the intermission

Day 9 - Saturday: St Petersburg

We seem to have had a dream run with the weather. It started about 19 degrees this morning, getting up to 25, with sun all day. We took a boat tour through some canals and on the river. The city has been built to impress. We are off to the ballet tonight in the theatre built by Catherine the Great, part of the Hermitage.

Store on Nevsky Prospect

A canal between Nevsky Prospect and Church on Spilled Blood

Church on Spilled Blood. We'll go inside on a later day.

The last palace built before the revolution

The residence of the Stroganoff family, of the famous dish.

The summer palace of Peter the Great. He was fairly modest in his needs. His daughter, Elizabeth, though, built the largest palace in St Petersburg.