Racing through St. Petersburg

The day in St Petersburg was the most discussed day of the whole trip in the months leading up to it. There are alot of attractions to see in the city and we were on a mission to make sure we didn't miss anything, while squeezing it all into a set time limit. Our tour guide, Yelena, wasn't even sure if we had time for bathroom stops! The day started with a driving tour of the city. We past a couple of historic buildings and even stopped by a Russian Orthodox mass on the way to our first big stop, St Issac's Cathedral. St. Issac's is the largest church in the city and was the largest in Russia when it was built. In front of the cathedral and overlooking the Neva river, is the symbol of St Petersburg, the Bronze Horseman. It portrays Peter the Great and sits atop what is called the Thunder Stone. It is said the be the largest stone ever moved by man and took 400 men 9 months to move the stone from Finland to where it rests now. The next stop was the Rostral Columns, which were used as beacons in the past and are still lit from time to time on special occasions. The 4 ships on the columns represent the 4 great rivers in Russia.

Our interaction with the locals came at our stop at the eternal flame. A group of guys, that were probably still up from the night before, and despite not speaking English, were able to entertain us with a musical rendition of the Bee Gees. After the entertainment it was off to the Church of our Savior on Spilt Blood. On the exterior it resembles St Basil's in Moscow but the interior is entirely made of mosaic. Alexander II was mortally wounded on this spot and the church was built in his honor. Actually after listening to our guide Yelena, assassination was a common theme among Russian royalty, and was very often caused by members of the same family eager to seize power. After the city part of the tour we headed about 45 minutes out of the city to the Catherine Palace. It was the winter residence of the Kings and Queens and it's most known for the Amber Room, a room completely made out of the gem amber. During World War 2 the German army occupied the palace and upon leaving left it in shambles and looted most of the art and sculpture, including every panel in the Amber Room. No one is sure what happened to the room, and to this day the Amber Room remains one of the most sought after treasures in history.









After another 45 minute drive we arrived at the Peterhof Palace. This palace lies on the ocean and was the summer residence for the royals. The biggest attraction at the Peterhof is the massive gardens and fountains on display. Yelena told us that no pumps are used for the fountains and that they are all come from the mountains behind the city. Considering some of the fountains spray 20 feet in the air it is quite remarkable, and almost unbelievable. Some of our group were adamant that she was lying, so further investigation is indeed required! After walking around the grounds for some time we boarded the hydrofoil boat back to the city. The last stop of the day was at the Hermitage Museum. It is the second largest museum, behind the Louvre in Paris, and we took about an hour to speed around the whole place. It was one of the best museum tours I have ever done, as Yelena just picked out the highlights and had great information about each artist and painting. The museum has 3 millions items including paintings by Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Monet, and Picasso. We learned that all of the pieces in the museum were acquired by purchase, rather than brought back as spoils from wars over the years, as is common in other countries national museums.

It was a long and sometimes frantic day in St. Petersburg, but overall it was unbelievable and unforgettable. Russians are a proud people and we learned alot about their culture and history from our guide. The city is beautiful and unique and every monument and church is highlighted by a great story. Tomorrow we dock in Tallinn, Estonia.