6-11-14

6-11-14 – St. Petersburg, Russia

We left the ship on time, at 7:45 a.m.   However, when we tried to go through customs, they wanted the ticket for our tour.  But we did not have it because the customs officer had taken it yesterday. Nothing we said would cause the agent to let us through.  So Roger went back on the ship while I sat in the ship’s outdoor tent.  He spoke with Oscar, our concierge.  Roger ended up getting on the internet and printing our tour ticket, again.  As a result, we were 15 minutes late to meet Maria and our friends.

We have a new driver today and a smaller, but very nice van.  Maria introduced us to him and said his name was Vladimir.  She began our tour by explaining that Peter the Great toured Europe when he was a young man.  He actually worked in the shipyard in Holland under an assumed name, so that no one would know who he really was.  When he returned to Russia, he hired many of the employees of the shipyard to build the Russian fleet.

Peter had several hobbies.  One was watching butterflies.  Another was pulling the teeth of people who had serious toothaches.  He had a special bag where he put all the teeth that he had pulled.

He toured Kensington, in England, where he watched the English Navy train for naval battles.  So when he returned to his native Russia, he knew how to train his own fleet of ships.  Peter introduced European clothes to his people.  He did not like the traditional long beards of the Russian society, so he prohibited them.  Because the beard had historically been seen as a sign of respect many Russians did not wish to shave their beards.  So Peter told his people that they could keep them but they would have to pay a special tax, to do so.

Alcoholism was a great concern of Peter the Great.  In order to discourage such behavior, he ordered that people who displayed alcoholism would have a noose put around their necks for several days.  After beginning this practice, very few people became alcoholics. 

Peter the Great was married twice.  His first wife, Katharina (Katherine) had 10 children, but only two survived, both daughters:  Anna and Elisabeth.  Katherine was illiterate and died at an early age.  But her daughter, Elisabeth ruled for 20 years. 

Peter the Great (the first) was the first of the Russian royalty to obtain a divorce.  (Vladimir Putin was the second.)  He sent his first wife, Katharina (Katherine), to live in a nunnery.  The woman whom he remarried was three years older than himself.  The Russian people did not like the second wife because she was a Lithuanian laundress.  When the marriage first occurred, it was kept secret.  Then in 1712 the public were told of the marriage.  There was one son from this union, his named was Alexei. 

Maria, had our driver take us to an open-air tourist boat.  We took a short ride along the Neva River.  Maria explained that the rivers and canals of St. Petersburg are an integral part of the city, in the same way as they are for the city of Venice, Italy.  They are part of the identity of the city.  Along the route, she pointed out the University of Mining, on of the oldest universities in St. Petersburg.  

Next she noted the sight of the previous palace of a close friend of Peter’s, Alexander Marshekoff.  He gave him property along the river, where Marshekoff  built a beautiful palace, even more magnificent than Peter could afford.  However, in later years, this man lost favor with Peter, due to his poor behavior, and his property was confiscated.  It is now part of the Hermitage Museum.

Maria pointed out several of the sights we had visited yesterday.  The spire of the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul is the highest structure in St. Petersburg.  The fortress surrounding the church has cannons which give one shot each day @ 12:00 noon, to help the people of St. Petersburg keep in touch with the time.

We passed Trinity Bridge, which was built in 1903.  There was a contest for the design of the bridge.  The winner used a similar design to that of the Eiffel Tower, in Paris, France.  As a result, it is often referred to as the “Eiffle Bridge”.   Our Boat soon traveled past the Winter Palace of Peter the Great, with its huge adjacent gardens.  It was destroyed during the war and only recently restored.  The park is open to the public and many of the citizens go there just to sit in the peaceful surroundings and use the free internet service that is available there.

Much of the narration that Maria spoke today was a duplication of information we had learned yesterday.  I assume that is because the boat had many other passengers in addition to our private group.  Rather than being disappointed by this, I was grateful to have a brake from writing notes.  I relaxed, settled back and enjoyed the ride.

It was quite interesting to see the Hermitage Museum from the water.  We learned that the Hermitage Bridge was the first stone bridge erected in St. Petersburg.  Maria noted that all of the bridges in St. Petersburg were purposely built very low, so as to avoid obstructing the view of the city’s beautiful architecture. 

Next we took a 40 minute ride on a Hydrofoil boat.  It is a high speed, low vessel, used as a type of long distance water taxi.  It took us to Peterhof, the “brain child” of Peter the Great, after having visited Versailles.  The palace gardens contain over 100 fountains, all of which work using the principle of gravity, rather than electric pumps.  The fountains work from 11 am – 6 pm, May through September.

The central fountain has a very majestic water jet that shots 21 meters (21 feet ) high.  There are 5 cascading fountains that push 1000 liters(264 gallons) of water per second.  The different water jet patterns are created using pipes with different diameters.  Water is collected from springs and flows into pools.  The Gardens are laid out in two different styles: French and English.   In one area, there is a statue of Neptune, the God of the Sea.  Its feet are very shiny due to the fact that tourist rub them for good luck.

During WW II, the Germans occupied this area and cut down over 10,000 trees, just because they wish to see the garden’s destruction.  The Palace, itself, was almost destroyed and landmines were left in the ground to cause further harm and devastation.  Over 5 million tourists come to the palace each year, making it the #1 tourist attraction in St. Petersburg.  Restoration began in 1945 and continues to this day.  All of the restorations are 100% authentic, with no changes in the original designs.       

    

Peter the Great lived at this palace from 1714-1720.  Then he had a more modest house built in the Dutch design, as he loved everything Dutch.  It was actually his wife’s suggestion that he build another home because he had to travel from St. Petersburg to Kronstadt, so often to protect it from Swedish invasion.  The “home” is built right on the water, with a beautiful view across the Baltic Sea.  It certainly confirms Peter’s loved of the sea and the sea air.  This was one of the few structures that was not destroyed during the war.

As we proceeded back into the gardens, Maria showed us the “tree fountain”.  It was planned by Peter, as a humorous diversion.  This fountain comes on when someone sits on the nearby bench, causing them to get wet.  Not only would the ladies hair and clothes get wet, but the flour that they used on their faces would turn to dough.  Peter thought it was quite funny and liked seeing what the women’s faces really looked like.  (Its doubtful that the women shared Peter’s sense of humor about this fountain.)    

In 1721 a “water road” fountain was installed.  It is comprised of 300 water jets placed at ground level.  It shoots arches of water over the walkway.  Anyone who is under it when the fountain comes on will get wet (yet another joke of Peter the Great).  In the center of the upper level of the garden is a cascade with three statues of dragons.  The fountain is tiered and contains black and white tiles.  There is also a fountain with a statue of Titan, one of the mythical gods.  The largest fountain in the Winter Palace gardens is the one with the statue of Samson.  It was dedicated to the victory of Russia over Sweden, following the Northern War, from 1700-1721.  The statue stands 3 meters (9 feet) high.   

Once our tour of the palace gardens was complete, our van driver picked us up and took us all to lunch.  It was an even better meal than yesterday.  The main dish was chicken and rice in a creamy sauce.  We finished our meal sooner than Maria expected.  She was quite embarrassed when she realized we were all out front waiting on her.  She apologized and told us that had never happened to her before.  We certainly were not upset, but were enjoying a break from rushing around. 

 

We got back in the van and started our 50 minute drive to our final destination-Catherine’s Palace.  While in route,  we passed a large residence owned by Vladamir Putin, the current president of Russia.  It is called Constantine’s Palace, but Putin does not actually live there.  The palace is used for formal meetings and is not open to the public. 

When we arrived at Catherine’s palace, I was surprised to discover that the exterior is painted baby blue, with white and gold trim.  Though the palace was built for Catherine, it was her daughter, Elisabeth who actually lived there.  There is a very large courtyard in front of the palace that measures 800 meters (2,624 feet).   Maria told us the familiar onion shaped domes, used in many of the palaces, represents bringing in the light of a candle.    There are 12 statues in the front of the palace that look like Atlas, as they appear to be holding up the building.  When we first entered, we were given cloth booties to cover our shoes, to protect the beautiful decorative floors.

The first anteroom was filled with golden columns and mounding and marble fireplaces.  The second room was where guests were offered a cup of tea in the finest chinaware.  The table would have been full of food and is still decorated with 300 golden apples.  Next, we entered the Throne Room.  It is also called the Light Gallery, as it has chandeliers containing 696 lamps.  (They were originally candles, but are now electric light bulbs.)  The parquet floors have many different patterns, including several types of stars.

Catherine’s Palace was destroyed and rebuilt 6 times.  The staircase area is filled with Chinese and Japanese porcelains vases.  Somehow, these were saved during the war.  On either side of the staircase, there are two statues of Cupid.  On the east side of the room, he is waking up and on the west side, he is falling asleep.  The Exhibition Room contains a portrait of Nicholas the II and his wife, Alexandria.  Maria also pointed out a photograph on the wall that shows the Empress and her daughter working as nurses during the war.  It was important to Catherine that she help her people in a very personal, practical way.   

Maria then told us about a very expensive quirk of Princess Elizabeth.  She never wore the same dress twice.  He had over 5,000 dresses.  In order to insure that the dresses would not be available after the first wearing, she had marks made on the front of the dress.

The next room we entered in Catherine’s Palace, was one where pictures were not allowed.  It is called the Amber Room, for obvious reasons.  The walls are completely covered in pieces of amber.  The room was commissioned by Elizabeth.  This room is considered the “8^th Wonder of the World”.  During WW II the Germans removed the amber wall panels and hid them.  After the war, there was an extensive investigation to try and find the lost treasure.  However, the amber panels were never found.  In 1979 The Russian government decided to recreate the amber room.  It took 6 tons of amber and cost $12 million.  It was finally completed in 2003.  So far, 50 rooms have been restored.  This is only half of the rooms in the palace.  The other half are waiting until funds are available, as the project is very costly.

The bedroom of Alexander I has all of its original furniture.  His study is decorated in emerald green, including the silk chair covers, the silk fire screen and the tablecloth.  The Green Dining room is designed in a pale green, from the walls, chairs, door and tablecloth.  The last room on the palace tour is a hall that contains photographs of the destruction created by the Germans in WW II, of the different rooms in the palace.  One photo showed a bomb that was left, in order to cause greater devastation.  There was also a photo of one of the restorers who spent two years studying the technique for silk painting.  It was interesting to note that the restorers were allowed to sign their art work, though it was a replication of the originals.   The last section of photographs shows famous people who have toured Catherine’s Palace.  They included Queen Elizabeth of England and President and Laura Bush.

It was 2:55 were our tour was over.  The van brought us back into town to a tourist shop, where everyone had an opportunity to buy gifts.  Roger and I had already bought souvenirs the previous day and were glad we did, as the prices at this store were much higher.    When we returned to the ship, we were met by the owner of the tour company and were given orange and white ballpoint pens (orange, being the tour companies color).  We shared out complements of the great job Maria’s had done on our tour.