A day in St. Petersburg with Catherine our private guide

We were forewarned over the PA system a couple of times not to forget our passports or our entry/departure forms for the customs officials who would greet us upon leaving the ship and going into Russia.  Well, not exactly greet us—snarl at us would be a more appropriate description.  Passport officials are notoriously surly, but these guys/girls were downright scary.  Not to take it personally though—we were grudgingly granted entry.  After that ordeal, we easily met our private guide for a full day of sightseeing in St. Petersburg.  Catherine  is about 24, encyclopedic in her knowledge of Russian history, and after a busy and fact-filled day with her we came away with a good feel for St. Petersburg as a city and for some of its

The Winter Palace

fabulous sights.  Tomorrow we will go to the Hermitage with one of the ship small group tours.

St. Petersburg is a jaw-droppingly beautiful city, full of golden domed churches, huge palaces, elegant mansions and immense government buildings of classical architecture; vast squares with green parks dotted with monuments to Russia’s favorite sons; and a beautiful river that runs through it all, the Neva River.  I really wasn’t prepared for the first view.  Catherine kept up a running commentary—St. Isaac’s Square--Isaac the Dalmatian in case you were wondering--with its beautiful cathedral and impressive monument to Nicholas I.  I’m woefully deficient in Russian history—book club selection Dr. Zhivago being my primary source—but Catherine filled us in on the last three hundred or so years, from the founding of St. Petersburg (originally named that, but later changed to Petrograd, then Leningrad and then back to the original in 1991).  We stopped in several other squares before going on to the Fortress of Sts. Peter and Paul which is like a city in itself, with a mint, a boathouse, four corner bastions and fortified walls.  In the center is the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul which holds the tombs of most of the tsars and empresses from Peter I to Alexander III.  It also has the tallest bell tower in the city and a magnificent gold angel topped cupola.

St. Isaac's Square with Cathedral and monument to Nicholas I.

The inside of the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul

I couldn't resist taking a photo of these adorable little military schoolers on an obligatory field trip.  They were very well behaved but it was obvious they couldn't give a hoot about who was buried in which tomb.

Like these two of Nicholas III and his wife

After we left the fortress we drove a short way to the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood, so-called because Emperor Alexander II was assassinated on the site in 1881.  The Church was built to commemorate his death.  It is truly awe-inspiring.  The inside is completely decorated in mosaic tile, glass, marble and gemstones which cover every square inch of the ceiling, walls, pillars, altars and floor.  Catherine explained how the mosaics are done: the artist has a master plan which is drawn and colored and then cut into manageable squares to which he then applies the tiny mosaic pieces.  When the squares are finished they are attached to the wall of the Church.  If you look closely, you can see slight demarcations between the various squares but the overall effect is sheer perfection.  There are even several large works in which the tile pieces are so small that even when you look closely you can't tell that it is not a painting.  There are no painted surfaces in the Church.

The outside is beautiful too with spectacular enameled domes, intricate brickwork and more mosaic depictions of religious scenes.  Do Google it for much better pictures and descriptions.

Our first view of The Church of the Spilled Blood

The inside of the Church of the Spilled Blood--a truly magnificent example of mosaic work.

We even got to see the inside of a couple of the metro stations, known for their extraordinary beauty and cleanliness.

We finished the day at the Yusopov mansion.  The Yusopovs were an extremely wealthy Russian family whose only further need in life was to worm their way into royalty.  They eventually did through marriage, but their main claim to fame was their connection to the murder of the acclaimed Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin.  I had hoped to tell you an abbreviated version of that exciting tale, but I'm out of time. 

That was yesterday.  Today we went to the spectacular Hermitage and this evening we are going to the ballet to see Swan Lake.  Imagine!  A real Russian ballet!  Will fill you in on it at the next opportunity!