We set sail in the afternoon, this time our destination was St Petersburg, Europe's fourth largest city after Moscow, London and Paris. The city (founded by Peter the Great Tsar of Russia) is located on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Finland and is built on a delta and a network of 65 river channels requiring 400 bridges.
The ship arrived the next day at eight in the morning after leaving Stockholm. Our vessel "Azamara Journey" (being a small ship of only 600 passengers) was able to navigate the Neva River and dock at the River Neva Terminal. The larger ships must dock at the Baltic Port requiring its passengers to take an hour bus ride to reach the city.
Immigration is very strict in Russia. For instance, Estelle and I had not booked a day tour on our first day but had a concert booked for the first evening and as a result we were not allowed to go ashore until that evening. In other words, we were confined to the ship during the day.
The first evening was something very special where the entire ship's passengers were treated exclusively to a concert by the St Petersburg Philharmonic. The Philharmonic (which dates back to 1802) is housed in a building constructed in 1839 and has a seating capacity of 1500. A building such as this one by present day standards (which is so over-elaborate) would be costly to build and decorate. The acoustics were perfect.
As for the music, it was pleasing to the audience especially Tchaikovshy's Swan lake and Italian Capriccio. The concert lasted for two hours without an intermission. I would have stayed for another two hours if it carried on further. It was one of the special little perks that a "top of the line" cruise line provides.
All the buildings visited were very ornamental and were decorated with gilded gold paint. We were told at every location the number of "pounds, not ounces or grams but pounds" of gold that went into the paint. At $1230 US an ounce for gold, it would cost a fortune to build these icons today. Although the paintings of the various masters were the feature item to view, the surrounding rooms and galleries where the paintings were displayed were equally of interest. Everything in the Hermitage and various cathedrals visited was over-whelming.
Oh, by the way, our tour included a four-course lunch at a first-class dining room.
After our lunch, we were taken to one of the subway stations where we rode from one station to another where our driver was waiting. The subway stations in Russia are really art galleries. They are something to visit at no cost. As for cost to construct the St Petersburg's subway was very expensive as it was necessary it be built 300 metres below ground in order to find solid ground. Remember, St Petersburg is built on a delta. First of all, it required that the ground be frozen to access the solid ground and then carefully drill and blast or make use of tunnel borers. All this is very expensive. Contrast this with the Toronto Subway where it was constructed using the relative easy method of "cut and cover" method of construction which is done all from surface.
It was a two-day tour of seven hours each day. By the second day I was really tired even though we were riding for part of the tour. Never-the-less there was plenty of walking. The second started out with a boat trip up the Neva River and to a couple of its tributaries. This gave us some idea of area that the city covered. As mentioned before there are many bridges which we passed under in our boat.
After the boat ride, we had an excursion to Yusupov Palace including the Rasputin Exposition. A display of how Rasputin was murdered which was contained in the Yusupov Palace. Rasputin, a so called holy man, apparently became a close confident to the Tsarena and therefore there was jealousy at court. Afterward we boarded our van and traveled to Pushkin (an hour's ride) formerly known as Tsarskoye Selo where Catherine's Palace and Park are located. At the palace we were given booties to cover our shoes so as not to damage the wooden inlaid flooring. The palace contains the replicated Amber Room once considered the "8th Wonder of the World".
Regarding replicated...The Nazis occupied this area around St Petersburg (Leningrad) for over three years during World War II. On leaving the area in 1945, they destroyed parts of the palace including the Amber Room. The photographs where we exited the palace shows the devastation. Not all of the palace has been restored as this is slow work as there is so much detail that had to be restored. The entrance fee and grants from the State pay for the restoration work.
The next place of interest visited were the gardens around the palace. Peter the Great when visiting France wished to build a garden with 150 cascading fountains for his wife that would rival that of Versailles. He succeeded. The park itself covers 300 acres. Another icon that rivals Versailles is the Grand Palace of Peter the Great in Peterhof as shown in the picture on the next page.
While at the Hermitage, I noticed a quite number of Muslims there viewing the various religious icons and began to wonder what was going through their minds about the Christian religion.
Apparently, not all the collection of paintings and other items are on display at any one time. There are almost an equal number of the collection are in storage. In order to insure these other works are not damaged, the authorities employ between 30 to 40 cats to control the rat population around the Hermitage.
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Below, I have included a write-up of the Hermitage that was given to all passengers
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