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.

Day 8 – Friday: Mandrogi Craft Village

We stopped at a village made of traditionally constructed buildings, financed initially at least by a wealthy Russian businessman, that houses a colony of crafts people. We had a delicious ‘Shashlyk’ barbecue and browsed a large range of both kitschy and artistic items, again taking some time to wander through the birch glades, admiring the decorated buildings, including a ferry terminal complete with row of statues and a mermaid. The ferry was a manually winched one. We saw a very poorly decorated Matrioshka doll by Putin in one window. We traverse the largest lake in Europe, Ladoga, tonight. Tomorrow: St Petersburg.

Distaffs

Day 7 – Thursday: Cruising and Kizhi Island

Today turned out overcast and a little breezy. We travelled 6 locks between Goritsky and Lake Onega, descending. At our highest point we climbed to 160 metres higher above sea level and of course need to go down the same amount as we go to St Petersburg. As I was stretching alone on the top deck – the masseur Evgeniy, possibly having a late night of it, didn’t turn up to take the stretching exercises – a little village went by with large piles of logs for building, so not complete wilderness. We are however, reaching the most northern point of our trip, crossing lake Onega to Kizhi Island. It is an easy day today, with eating and talks. I’ve signed up for a tour of the bridge. So far, the lake is only a little choppy, with little movement of the ship, for which both of us are grateful, not being very good sailors.

The bridge tour was mildly interesting. Each of the boats on the waterways registers its details, including number of passengers, so the radar can tell you the name of the boats around you, together with their vital details. I was interested to see that, together with electronic means, the route is also charted by hand. The navigator sat with his foot on the open chart chest drawer, reminding me of Dad’s cabin setup.

The weather turned out sunny to the point that our jackets were probably not needed, though the air temperature would have been below 20 degrees C and we are about level with Anchorage Alaska. Mum was disappointed that the world-heritage cathedral, consecrated in 1714 and constructed by anonymous master craftsmen, is ‘up on blocks’ undergoing restoration. At some angles it was as if the top of the structure was floating mid-air. The winter church next door was open and there are a number of historical buildings and a windmill brought from the surrounding countryside. A lovely island, we wandered about a bit. Although we were told vehicles were banned, we saw a tractor, truck and minibus on our walk, so the ban is not terribly strict.

Behind the trees, you can't see the gap...

Hey presto!

A fourteenth century church

The view from the island - no other buildings visible for 360 degrees.

A prosperous farmhouse from the mid-nineteenth century