St. Petersburg, Russia

Man, today and yesterday were tough tourist days. Yesterday we got up at 5, breakfast in the room then off for a full day of touring. During the evening we went to the ballet. We got back to the ship at 12:19am. Today, up at 6 and back on board at 5:30, not quite as bad but certainly not restful either.

Our main tour on Friday was of Catherine’s palace, the Hermitage and also a Russian lunch. That may not sound like a lot but it was. Our guide was a petite middle aged lady who was very knowledgeable and opinionated. We saw her bully a policeman who was trying to search a purse of a lady in our group. She pretty much just sent him away. She said he is just trying to make himself look important (insert Russian accent). She also had not so nice things to say about Mr. P. Woody said she would have been tossed in the gulag back in the day.

Anyway, she talked non stop about Russian history for two days as she led us through palaces, cathedrals, the Hermitage and endless photo stops. It was very interesting and fun but she talked so much on the bus rides she could lull me to sleep. I must have not recovered fully from my jet lag yet.

Back to the tours. Catherine’s palace was breathtaking. A lot of the palace had been destroyed by the Nazis in WWII so it has taken many years to reconstruct. It was really sad looking at the before and after Nazi photos.

The most entertaining was a performance by a group in a building by the lake at the palace. Four guys sang the most beautiful Russian song. It sounded like they were a huge choir with background music but it was just the four guys. I’ll try to post a video.

We had lunch at a cute Russian restaurant where we had pickled vegetables, tomatoes with cheese and mayo topping, mushroom soup, borscht soup, beef stroganoff and for dessert, a crepe with mystery Russian berries. They had a bottle of vodka for each table but we passed on it. It was hard enough staying awake sober.

Next we visited the Hermitage which was wonderful too. Very much like the Louvre, it was too much to see in one visit but luckily, our guide took us straight to points of interest. The most interesting story she told us was about the cats living in the Hermitage. They were originally placed there many years ago to keep the rats and mice from chewing works of art stored in the basement. Now, the secretary of the museum is in charge of them and they have their own private chef. The cats roam at night so we didn’t get to see any of them but I liked that story and thought it was something.

Today, we went to the Church of the Savor on Spilled Blood, Peterhof Palace with many stops between. The Church was beautiful and it also had to be reconstructed and it was way to crowded. The inside was all done in mosaics with brilliant colors. You just don’t see things like this in modern construction, especially in the US. It would cost a fortune to build it today.

We had lunch in a banquet hall with beef stroganoff. Also tonight, beef stroganoff on the menu. Lots of stroganoff here....

So tomorrow off to Estonia.