St Petersburg was founded by Peter the Great and is known as the ‘Venice of the North’ as the city encompasses islands & canals – modelled on Amsterdam. The initial drab weather has given way to some sunshine & the city looks very picturesque now. Most buildings in the central city are brownish in colour & low profile boxes lining the streets – many only 3-4 stories high as restricted to not be higher than the Winter Palace back in 18th century – now profiles low to protect heritage & UNESCO status. Some buidlings are bright yellow/blue reputedly to give impression of sunshine – they say St Petersburg only has 60 days of sunshine each year!
We docked on the main River Neva – 22 bridges, all but the newest & highest next to us are draw bridges which open every night at about 1am for a few hours to allow ships to pass. Our city tour took us to the major landmarks – more cathedrals, harbour views, past squares and parks, statues, the Fort and the impressive squares and numerous palaces, many now museums.
It is quite a contrast to be back in the city after days sailing through picturesque wooded countryside & past little villages with tiny houses & gardens. The traffic again fairly awful on a weekday. Have noticed everywhere in Russia there is dust on everything especially the cars and things do look a little dilapidated. Housing in the area where we are is utilitarian apartment blocks but there were some impressive neighbourhoods as we came through the suburbs.
The highlight of day 1 was attending a ballet performance – Swan Lake at the Hermitage Theatre. Stunning dancing, costumes, scenery in the private & intimate theatre of Catherine II.
Day 2 – tour of the magnificent Hermitage Museum (5 buildings) – incredible wealth seen in the buildings, decor, art, furnishings. Impressive parquet and inlaid floors & doors, sweeping staircases, finely painted ceilings – murals & designs, marble pillars, urns & furniture, painted and sculptured ceilings, gold leaf in abundance, chandeliers forever (largest weighs 3 tonne), irreplaceable art masterpieces, unique pieces like the peacock clock, all sorts of collections and so on. The mind boggles when considering the individual worth of each item in the 3 million piece exhibit let alone buildings etc. (And that’s just one palace in St Petersburg!) Much of the art was saved from destruction & pilfering during the war as it was sent to Siberia!!
The rain came down while we were in the museum and magically stopped as we stepped aboard the hydrofoil heading to Peterhof Gardens. Enjoyed 100 hectares of gardens built for Peter the Great in beautiful sunshine. Modelled on Versailles the gardens are outstanding – includes 14 palaces, numerous fountains, more gold and the gardens themselves bordering the Gulf of Finland but within sight of St Petersburg. Peter had a sense of humour and several fountains are trick fountains – designed to spray randomly at people walking the paths or sitting on seats. Mark cooled off in one or two! Well worth a visit. Decided to buy some books today to help capture what we saw and what we missed!
Day 3 – Wow- gilded out by the Catherine Palace and all the 24k gold leaf. Amazing! You have to see to appreciate & I can’t describe! Fabulous gardens here also.
We really enjoyed an afternoon canal cruise around the “Golden Ring” – some 70 canals in St Petersburg and over 500 bridges. Our course took us past the major places of interest and under some very low bridges – literally had to stay sitting and stoop on a couple of occasions! Great way to see the city and enjoy it!
St Petersburg like much of Russia we saw is a city of contrasts – good to see some modern buildings, impressive motorway systems and enjoy the friendly people who welcomed us and also the rich history.
St Petersburg and Russia Photos
