Sunday | June 12, 2016
Today began early after a long night last night. We gathered downstairs at 8:00 AM to meet this phenomenal city. Today, we had a tour guide named Valera, who provided us with a wealth of information about St. Petersburg.
The total population of Russia today is a little more than 143 million people. Natives of St. Petersburg take joy in the fact that both President Putin and Chairman Medvedev were born in St. Petersburg, or as it was called then, Leningrad. Russia spans 11 times zones, which is amazing considering the United States only has three. St. Petersburg itself is made up of 17 separate districts. Within St. Petersburg, no buildings are allowed to be taller than the Winter Palace. As result, skyscrapers may only be found outside the city.
Peter the Great (not me – the guy from 1703) stood astride his trusty steed in one of the city squares.
Peter the Great obtained that status because he conquered Sweden and recovered the Russian territory Sweden had taken from it decades earlier. He then granted land to people to encourage them to come to St. Petersburg and help build the city and its palaces.
This city sure has had a lot of name changes! It was originally named St. Petersburg, but then changed to Petrograd in 1920, so it would not have such a German sounding name. Shortly thereafter, following the revolution, the name was changed to Leningrad. Much later, following what the Russians refer to as “the collapse” in 1990, citizens of the city were able to vote and had the name changed back to St. Petersburg.
Behind this yellow arch are the tombs of Tchaikovsky and Dostoevsky.
Arrangements were made for us to visit the world famous Faberge museum prior to its official opening time. It has the largest collection of works by Peter Carl Faberge, many of which were once owned by the Russian Imperial family. The building housing them is the neoclassical Shuvalov Palace.
While the Faberge eggs are clearly the highlight of the museum, there are over 1,500 other pieces, more than the celebrated collection at the Kremlin Armory Museum. The artwork is amazing and includes several paintings by Renoir.
Gold and silver pieces are everywhere.
This building boasts another majestic staircase.
And, as was the case in the Hermitage, the ceilings are resplendent.
Russian entrepreneur Viktor Vekselberg has spent the past 10 years repatriating works sold by the Bolshevics in the 1920s and 30s. Among these are the imperial coronation egg created in 1897 by Faberge Masters.
Of the 50 imperial eggs, nine have been collected.
Before we could walk through the museum, we had to put little white booties over our shoes, the type we wear on our carpets at home.
Interestingly, in 1805, Faberge was granted permission to use the Russian coat of arms on his snuff or tobacco boxes. He was not consumed with precious stones or silver and gold. Design was his primary focus; he believed he was making “little things that are the perfect gifts.”
After leaving this breathtaking facility, we drove around town a bit more and noticed that there are monuments everywhere, and an extraordinary number of churches and palaces. And by the way, when Peter the Great originally had his palace constructed, it was made of wood.
We returned to the ship and had a little lunch before taking naps to prepare for the evening.
At 3:00 PM, we gathered downstairs and headed out once again to see more of this enchanting city. We delved deeper into the Romanov legacy during our visit to the royal estates of Catherine I and that of her son Paul.
Our guide explained to us that Catherine’s palace was the summer residence of all the czars since her time. She also told us a little bit more about the communal apartments that the Soviets required after World War II, forcing hundreds of people to live together in apartments intended for barely a dozen.
On the way to town, we passed a monument to the siege of Leningrad.
We also noticed that McDonald’s is prevalent in this city, something that did not make us happy.
Our guide, Svetlana, told us that Russia’s first road was built in 1850, linking Moscow and Leningrad. It was only 13 years earlier, in 1837, that Russia’s first railroad was constructed, linking those same two metropolises.
After quite a long ride, we arrived at Paul’s Palace, also known as Pavlovsk, the youngest of the various royal estates in or near St. Petersburg. After all, it was only built in 1777. Built on land given to him by his mother, Catherine, Paul’s Palace boasts a warm yellow neoclassical façade and two extensive curved wings leading to Square pavilions.
Unfortunately it was raining, and we had to walk quite a while outside, but we were still in awe of this majestic edifice.
The artwork was amazing.
The walls were made of an artificial marble, which is a combination of real marble and plaster. The result is a substance that looks and feels just like marble but is lighter so it does not cause the building to sink into the bog.
Svetlana told us that Paul did not have a separate bedroom. He slept in his office because emperors were considered so busy they didn’t need bedrooms. They were always thinking of nations to conquer. As a result, he slept on a chair or a bed that was rolled into his office.
Very interesting were the bookended pair of rooms entitled War and Peace.
These amazing green columns were made of malachite.
This fancy bedroom was only for the woman of the house to invite friends for morning toilet rituals. The shape of the bed made it impossible to sleep here.
I fancy this piece that is entitled gossiping ladies, perhaps because it reminds me of what happens on the ship.
Svetlana explained to us that if the marble was blackened it meant it was burned from fires during the war. But if it was grey, it meant that it had been “evacuated”, or buried to prevent its discovery during the war.
It was always well known that pieces of art would be buried less than 1 m below the surface of the earth to hide them from invaders. Because the Russians were aware that the Nazis knew that procedure, the Russians buried all the pieces from the palaces 2 m below the earth, so the Nazis never found them. Detailed maps were made to memorialize the location of all the pieces that were buried; but where some pieces were not accounted for on a map, and the person who buried them subsequently died, those pieces were lost forever.
We found this Chapel especially enchanting.
But once again, I remained absolutely fascinated by the magnificent ceilings, with one being better than the next all afternoon long.
Tapestries adorned the walls.
The parquet floors were also breathtaking.
Musical instruments were unique and beautiful.
We then boarded the bus and after a short drive arrived at Tsarskoe Selo, the town containing the former summer residence of the Russian Imperial family. Catherine’s palace is a baroque turquoise, white and gold summer estate; it was started in 1728 and completed in 1756. This grandiose complex stretches over 1000 feet, each room more magnificent than the last. Among our favorite highlights today were the great Hall, the picture gallery, and the Amber room.
The entry gates gave way to the most opulent palace we have seen so far in Russia.
One of the greatest differences between Catherine’s Palace and Paul’s Palace is the enormity of the rooms in Catherine’s palace. This ballroom, for example, is 1100 m² and has 14 sets of French doors.
The intricacies, the mirrors and the gold inside this room were beyond description.
Check out this porcelain piece, which is really just a heater. They were present in many of the rooms.
We saw more pieces of beautiful furniture.
Once again, the ceilings were the stars of the day in this building.
In some rooms, tables were set as if state dinners were about to be held.
Perhaps most impressive was the Amber Room, but unfortunately no photography of any kind was allowed in this room. It is difficult to describe the different colors and hues of amber that adorned the entire room. The room sustained extensive damage during World War II and the required 6 tons of amber, and $12 million to be restored.
This proud soldier is Alexander I.
We saw some photographs depicting the workers packing the artwork for hiding during World War II.
We also saw photographs memorializing Pres. Putin’s recent visit to the palace.
Outside the Palace, the grounds were breathtaking.
And the turrets above the west wing were nothing short of magnificent.
Finally, we took a short bus ride to a local restaurant where we enjoyed a three-course traditional Russian meal in a lodge-like setting.
Guidebooks refer to this restaurant as “the most Russian of all Russian restaurants.” Moreover, it is favored by Pres. Vladimir Putin and other prominent Russian leaders.
The entertainment was enjoyable.
Everyone had a good time.
But what really contributed to it was the unending flow of vodka. Every time we finished a bottle, they replaced it with another one. One of our dear friends was literally filling his water glass with vodka. At times, he, and several other residents, stood on chairs. And at times, they fell off!
In the bus on the way back, one of the ship's female residents had to urinate badly. I egged her on because I had to do the same. We convinced the driver to stop across the road from McDonald’s. Then, at 11 o’clock at night, I grabbed her by the hand and took her across four lanes of traffic. All went well, except the residents were displeased that we did not return to the bus with bags of French fries for all. Drunk and exhausted, we went to bed. (We later learned that one of our fellow residents had to be physically carried out of the restaurant he was so drunk.)
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