Sunday, June 14, 2015
For some reason neither of us slept well last night. It may
be because the sun was up shining through the curtains most of the night. Sunrise
was 3:36am and sunset was 10:21pm. It seemed both earlier and later though! So,
although we could have slept in a little later today, we didn’t.
I had blintzes for breakfast today. I guess they call them
blinis here though. Our tour group of 14 met Svetlana about 10 of 9am in the
terminal building and we went right out and loaded the small bus/van with
Dmitri. We drove into the city again where we stayed all day. We were scheduled
for early entry into the Hermitage at 9:50am so we had some time to kill first.
We stopped by the Neva again and viewed the Hermitage, the Rostrum Columns and the
St. Peter and Paul Fortress across the river. Then we spent almost 2 hours
touring 5 buildings of the Hermitage. It was pretty incredible. After that we
toured the Church on the Blood. It was built in Moscow-style and is very
different from the others we visited. It was beautiful though. Lunch was at the
Brasserie de Metropole and it was a white linen affair. It included 1 white or
red wine or 1 white or dark beer. Clay was able to have one of each beer because
I didn’t want wine. They also gave us bottled water. We were served cabbage
soup with sour cream. I liked it alright. Main course was Chicken Kiev. It was
on a bed of mashed potatoes with a smear of cranberry liquid and a pair of
pickle slices. It was Okay. Dessert was warm apple strudel with vanilla ice
cream. It was very good and I don’t like cooked apples usually. They offered
coffee or tea. We left and went to tour St. Isaac Cathedral. It was huge!
Evidently there were some pickpocket attempts here and at the previous church
while we waited for Svetlana to get tickets. Clay had an attempt in a narrow
steep passage in Tallinn. When they warn you to be aware of your surroundings
and personal space, they mean it. But places have been so crowded it is
impossible to maintain personal space. They keep telling us it is good we are
here now with summer weather but without the crowds. We don’t really look forward
to coming back and actually finding it crowded then! Now, as the weather was turning
from warm and sunny to cool, windy and overcast it was time for us to join 2
other Alla Tours groups for our 3pm city boat tour. Luckily, it didn’t rain,
but the temperature just kept dropping as the wind picked up and the sky
developed a low cloud cover. Our last stop of the day was the St. Peter and Paul
Fortress/Cathedral. This is the tallest spire in St. Petersburg. This is where almost
all the royals from 1700 or so are buried in the crypt under the church.
Svetlana told us they were all mummified after death so they could and did move
them around. I guess some were dead before the church was built.
Tomorrow is our 3rd and last day here in St.
Petersburg and we have to end early. Also, it will be the end of the long
weekend and Monday rush hour traffic will be in effect. So, we have to get an
early start and leave the terminal at 8:15am. I think we’ll eat at Terrace and try to go to
bed early!
