We were
off the ship very early and cleared Russian Immigration in record time and
waited for Alla Tours to pick us up. We were greeted by our guide Slava for the
next two days. On our way into St Petersburg, we had a tour of the city passing
the old soccer stadium, along with modern and heritage buildings...many of the
buildings built during the Soviet reign still adorned with the communist emblems.
We entered the subway terminal at the Sports Station and were amazed by the
extensive mosaic’s pictures decorating the terminal and our 60m decent to the
platform...we rode the St. Petersburg subway train to the Admiral station where
we ascended 70m or 200 feet by escalator to the Nevsky Prospekt street exit.
After exiting the subway, we walked up the Nevsky Prospekt Street, St.
Petersburg’s Champs- Élysées lined with shopping arcades...next we came upon
the historic Singer Building, and we crossed the street to the beautiful Our
Lady of Kazan Cathedral. We passed the Griboedova Canal for a distant view of
the Church of Our Saviour on Spilled Blood. The next highlight of the day was
our tour of the Hermitage Museum within the Winter Palace...the mere size of
the building, grandeur and opulence would take your breath way...the Hermitage
with its spectacular staircases and marble structures is the largest art museum
in the world housing over 3 million items including the largest collection of
paintings in the world from daVinci to Rembrandt...we were very fortunate to
have Slava as our guide to maneuver the ins and outs of the Museum avoiding the
huge crowds. We made a quick stop at a local a coffee house for Russian style pierogi
berry pie and drinks... Slava guided us thorough the historic city center a
UNESCO World Heritage site in pursuit of Baroque and neoclassical buildings. On
our way out of town we drove past Catherine the Great monument, the Gostiny
Dvor, the oldest department store in St. Petersburg, St. Nicholas Cathedral and
bell tower, Holy Trinity Cathedral and Seven Bridges Place. Next, we drove
south towards Catherine’s Summer Palace, passing the Romanov Monastery and
Moscow Triumph Gate...celebrating independence from Ottoman Turkey. The summer
palace is in located in the town of Pushkin named after the famous Russian
writer Alexander Pushkin...Passing the gate at the summer palace was a wow
moment...the size and the grandeur...surrounded by beautiful gardens...the
palace in its day was a gathering place for Russian aristocracy in the 18th
century...the palace suffered significant damage by the Nazis...after a 20 year
restoration project, the waiting rooms and ballrooms have been
restored....today allot of it has been restored to its original grandeur with
exquisite painted ceilings, the grand stair case and the Amber Room. On our
return to the ship, since the sun was shining, we made a quick photo stop for
City Hall, Admiralty Tower and St. Issacs Cathedral. This was Ann, Cathy and my
first visit to St. Petersburg and it was well worth it...we were all amazed at
the vast expanse of the buildings...it was a great day with excellent guide and
driver.
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