Baltic Sea Cruise; Part II

Day THREE (Friday)...St. Petersburg, Russia!  We arrived around 7:00 A.M., after cruising all night.  After a quick breakfast in the dining room, we gathered up our papers (passports, cruise card, Passenger Visa form, etc.), and headed to the Masquerade Theater to get assigned to buses, which would pick us up after clearing customs on the pier. 

I have to admit that I was REALLLLY nervous about going through customs.  I don't know what I expected, but was bracing for hassles and attitude and difficulty.  It ended up being a breeze!  Granted...NO ONE smiled at any point during the process, but, the cruise ship took care of everything, and we got through with no hassles at all.

We booked a two day guided tour, so that we wouldn't have to deal with trying to figure out where to go, or how to get there.  Luckily, Gary and Daryl booked the same tour, so we were able to get on the same bus, and spent most of the tour together.
We met Irina, our Russian guide, and headed out on bus 16 (henceforth known as TEAM 16!!!).  Irina was AMAZING!  She was VERY knowledgeable, and very nice!  She DEFINITELY kept us on track!  The running joke for the rest of the cruise was her tagline..."Take your time.  No hurry."  This was usually followed immediately with something like "Be on the bus in TWO MINUTES!!!!", or "Now we'll go!".  We learned quickly that "take your time" actually meant to walk slightly faster than usual!!!!

We left the pier and headed into St. Petersburg.  We started with a quick stop at St. Isaac's Cathedral, a GORGEOUS golden domed church (the FOURTH largest dome in the world, in fact!).  St. Isaac's was  used during World War II to hide precious works of art. removed from the Hermitage, to keep them away from the nazis (or according to Irina, who sometimes lost her plurals, "the nazi"...who must have been A REALLY BAD person!).

Apparently, there was a lot of condensation in the art that was stored there, because she told us that changes in weather (while items were being stored) made moisture that condensed on the walls of the cathedral.  When the weather turned cold, FOOT THICK ice encased the interior of the church.  It's amazing that the paintings and sculpture survived at all!!!

After a "drive by" (and quick parking of the bus for photos), we headed to the Hermitage for a tour.  We got there as soon as the museum opened, and were the first group to get into MANY of the rooms.  It was a good thing, because it got REALLY crowded later, and we wouldn't have been able to see ANYTHING, had Irina not been so good at getting us to where we needed to go!

The Hermitage is BEAUTIFUL!  They had an IMPRESSIVE collection of Rembrandts, Van Goghs, impressionist artists, sculpture, and Dutch masters.  We passed through gallery after gallery of gorgeous art, while enjoying the exquisite furniture and ornamentation of the former residence of the Russian imperial family. 

A clock that Irina said she had only seen work TWICE in her lifetime.  Various pieces move on the hour...the peacock's tail opens up and fans out, the rooster flaps his wings, and various other animals "move"!!!!  SOOOOO cool!!!!

Rembrandt

Picasso

After three hours of exquisite art and architecture, we headed out of the Hermitage.  One thing that CONCERNED me about the museum was that there is NO CLIMATE CONTROL at all inside.  Windows were open.  It was humid and warm.  I HOPE the masterpieces inside survive over time!!!!

We spent a brief time on Palace Square, looking at monuments to Russia's past...

The "winter palace" entrance of the Hermitage

...then headed to a plated lunch at a lovely former palace (aptly called "Last Palace"...literally the last palace to be constructed in the time of the czars).  We had an appetizer plate of caviar and salmon (needless to say I didn't eat either!), borst (beet soup), and other Russian specialties. 

The "scenery" on the walk to the "last palace"

Daryl and Gary

After lunch, we headed out on a "city tour".  We stopped at the Alexander Column, a series of red towers with replicas of prows of ships that were conquered during various wars with other countries. 

Apparently Friday is a big day for weddings (since no one has to work the next day, so can celebrate late into the night), and saw ten or twelve newly married couples having their pictures taken around the park.

After a BRIEF stop at the park, we headed to a souvenir shop for the obligatory "souvenir purchasing" opportunity, then headed to the Peter and Paul fortress.  The fortress was beautiful, and had a GORGEOUS cathedral in the middle of the complex. 

Jesus dressed in the "finery" of a Russian czar

We got to see the tombs of Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, Alexandra, their daughters, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia, and three servants who stayed with them through the arrest, and execution in 1918.  Apparently, the tomb is many feet deep.  The three servants are buried at the bottom, and each of the members of the family are buried a little higher up in the burial pit.

The story of the execution has always fascinated me (especially when the whole "is this Anastasia?" thing happened a few years ago, and it was then discovered that Anastasia's bones WERE found in the pit with her other family members a little while later...).

After walking around the fortress for awhile, we got back on the bus (after "taking our time", and then RUNNING to catch up with the bus!), and headed to the Church of the Spilled Blood.  Of ALL the sights that we had planned to see in St. Petersburg, the Church of the Spilled Blood was the ONLY one I knew, and it was SOOOOO worth it to have time to look at it.  GRANTED....we only had FIFTY MINUTES to explore, but it was AMAZING!!!!!!!  Very ornate.  Very grand.  VERY beautiful!!!!!!

The ornate design of the fence surrounding the Church of the Spilled Blood

We had, LITERALLY, 36 seconds to glance at the tourist shops across the street...

...then boarded the bus, headed back to the pier, and boarded the ship.  We shared our day with our AMAZING table mates, then headed back to our cabin (after a walk around the deck), and went to bed!

An AWESOME, fabulous day in St. Petersburg!!!!

TO BE CONTINUED...