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Dobry Dyen!
I'd gotten up at what seemed to be the crack of dawn to have breakfast with my cruisemates and off the ship to meet up with my tourmates by 7:30 A.M. We'd all finished breakfast and I sort of had a weird feeling in my gut. Not sure what that was all about, but it was weird. I wasn't sure if I was afraid of what was in store, or if I really wanted to go to bed. I headed through the gangway and lined-up with what seemed to be the entire ship. I met up with a few people who were taking outside tours and then found out, some of them were actually on my tour. That was a relief. Now I'd read that the ship will only allow tourists off who purchased tours from the cruiseline. We were instructed that we had to wait, by the hall monitor, but as soon as she left, we all headed down behind the group she'd let through. Piece of cake! We'd got off the ship only to be herded into a customs facility. There were only a few customs officers available. After about 10 minutes, we were herded again to another line. This had to be the slowest line of all. I figured they wanted DNA samples in this line, but I guess people hate their jobs whever you go. I'd gotten through and my passport stamped and a nice looking gentleman asked (from the other side- the darkside, LOL) if I was on the Denrus Tour. I said, "yes" and nodded also, as I could tell he didn't speak fluent English. I guess he went back out to tell the coordinator that there were Denrus tourists in the long/slow lines. I peeked in a gift shoppe inside the terminal. Then headed over to a young red-haired woman holding a Denrus, INC. placard. She bowed and told me to line up near the window, while we wait for the others. There were a lot of redheads in the small customs area. I wondered if the red, was their natural color. Some were more red than others. Our tourguide, Lana, was a thin woman, but oh was she energetic. I see now that I'd be lagging behind. She took us to our tourbus, which of course was dead last. We boarded and she introduced us to our driver, Alexander. It was a dreary wet day, the kind you'd really want to sleep in on. I didn't pack my emergency raincoats (I know, I couldn't believe it either). They were in my luggage from last week's concert weekend. But it didn't look to bad, I thought I'd be okay. I absolutely hate to be wet. I can even be cold, but wet is really not my cup of tea. Anywho, everyone scattered on the bus, but why not? We don't know each other. I sat across from the back door. I could let everyone pile off and then I could take my time, getting down the steps. Remember, I'm broke down from all that walking in the past 4 cities. Lana handed us all a large white envelope. In it were our receipts for the tour, a Den-Rus newsletter, a local entertainment newletter (mostly in Russian), 2 postcards and a souvenir CD. Lana, started our tour with a small overview. "There are 5M people living in St. Petersburg and English is only spoken by tourguides and interpreters." Hmmmmmm. We were told not to forget our cameras, if you do, you'll regret it for the rest of your life, as St. Petersburg is a photographer's Mecca. She told us a few more things, but while I was writing my eyes got heavy. We toured the historical downtown areas and then departed to the town of Pushkin (formerly known as Prince - just joking. Formerly known as Tsarskoye Selo), where the Imperial Summer Residence, The Catherine's Palace is located, about 25 miles south of St. Petersburg. I think this was about a 2 hour drive, so, since I was in the back, I decided to close my eyes for a few minutes. I think a few in the group, did the same.
About 10 A.M. we arrived at Catherine's Palace. The town is situated near Tsarskoe Selo roughly 25 kilometers from St. Petersburg. The central attraction is the Great Palace. It was a royal residence given by Catherine II as a present to her son Pavel. The palace grounds have a natural, rolling geography which makes it very attractive. The beauty of the landscape combines with some interesting architectural constructions: columns, pavilions and bridges. You can find about 200 marble and bronze sculptures made by famous masters of the past. The stunning centrepiece of the imperial residence of Tsarskoe Selo . The blue, white and gold baroque facade is over 300 meters long and unsurprisingly dominates the surrounding estate. The original incarnation was designed in 1752 by Rastrelli (of Winter Palace fame) under guidance from Elizabeth I. As photographs on display inside show, the palace was utterly destroyed by invading German forces and work still goes on to repair the damage. However, a good deal of the palace is open to the public, including the glittering Great Hall and the Amber Room, the original contents of which are still being sought in Germany. Lana led us through the Grand Hall, which is actually amazing. I do mean amazing, as I am definitely not a museum person. Then we strolled on through the Golden Suite of Rooms. These people did NOT live a green life. There's so much gold and guilding here, I probably could paint my entire house with it, inside and out.
Now the really cool thing about this tour is, Lana had given us small receivers and headsets. This way, if we were not close together, we could still hear her commentary. Of course, I'm lagging behind, because I was amazed both at the beauty and at the waste of it all. Lana, constantly told us to mind our bags and wallets, as pickpockets were everywhere, especially in crowded museums. Though my head was in the clouds, my backpack was in front of me and I wore a long sweater that stopped below my hips. Next we headed through the Green Dining Room. This was beautiful also, that sort of mint green color, trimmed in white. After that grueling walk, we walked through the beautiful Palace Park. Just beautiful. Just beautiful. It rained off and on, my hair.... well there was no hope for it.
Alexander stopped at a souvenir shoppe and we all headed in for souvenirs and a bathroom break. Glad they had air freshner in the toilets. They don't flush the paper, you have to throw it in an open wastebasket, so you can imagine what the bathrooms smelled like. But I'll tell you, nothing is as bad as the bathrooms in China and Croatia. DANG! The clerks in the souvenir shoppes were very helpful and friendly. They didn't follow you around the store and the one girl actually went to get a shopping basket for me. A very nice touch. I got back on the bus after my purchases, no smoking in the rain for me. We were off to the town of Peterhof, also known as Petrodvorets, in Russian. Peterhof is the summer residential palace of Peter the Great and it is often referred to as the Russian Versailles. "Russia's Window to the West" as Peter The Great, the founder of the city used to call his new creation. Peterhof is located southwest of the city and is about the same distance away as Pushkin. Before touring here, we stopped for a Russian lunch of Chicken Kiev at the "Samson Restaurant."
Part of a chain of bistro cafes, Samson is nearly always a reliable place to go for filling meals and does better than others of its type by ensuring that decent portions are not incompatible with some of the best prices in the city. It doesn't stray too far from its core menu but the lemon chicken and pike perch, typical features in most cafes or restaurants here, rarely disappoint. You can wash it down with a half-litre of Baltika, which at 23R, competes very well with the opposition.
The lunch was absolutely delicious and the presentation was even more enjoyable. They served us this delicious champagne (of which I didn't get the name of it). I ate a few spoonfuls of the borscht, it needed something, but at that moment, I couldn't really think of it. The cream they poured on top of it, made it need something else, even more. But the meal itself was delicious and filling. When we left, it was suggested that we not eat the beef stroganoff from the ship, tonight for dinner, as we'd be having authentic Russian beef stroganoff, tomorrow for lunch. The Brits I'd sat with had told me of someone, they'd spoken with on the ship being pickpocketed. There are thieves everywhere. I chimed in with, "at least that's all, we're overrun with murderers." We were herded back to the bus and headed over to the parks and gardens of Petrodvorets.
Of all St Petersburg's attractions, the country estate of Peterhof is perhaps the place that inspires the greatest pride among the city's population. Extravagant and bombastic in parts, elegant and relaxed in others, Peterhof's palace and grounds are a more than ample testimony to the crazy opulence of Tsarist Russia. The steps leading down from the palace to the lower gardens run next to the Grand Cascaden, a large area comprised of nearly 150 fountains, glittering golden statues and checkered ceramic. The Grand Cascade was breathtaking. The gardens were just beautiful. All the while, Lana is telling us to mind our wallets and bags. We stopped to view more water fountains, as Lana spoke intensely about them all.
We were then herded back to the bus after that long and tiring walk and headed back towards St. Petersburg. We arrived at the "Avtovo" Metro Station, where we caught the train from St. Petersburg station over to the "Narvskaya" Metro Station. The escalator was a 4 minute ride. Yes 4 minutes. I don't remember how far down we were, but you know it was pretty far down, that the escalator took 4 minutes to ascend. Some radio station was piped in during the ride. They stopped us at another souvenir shoppe. By now I didn't want to see another Matryoshka doll. But the Christmas ornaments, were beautiful. I knew those wouldn't make it back safely in my luggage. After this stop we made out way back to the ship about 6 P.M. This was a great day. Arrived back at the ship and the gift shoppe was overrun with people. I was exhausted and hungry anyway and headed back through customs and onto the ship. Dropped my bags off in the cabin and headed up to see if I could get some to eat before the Windjammer closed at 6:30 P.M. Just barely made it, but in time enough to get something good to eat. I absolutely can't stand their desserts, so I settled for some swirl ice cream and a couple of crushed cones. Took that back to my room to work on these blisters on my foot. Goofy girl, didn't wear any socks today. MY FEET HURT! After I cleaned up, I headed up to the internet cafe. Yeah, it's expensive, but I'm on vacation. I'm really missing everyone.
Nakemiin St. Petersburg!
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