I posted these pictures yesterday and today I will add some minimal comments so that I can catch up. Today is Friday, June 12, our first "day at sea." Tomorrow will end the first week of our three-week cruise. It's wonderful to have a day at leisure because up until now it has been fairly hectic--the three days in St. Petersburg occupying most of our time. We saw a great deal but there is much we didn't get to see. A pity really since we will not return. It rivals Rome for the sheer splendor of the art and Beijing for the grandeur and size of the buildings. Unlike Rome, it is extremely clean with nary a cigarette butt on the ground.
A few observations:
We had a chance to sample some Russian food. The first day we asked Catherine the guide not to take us to a tourist place for lunch but somewhere more local and she complied. We went to a cafe on a pedestrian only street lined with office buildings, shops and restaurants and hardly an American in sight. Clearly most people were at work or shopping--a no-nonsense air about them unlike the more touristy areas. We had "pelmeni" a type of Russian ravioli, a lovely potato/egg/pickle salad concoction called Olivier Salad and Chicken Tabaka in which the halved chicken is marinated and then cooked under a brick until crispy. All delicious washed down with a Russian beer.
The people are for the most part reserved and conservatively dressed, some quite stylish but mostly not, and very few outrageous blue or pink hairs like we saw in Stockholm. Everyone is very polite and the pace is not particularly hectic. Even in the metro people did not seem to be rushing madly from one place to the other, although it might have been the time of day (mid-afternoon) that accounts for that.
The first night we went to the ballet. It was Swan Lake but the overall experience was a little disappointing. I am far from a connoisseur but the performances, except for the lead ballerina and the male star, seemed a bit amateurish to me. It might have been a ballet school although no one seemed to know. The building where it was held was called the Hermitage Theatre and had the look of an authentic old theatre with loges, orchestra pit and mahogany and red velvet, but instead of regular seats, there were banquettes in a circular shape that were highly uncomfortable. My feet didn't touch the floor which serves to cut off the circulation to the legs after thirty minutes or so. The only guests were tourist groups, most of them Asians, and we were all packed in like sardines. Every man for himself. Other than that, it was still Swan Lake and it did have some lovely moments and some nice solo performances. And they did provide a glass of champagne at the intermission.
The next morning we went to the Hermitage was was all we hoped it would be. The name Hermitage was given to the art collection by Catherine the Great because she loved her art so much that she liked to be hermit-like in her appreciation for it.
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| The Grand Staircase at the Hermitage |
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| Ditto |
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| One of the many rooms in the Hermitage. The gold you see is gold leaf--i.e., real gold but applied in very thin layers. |
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| A tapestry |
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| One of the long galleries in the museum |
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| Every room has an ornate ceiling and huge chandelier |
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