Day 56(Friday). St. Petersburg

We hired a guide and driver for half a day today to show us more of the sights.There is so much to see here! The primary focus of our tour was Peter and Paul Fortress and the city's history. Some of the sights we encountered on our way to the Peter and Paul Fortress included this building which is notable for the Turkish canons along the perimeter. The cannons are upside down so that they can never be fired again.

Below is an example of a recently renovated and posh apartment building.





Amidst all of the Italian and French architecture are examples of the Soviet style such as the one below. We also drove by the KGB building, and it was even uglier than this.





This is a notorious prison still in use which we viewed from across the Neva. There are a pair of statues we passed that acknowledge the prison - the view from the city is a face and from the prison - a scull. Unfortunately, the traffic patterns have been set so that no one can stop to view them closely.





We crossed the Neva on Trinity Bridge....





...to see the battleship Aurora. The Aurora was built in 1897, and was first used in the Russo-Japanese war in the early 1900's, and then in WWI...





...but it's primary significance is that the crew revolted and used this ship in the revolution in 1917.

Also of note, the cabin of Peter the Great has been relocated near the Aurora. It was originally built on the site that would later become the Winter Palace. But unlike the palace, it was a modest wooden cabin with three rooms and a total of 625 sq.ft. Peter lived there while the fortress was being built. He was known for his modest means of living, especially compared to subsequent tsars! (Remember, he used to hold all official meetings and events at the palace of his friend, Menchicov.)

We then headed on to the small island that contains the Peter and Paul Fortress, which was built by Peter the Great in 1703 when he moved the capital to St. Petersburg. It's original purpose was to protect the city from the Swedes, but the battle against the Swedes was fought and won before the fortress was even finished. This schematic shows the configuration of this walled fortress...





The most significant building within its walls is the Peter and Paul Cathedral...


Peter wanted it to be different from the traditional Russian church architecture as evidenced by the tall spire. The interior was opulent, as so many tsar-era buildings are proving to be.















...this cathedral is where all of the tsars are buried (except for two, Peter II and Ivan VI who served for a very brief period as a child, and was quickly ousted. Apparently no one knows the location of his remains). This is the area of the cathedral where the family of Peter the Great is interred...they are buried in the ground beneath these crypts, not in them....





...with Peter's bust displayed above his burial place.





More recently, they discovered, and buried here, the bodies of Nicholas II, the last tsar, whose family was brutally murdered during the 1917 revolution...





...even more recently, they discovered the remains of the last two members of his family (Alexei and Maria) and will bury them here soon as well.

Before leaving we had an opportunity to hear this chorus sing a song for us. The baritone in the middle had a phenomenal voice....we thought it was five people singing at once, but it was only him!





Another building within the fortress is the mint, which is still in operation...





This statue is a controversial one of Peter the Great, with a small head, skeletal-like hands, and very large feet. The feet are oversized because when one looks up to the Tsar, his feet appear proportionately larger than they really are.





...the head was made using an actual mold of Peter's head, so it was a bit freaky...





This is the Neva gate, just off of the Neva River, which was stormed by the revolutionaries in 1917 to free political prisoners who were being held here...





People were sunbathing along the walls of the fortress near the gate!! It is a popular spot for sunbathing. For them, I guess 40 degrees (now we're talking Fahrenheit) feels warm! Later we also noticed that it is another prime location for bridal photos.





We headed back across the river to view some other important sites, such as St. Isaac's cathedral (more on that later)...





...and this statue of Tsar Nicholas I, known as the "Iron Tsar", in the adjoining square. Nicholas I's reign was challenged by military officers who desired the same freedom that their peers enjoyed in other countries. Their revolt was quashed in 1825 (known as "December Uprising") and Nicholas' reign remained absolute and harsh until his death in 1855.





...then we caught the reflection of this small cathedral in the canal...





We crossed over several of the bridges that cross the canals of St.Petersburg...


















...although it didn't feel like Venice to me, to which is is often compared, as there are wide boulevards between the canals and the buildings, and the main areas within Venice have pedestrian walkways, with no cars, which is not the case here.

It was finally time for us to get an up close view of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. We had glimpsed it several times from Nevsky Prospect, but had not yet seen its main entrance, which faces a canal...











This church was built to honor Tsar Alexander II, who was assassinated...more about him later. As we walked across the bridge, we noticed all of these locks in various places along the bridge. Our guide told us that newlywed couples place a lock on the bridge and throw the key into the canal for good luck...











...and then to prove his point, we saw a newlywed couple picking the spot for their lock...





On to yet another castle (these tsars really liked their castles!)...this one was built by the Tsar Paul I, great grandson of Peter the Great. He never felt safe in the Winter Palace, plus he wanted a place to live away from his mother. Ironically, he was killed after only 40 nights in this castle...





...he had this statue of Peter placed in front of his castle, because it was one his mother did not like :-)...





...there was a part of the ship on this bronze relief, which people have also rubbed clean for good luck (like the dog in the Moscow subway)...





Our guided tour came to an end....phew, we had seen a lot, and it was all too much to absorb! Lunchtime! So we went to a cafe that we had been wanting to try in this building, which had been a supermarket at one time...


Then we decided it was a good time for a leisurely boat ride through the canals to see the city from another angle. Views from the boat...









Trinity bridge...





Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood...













Peter and Paul Fortress

















Hermitage...





...statues which we hadn't even noticed, lining the roof of the Hermitage...





Menchicov's palace...





Academy of Art...





Senate building...





Banner on bridge for victory day on May 9th...











What about dinner already!??? So we walked down the Fontanka embankment along one of the canals. We had read about several restaurants down that way, and sure enough we stumbled upon one of them, a Georgian restaurant, Aragvi. It had a great atmosphere, and seemed to be frequented by the locals, and it was good food. Yum! Russian food isn't bad!

Time to stumble back to our hotel while it was still light out (which was almost 10pm!).

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Nevsky Ave,St Petersburg,Russia

Day 55. St. Petersburg

Today we headed off to the Menshikov Palace. Menshikov was the first governor of St. Petersburg....more about him later.

On our way up Nevsky, we took some side street diversions along the way, first seeing this "live" statue of the Russian poet, Pushkin...





...and then later a statue of the man himself...





He is to Russia what Shakespeare is to England. He died at a very young age in a duel. This statue is in Arts square, which derived its name because there are several cultural institutions in the square...the Russian Museum which is housed in several buildings (including the Mikhailovsky Palace behind the above statue) with a collection by Russian artists only, the philharmonic hall, an opera/ballet theater, and I believe a couple of others. We walked on to one of the canals and again got a glimpse of the most famous church...the Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood...more on that later, including photos.

To get to our destination, we passed through the arch leading from Nevsky Prospect to the Hermitage...












...and across the Neva River, where we encountered one of the numerous brides which we are seeing every day here in Russia....they seem to get married every day of the week, and have extensive photo shoots around the city, both here and in Moscow. There seem to be a lot of weddings these days. This bride and her groom were doing something unique thus far...riding horses around the park...











Onward to the Menshikov palace. Menshikov was a friend of Peter the Great, which is how he came to be appointed the governor. They had played together as children. Apparently, it was well known that he was embezzling money from the government, but Peter turned his eye from this because of their friendship. Menshikov used all of this money to expand and reexpand his palace. It was in a constant state of renovation from 1711 to 1727, when Peter and Catherine were no longer in power, and he fell out of favor and was exiled to Siberia where he died two years later. During Peter's reign, many of the government balls and state dinners were held in this palace...





...which was quite magnificent inside. Peter's residence was apparently quite modest by comparison, so he did most of his entertaining here.

Unlike the Hermitage, which displayed a fine collection of art, but not much about the building's inhabitants, this palace showed the actual rooms as they had been lived in by the Menshikovs, including the kitchen and their bedrooms. The foyer was magnificent with a display of several life size statues. It was mind blowing to think that Peter the Great and his wife, Catherine, who succeeded him as tsarina, had walked in these same hallways. Of course, only a small portion of the palace was open, as it will take years and billions to restore it due to its immense size. It also had an interesting computer exhibit where it showed the palace undergoing the various expansions.

After a couple of hours of exploring the palace, we headed back, grabbing a bite on the way, as tonight is opera at Mariinsky theater...





The original theater was built in 1783 and commissioned by Catherine the Great. This new building opened in 1860, at which time it had the largest stage in the world. With spectacular gold decor....





...it seats over 1,600 people...(this photo is of a model of the theater which was out in the lobby)...





...including the large royal box (surrounded by the blue curtain), from which many tsars and other nobility watched many performances. Note the seats. They are individual chairs, not unlike those in a dining room. It did feel quite large compared to the Sydney Opera House theater, which was intimate by comparison.

We saw the opera, Don Giovanni, which we felt was not great. The sets, costuming and stage direction seemed to be non-existent. The best singer/performer was the gentleman who played the servant to Don Giovanni--he was quite charismatic! Despite our disappointment in the performance, it was a night to be remembered in one of the most renowned opera houses in the world!

Time for some zzzzzzzzzzz's!

BlogPress from my iPad

Day 54. St. Petersburg, Russia

Arrived in St. Petersburg last evening and checked into the Nevsky Forum Hotel. Not as luxurious as the Metropol in Moscow, but kind of funky, and located right on the main drag, Nevsky Prospect. We headed up Nevsky, getting our first view of the fondanka embankment...





...one of the main canals flowing through the city, and famous for four horse statues at the four corners of the canal's intersection with Nevsky...





We were also impressed with this building that we passed...





...which we later found out had been a house built for one of the dukes, but is now used as government office space, and they have an occasional concert here. The decorative buildings are quite plentiful here! We also passed the main Russian Orthodox Church in St.. Petersburg...





...which is currently looking a bit dilapidated, but is undergoing renovations...would be great to see it when they are done So, on to find a cafe for dinner...the most memorable part of the dinner was that we tried our first glass of Russian red wine...and decided to stick with the Chilean Malbec instead :-).

This morning, we headed up Nevsky to go to the Hermitage Museum, also known as the Winter Palace for the Russian tzars, built in the mid 1700's.





It is huge footprint along the Neva River...





...and along palace square on the opposite side..





....but what we realized when we went inside was that there was a huge open area in the center, with each of the four sides of the building only being about 100 feet deep. The column in the middle of the square is one solid piece of red granite and is the highest monument of its kind at 46.3 meters high It took 3,000 men 3 hours to lift it into place.

We spent about four hours in the museum, looking at the current exhibit of paintings loaned by the Prado Museum in Madrid; the opulent interiors of many of the rooms...












...rooms full of impressionist art by Matisse, Gauguin, Monet, etc.; the largest collection of gold in the world; etc. We noticed while viewing the art inside that something was going on in the Palace Square below...











...and decided to go down and check it out. We quickly realized that they were holding a practice for the May 9th Victory Day celebration to be held in the square. They had the entire square guarded and blocked off...





...as the troops prepared to pass muster...





It was quite impressive with a huge band and thousands of soldiers from the different branches of the military...





























....including an impressive female corps...





All seemed to go well, except maybe for the musician in the band who seemed to have lost his tuba?...





The practice lasted about 1-1/2 hours, and then......they all lined up to do it again!! We headed back...it was time to think about dinner!

We did find out later that the actual Victory Day celebration is for invited VIP guests and TV only, so it was quite a treat to get to see the practice! There weren't many people there, as they had not announced the practice, and had blocked off many of the surrounding streets...it was mostly just people who had been at the museum....so we had a great vantage point!

So...where for dinner....we chose the Palkin Restaurant which had received excellent reviews by other travelers....and it was great. A bit expensive (but Russia is quite an expensive place...dinners have been about $100 each!!...and this one was the top of the line as to excellent food, service and of course cost).

Tomorrow, more sightseeing and opera at Mariinsky Theater!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Nevsky Ave,St Petersburg,Russia

Days 52/53. Moscow, then on to St. Petersburg

Easter Monday....we headed out to the State Historical Museum adjacent to Red Square (a couple of other museums that we were interested in seeing were closed on Mondays :-(. The Historical Museum was in fact a disappointment, as we felt that it focused on the wrong things, and did not really adequately address the history of Russia. Oh well.

We then walked up one of the main drags to a famous Food Hall (grocery store), which was housed in an opulent building.....






While gawking at the interior, we also picked up some snacks for the train ride tomorrow. Walking back, we discovered a pedestrian only side street which was pretty interesting with theaters and outdoor cafes...lots of pedestrian activity....we will go back there when we return to Moscow next week.

We went to the Savoy Restaurant for dinner, which was ranked #1 in more than one guide book. It was a beautiful, old style place, we enjoyed our food, and they had live music, but it was very expensive and we were the ONLY ones there. We couldn't figure out why...maybe because it was Monday? It was weird. Afterwards, we walked over to Lubyanka Square to see the old KGB building....it was an ugly concrete building and was definitely eerie....


I think I read that there were more floors underground than above ground. So we hightailed it away from there and back to red square for one more night view of the square...I'm not sure this has the same impact as if you were here...


One more walk over to Red Square in the morning of Day 53, where a church service was getting underway in front of the Kazan Cathedral...


...and where they were getting the stands ready, in the colors of their flag, for the May 9th victory day celebration...


...then we headed to the Leningradsky train station to catch our train to St. Petersburg and the Nevsky Forum Hotel. We will have one more full day in Moscow next week before Cynthia heads home, and I head on to Budapest.

But first.....six days in what is touted as "the Venice of the North."

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Day 51. Easter Sunday in Moscow

Happy Easter....


After breakfast with our daily concert of harp music (we loved this touch....the hotel also has a pianist who plays in the lobby in the afternoons), we ventured back to the metro to go to Old Arbat Street...




...the oldest surviving street in Moscow. It was the main route that was used to reach areas west of Moscow and the place where merchants gathered to sell their wares. It was also the route used by invading armies to access and then retreat from the city. This street was originally built mostly of wood and was burned by the Russians in 1812 when Napoleon was trying to seize Moscow, leaving the french with no food or shelter. So it has been entirely rebuilt with some Italian, some art deco, some soviet construction...


and some??.....(not sure,,,eclectic?)....


It is now a pedestrian walkway lined with shops and cafes...(Jim...your kind of cafe)...


We wandered up the street, enjoying the street music...


and the architecture....There were several theaters along the way, one of which had this ballerina in front...


And we did some shopping, of course...


(modeling our purchases in Red Square in our shirt sleeves!! It has been In the 60's here! Gorgeous weather!).

On our walk back to the hotel, we walked through a park where they had just planted flowers everywhere in anticipation of May day and Victory day...


Then we saw a crowd at one corner of the Kremlin wall, so we walked over to see what they were looking at. And it was the tomb of the unknown soldier...


...and the crowd was there to see the changing of the guard which happened about 3 minutes after we got there....



We stopped for a late lunch. Then after a rest, it was time for the premiere of the ballet, "Lost Illusions," at the Bolshoi theater.

It wasn't really in the old Bolshoi theater building as that building has been under renovation for ten years. It was scheduled to reopen in 2009, but that has now been pushed back to 2013 (we just read in Tuesday's paper that it will reopen this October?) There has reportedly been a lot of graft involved, and the renovation is expected to significantly exceed budget by about $900 million. It's apparently been quite a fiasco.

Meanwhile, they built a "temporary" theater next door in about two years time, which has a phenomenal and opulent auditorium (no photos allowed), which was where we experienced the famous Russian Bolshoi ballet. The ballet was actually one that had been introduced for a short time in 1936, but was quickly shut down to avoid the wrath of Stalin, who was cracking down on artistic endeavors at the time. So this was an important premiere in light of its symbolism. And it was a very good production too! The "people watching" was also an experience as many of the women were quite beautiful and stylish. We had hoped to read the reviews the next day, since the press seemed to be there for this premiere, but we were unable to determine where it might have been covered (in English anyway).

Back to the hotel afterwards for a wonderful snack in the hotel bar, and to bed, with visions of ballerinas dancing in our heads!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad