Dear Readers,
As I type, the ship is pulling out of St. Petersburg. We have just spent 3
days here; it is why I selected this particular cruise. One can’t really
travel around Russia by oneself (unless you’re related to Craig’s in-laws!),
so I thought this would be the best way to go.
We have mixed feelings about our time here. Let’s talk about going to
Russia first (as opposed to sightseeing in St. Petersburg). Even though
it’s now a “free and open” society, the Russian authorities boarded the ship
when we arrived to make sure all was in order. Then they set up a passport
control center attached to the ship. Every single time you left the ship
and each time you returned, you had to show your passport to them; on a day
where we had 2 day time and one evening excursion, that meant 6 times.
Sometimes they took a long time and sometimes not so long. On the evening
when we went to the ballet, the customs official asked Marty for his ballet
ticket (which was in my possession at that moment and I was on another
line); guess he didn’t look like someone who goes to the ballet; (no
comment!) On that level, our visit was a bit disturbing. Also, the places
we went sightseeing were all extremely opulent (you cannot imagine the
amount of gold in all of the palaces) but ordinary places were dingy and
unattractive.
Sightseeing in St. Petersburg, however was terrific and I’m sure will be the
highlight of our Baltic Sea experience. As I mentioned, we couldn’t do
anything on our own, so we had signed up for numerous excursions hoping to
cover the highlights. We went to numerous palaces including Peterhof (which
was Peter the Great’s summer palace – magnificent huge rooms with lots and
lots of gold and 150 fountains in the garden), Catherine’s Palace in Pushkin
(more huge rooms and a special room called the Amber Room where all was made
of amber–this is the big thing here; Joyce has bought herself earrings, a
necklace, a pin and a bracelet made out of amber), Paul’s Palace in Pavlovsk
(not as impressive as the others).
One of the tours was entitled “daily life in St. Petersburg”; we rode on the
Metro; (I had heard it was beautiful; an understatement; marble columns,
bas reliefs; each station different); we went to a department store that had
all of the same cosmetic brands as in the States and a fully stocked
supermarket (I was remembering the stories of people waiting on line for
hours for a loaf of bread; Marty had no problem buying Russian black
bread!), we went to a market that was similar to the one we went to in
Stockholm and lastly we went to a vodka tasting (yeah, we had fun there).
After that they took us to a souvenir store which was right near Nevsky
Prospect (their Fifth Avenue); instead Marty and I went for a short walk by
ourselves (I guess we broke the rules!); that was great; we are soo NOT tour
people!
On another day we were taken to a typical Russian restaurant for lunch (in
between our activities); they kept bringing out strange things to eat;
mostly we didn’t care for the food except the borscht which was hot (not
cold) and delicious.
I almost left out my favorite sightseeing excursion which was the Hermitage;
what a museum. Then again when you have the Met within walking distance
(and spend as much time there as I do), the art itself is not quite as
overwhelming. The major difference is that part of the museum was the
Winter Palace of the tsars and so the rooms are just incredible; you don’t
know where to look first–the floors, the walls, the ceilings, the
chandeliers; really overwhelming. The other big difference is the Gold Room
which is really 5 rooms with the most intricate pieces of gold objects
dating back to the 2nd century BCE. We saw paintings by Leonardo da Vinci,
Raphael, Caravaggio, Canaletto, Velazquez, El Greco, Rembrandt, Renoir,
Monet, Pisarro, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse and Picasso. Of course,
we’ve all seen paintings by these masters. What I enjoyed most was a Van
Gogh painting entitled “The Lilac Bush” which was one of his last paintings
and different from others that I’ve seen.
Since we were here for 2 evenings, we also had evening activities in St.
Petersburg (as opposed to on the ship). As mentioned above, one night the 3
of us went to the ballet; we saw Swan Lake which was really fun for Joyce
and I to see in Russia; Marty slept through part of it but claims he enjoyed
it!
The other night Joyce and I went to Yusupov Palace; Marty opted not to go
since he thought it was an evening of opera which turned out to be a very
small portion of the evening; (his loss; I think he just needed a break!)
It started with a tour of the palace; it’s where Rasputin was murdered.
After the tour there was a reception with champagne and caviar and an
ensemble played music while cavaliers and ladies-in-waiting danced the
minuet; I kid you not. And then they led us into the theatre to hear some
opera arias. Joyce and I were at the head of the line and led everyone in.
I’m sure none of you are surprised by that. I think this evening was
Joyce’s favorite experience in St. Petersburg.
Anyway that about covers our stay here. We are now en route to Helsinki
Finland where we will continue with “Haber Tours” as opposed to this formal
organized stuff! Will attempt to keep you all informed. Hope you’re all
enjoying this; we certainly are.
Keep well and keep those e.mails sailing across the sea.
With love,
The Roving Reporter
Irene
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