Today started with some trepidation. Because we had purchased our own tour for St. Petersburg, and because our ship put out multiple warnings that if you were not on one of THEIR tours, you would need a Russian visa to get off the ship & we did know if they were going to let us off the ship. We purchased this tour for $600 over the Internet. The company kept telling us that the ship could not keep us on and would let us off and that we should just march right off like we knew what we were doing. So last night about 10pm we received a phone call from another passenger who was going on the same tour with us. There are 15 of us that purchased this tour and we were all going to meet at one of the bars on the ship at 7am to begin our march together! We are such renegades!
At the appointed time, we began marching and went right off the ship and through the Russian security without as much as a whimper. Whew—that was easy! Our tour guides were waiting for us and we boarded a very nice bus, and off we went! Our guide, Ludmilla, was a Russian lady who was around our age.
At first, we seemed to begin driving in circles and she would go on and on telling us the purpose of each building along the way. We would stop for 10 minutes to take pictures and then continue on. We stopped at five major sights.
The first stop was the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. This was an incredibly beautiful church built on the exact spot where Alexander II was assassinated (hence the name Spilled Blood). The pictures say it all—it was amazing!
Our second stop was at Peter and Paul Cathedral. Most all of the Romanoff Czars were buried there—Peter the Great, Alexander I and II and all their wives. This is also the Peter and Paul Fortress which became Russia’s Tower of London.
>
We then walked over to the Neva River and boarded a boat for a City Tour from the water. The water is so polluted that you can’t possibly swim in it. But since St. Petersburg only has 50 sunny days a year, the banks of the river (all stone and cobblestone) had sunbathers on it.
>
Next, we stopped at St. Isaac’s Russian Orthodox cathedral. It has a huge gold dome (220 tons) on the outside and an incredible interior.
Our final stop was at the famous Hermitage museum. It was huge and had a lot of art and architecture. There were roomfuls of Rembrandts, Picassos, Monet’s, and others. It was kind of like visiting the Louvre in Paris. There was so much to see, you couldn’t even try to see it all in one visit.
By the end of the day we were on culture overload. We had seen so much and heard so much that it all started to blend together. Wow, what a day!
>
Print this post
At the appointed time, we began marching and went right off the ship and through the Russian security without as much as a whimper. Whew—that was easy! Our tour guides were waiting for us and we boarded a very nice bus, and off we went! Our guide, Ludmilla, was a Russian lady who was around our age.
At first, we seemed to begin driving in circles and she would go on and on telling us the purpose of each building along the way. We would stop for 10 minutes to take pictures and then continue on. We stopped at five major sights.
The first stop was the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. This was an incredibly beautiful church built on the exact spot where Alexander II was assassinated (hence the name Spilled Blood). The pictures say it all—it was amazing!
Our second stop was at Peter and Paul Cathedral. Most all of the Romanoff Czars were buried there—Peter the Great, Alexander I and II and all their wives. This is also the Peter and Paul Fortress which became Russia’s Tower of London.
>
We then walked over to the Neva River and boarded a boat for a City Tour from the water. The water is so polluted that you can’t possibly swim in it. But since St. Petersburg only has 50 sunny days a year, the banks of the river (all stone and cobblestone) had sunbathers on it.
>
Next, we stopped at St. Isaac’s Russian Orthodox cathedral. It has a huge gold dome (220 tons) on the outside and an incredible interior.
Our final stop was at the famous Hermitage museum. It was huge and had a lot of art and architecture. There were roomfuls of Rembrandts, Picassos, Monet’s, and others. It was kind of like visiting the Louvre in Paris. There was so much to see, you couldn’t even try to see it all in one visit.
By the end of the day we were on culture overload. We had seen so much and heard so much that it all started to blend together. Wow, what a day!
>
3 comments:
Simply amazing. The architecture, the detail they put into their work. Beautiful. I love the history lessons. :-)
Wow!!! Whenever I think of St. Petersburg, I think of all the glitter and gold that you see in the cartoon movies! I'm glad it's for real!
I'm also glad to see you're alive!
Did you get any of my emails about my heart tests, etc.?
Have fun tomorrow!!!
I am shocked that you guys were soooooo rebelious! I'm glad that St. Petersburg looke EXACTLY like I had imagined it. It's looks so posh, I love it!
Post a Comment