July 13 – St. Petersburg, Russia
Wow what an amazing two days in Russia. Jay and I both thought that St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) was the best port. Maybe it was because we were there for two days and we knew we would probably never get there again.
Our first day of our tour started with a driving tour around St. Petersburg showing us some of the highlights of the city.
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| Small palace we passed on way to Peterhof |
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| Trinity Cathedral |
We then drove about an hour out of the city to Peterhof Palace where we took a quick tour. I mean quick. This palace was built for Peter the Great and is one of over 600 palaces in St. Petersburg. The palace was nearly destroyed by Germany during World War II and one of the first to be restored. It was absolutely beautiful inside. At 11:00 each day the Grand Cascade fountain at the front of the palace starts. There are 64 individual fountains that make up the Grand Cascade. No pumps are used to supply the water for the fountains; it is all fed by gravity. The fountains were built to commemorate Russia defeating Sweden.
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| Inside Peterhof Palace |
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| Grand Cascade |
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| Garden at Peterhof |
After our tour, we went to a former palace for lunch. It is now the Telecommunications Museum. Our lunch started with vodka and champagne then a salad with caviar, cabbage and vegetable soup, rice, vegetables and chicken in a cream sauce followed by vanilla ice cream with chocolate to finish. While we were eating our lunch, we had Russian musicians and dancers to entertain us.
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| Lunch inside Telecommunications Museum |
Following lunch, we went to Yusupov Palace, where Rasputin was killed in the basement. Rasputin was a magician and healer who had befriended the royal family. He was killed in 1916. As part of the tour of the palace, there were five Russian singers who sang a traditional song that was sung by the workers who pulled the barges up the canals in St. Petersburg. In this palace there is a theater that is still used today and it only seats 178 people.
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| Inside Theater |
We then stopped at St. Isaac’s Square and then we went a market to shop for souvenirs. I keep saying all roads lead through the gift shop. Jay tasted some different Russian vodkas, including one with chili peppers. It was different. He also bought a bottle of Russian Beer.
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| St Issac Square and monument to Nicholas I |
After dinner, Jay and I played ping pong (I won all 3 games). We went to a special show of Russian Dancers at the ship's theater and it was very good. My only regret is that we didn’t go back into St. Petersburg at night for a Russian Ballet. At 10:00, it was still bright out and the sun was setting after 11:00 at rising at 5:00, but we knew our next day in St. Petersburg was going to be a busy one.
**Travel tip – If you ever get the chance to go to St. Petersburg, I would book your tour through a private company. I also understand that they will take care of your Visa, which is needed in Russia. When talking to a few people on the ship and they did that and they were able to see so much more than we did since they were in smaller groups. One of the couples we met booked a private tour and paid about the same as we did. The two couples from Massachusetts booked with a private company and they had about 16 in their group. Our big group had about 40 people and you know how long it takes to get that many people organized and to keep track of, let alone how long you have to wait for everyone to use the restroom.
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