Writing from Finland, but this is about Russia

Writing from Finland, but this is about Russia

Wednesday, June 5

After breakfast with the family, we joined Irina on the Metro to link up with the Swiss group and another guide, Alexandra. As usual, the Metro was jam packed at 9:15 AM.  We are the 3^rd stop on the line and need to push a bit to get in.  It gets worse each of the next 5 stops.

Jim knew where we were when we popped out of the metro because it was the stop nearest the hotel where he had stayed 8 years earlier. While there, we watched 2 young women painting the flowerpots on the poles and removing posters from them.

We took a tram to a place to walk to the boat docks on the river side of The Hermitage.  On the way, we passed a building under renovation.  It was covered in fabric printed to resemble a building facade.  Yesterday we saw a larger example, but from a distance and weren’t sure if that was what was happening.  In subsequent days, we saw several similar ones.

At the dock, we boarded a hydrofoil to take us along the Neva River into the Gulf of Finland.  Jim spent the trip out on the deck taking pictures. 

 

We arrived at the dock at Peterhof, which is a grand palace and gardens built by Peter the Great after his visit to Versailles in 1717.  He wanted something just as grand “befitting to the very highest on monarchs” and easily accomplished it.  We have been to Versailles and this excels in grounds and is very close in interior splendor.

One of the earliest things we saw after leaving the hydrofoil was what appears to be a swan-shaped sleigh being constructed.     

 

 

We got to the entrance to the Grand Palace just before the time reserved exclusively for tour groups.  When we got in, we showed the tickets we had purchased (for $14 each) just off the boat and were told they were only good for the grounds – we needed to purchase separate ones for the palace.  We asked where to go and the woman pointed to our right. We went down a long corridor, past an apparently unmanned snack shop, then through a place where they check your bags and finally to a room where you put blue booties (plastic) over your shoes.  We assumed you could get tickets there, but not so.  Ardith stayed.  Jim went to the snack shop.  The woman there (she had been in a far corner) pointed past the main entrance.  Jim continued perhaps another 100 yards to the ticket window, bought a pair of $17 tickets, then went back to Ardith. We toured the State Rooms, the highlight of which is the Throne Room with its red velvet hangings and massive portraits of the most famous Russian monarchs; and the Imperial Suite including Peter’s study and bedrooms.  Picture weren’t allowed in the interior. Jim was disappointed.  We are including 2 pictures from the internet just to give a small idea of the splendor of the place.

We walked through the multitude of shaded paths of the gardens, initially trying to find the restaurant.  Ardith had hurt her ankle a few days before leaving on the trip and the extensive walks were getting painful.  We ended up each having a $3 hot dog as our lunch. 

 

We walked a bit looking to see if we could find the restaurant anyway.  We ended up at an attractive place a bit smaller than my house.  It was a small palace and to see that would have been another 200 rubles ($6.25).  We declined.  There had been no explanation of all the many charges.  Searching the internet, there are 29 different admissions that could be paid.  If one had enough energy to do them all, it would cost about $230!  The park and garden area is nearly 5 square miles and is beautifully maintained.  We watched them planting and watering plants.

Several places drew water for flowers by hand from pools and fountains. 

Fountains were the most amazing part of this place to us.  They are of varying, imaginative designs, including a massive cascade that leads up to the palace itself. It symbolized the triumph of Russia over Sweden, and contains numerous gilded bronze statues with levels of falling water around the statues. 

One “fountain” was totally for fun.  There is a place where jets of water spray up at random times and kids try to anticipate when and where that might happen.  They were totally enjoying themselves.

All of the fountains are fed by pressure from a lake within the park and other high sources -- no pumps are used to move the water.  One fountain’s jet sprays 50 ft in the air.  It is said to be the highest non-pumped fountain jet in the world. Jim saw a long stairway leading to who-knows-where.  When he is in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum for his volunteer job, he typically uses 30-40 flights of stairs a day.  He hasn’t done many for a while, so decided to find out what is at the top.  A girl, perhaps 8-9 years old, started up the stairs (about 4 stories worth) about 30 seconds before him and initially went at a fast pace.  She slowed down a good bit and Jim ended up at the top perhaps 15 seconds after her.  She said something in Russian to Jim and he just replied “Amerikanski” and she seemed a bit embarrassed.  He imagines that she said “I beat you”.  At the top was a lake that most likely was the source of the fountains.

This park has its fair share of costume people looking forpaid shoots.

Throughout our time in St. Petersburg we have seen numerous brides (and grooms) posing for photos in special places. There were several here.  We asked why there were so many on weekdays.  There are lots of weddings at this time and weekends can’t accommodate all of them.  The law says you can’t marry during Lent and Orthodox Easter was May 5 this year – a month ago.  Also, most people prefer to marry when it isn’t snowing.  The weather has been quite nice while we have been here – sunny with highs from the mid 70s to low 80s.

 It isn't at all unusual to see couples kissing in public or semi-public places.  About half the time, long escalator rides give views of amorous couples on the opposite side.  The kiss Jim saw today in the garden lasted a very long time - 2 or 3 minutes?

Strolling near the waterfront, Jim spotted an attractive young girl "checking out" Poseidon.

 

We returned to the city by boat and walked through Palace Square (on the land side of the Hermitage).  We liked the style of the pedicabs there.

Ardith has been noticing a lot of fashionistas wearing extremely high heels.  Yesterday when we were in this square, we noticed a girl wiggling and wobbling across the cobblestones.  She finally decided to take the diagonal flat paths, even though it meant going extra distance.

We took the Metro back to Sergey’s home.  Jim went out in search of Coke Light (aka Diet Coke). He decided that he wanted to do some sort of walk in a different path than he had previously taken.  He started on a path among the various apartment buildings on the very large block where Sergey lives.  He spotted a guy going on a diagonal path and decided to follow.  He didn’t want to be perceived as a stalker, so lagged behind a bit until another guy got between them. 

 

We came out on the diagonally opposite corner from the Metro stop – probably a quarter mile.  Jim decided these guys were just taking a shortcut from Metro to their apartments.  He poked into several small shops and didn’t see what he wanted.  He finally went into the Dixie (transliterated from Cyrillic) Supermarket.  No diet colas, but there was a good deal on a 2.25 liter Pepsi. That plus something that looked like meringue cookies accompanied him through the checkout.  The cookies were much sweeter and softer than he thought, but still good (not for you, though).

Sergey and his family were meeting friends from Austria, so we cooked for ourselves and for Nicholas.  After dinner, Jim showed Nicholas many slides of our house, our annual parties, and his Earthwatch trips. Ardith kept telling Nicholas that he should tell Jim to stop, but the poor guy wasn’t able to do that.