6. Aug 23: St. Petersburg - 1 of 3

6. Aug 23: St. Petersburg, Russia, Day 1 of 3

 Arriving on the Neva River, to dock near the bridge seen in the distance center and left.

We arrived in St. Petersburg on Sunday. It is a beautiful city, in many ways – we noticed particularly the buildings on either side of the Neva River, where our ship was docked. Great colors, interesting facades, and...practically no people, not on Sunday, not on Monday or Tuesday, either. My impression of the river area is that the building facades are like makeup – but in this case, there didn't seem to be anything underneath/behind. Adding to the St.Petersburg Theme Park impression, all the buildings lining the riverfront were brilliantly lit all night. And in the blocks behind the buildings on the river streets, there were never any lights on. It was strange, and a bit eerie. The facades have been fixed or created anew, but what's underneath doesn't seem to have been taken care of. We saw on one bus tour buildings where the facade had crumbled, revealing worn red brick beneath. And again, the buildings closer to downtown also seemed empty. 

 

I was told later by someone familiar with the city that “downtown” is a happening area, with good and interesting restaurants and cafes, and the like. But we saw almost no signs of life down by the cruise ship piers.

History: during the Nazi siege of St. Petersburg, from 1941-1944, the city was surrounded by enemy troops, although they never penetrated into the city itself. That defense is epic and well worth applauding and admiring. However, the city was bombarded relentlessly; 1/3 of the buildings were damaged, and 1/7 of them were destroyed completely. The rebuilding continues even now.

Many buildings are covered in a gauzy kind of netting/wrap – no work going on beneath, but the structures are shrouded to keep the damage from being seen. And on the other hand, some spectacularly magnificent churches and cathedrals, many covered in gold.

Our morning tour was to the Winter Palace and the Hermitage. The Hermitage is a mind-blower. All of the incarnations of the Hermitage are connected within the Winter Palace. There is an incredible amount of gorgeous art works – it's almost too much to take in, even in a quick tour. And the rooms themselves are works of art on their own. Some of them display an opulence that is almost embarrassing. And I could not help but wonder what price had been paid by the peons, the peasants, the poor, for all of that splendor. 

Is it my imagining/hallucinating, or is there a face near the window end of this ceiling painting?

A  throne room and closeup of the ceiling above the throne

Malachite vase, probably about 6' tall

 If I'm not mistaken, this is a self-portrait by Rembrandt

 

After that, we returned to the ship for lunch, and then back out for a bus and boat tour of canals and rivers; it's called by some the Venice of the North. The guide on the tour boat had given us all earbuds, the same kind as on the HOHOSOSO buses in Copenhagen, with similar problems: her microphone kept cutting out, and then, she would, it seemed, time her narrative so that much of it came out while we were going under very low bridges, which acted as bass reflex speakers for the motor noise, drowning her out completely. A couple of us approached her and mentioned that the sound was cutting out, and her amazingly rude reply was, “You've seen beautiful St. Petersburg,” and she turned and walked away. No apology, no acknowledgment, nothing. That was so atypical of the guides we had had up to that point, it was stunning.