St. Petersburg, Russia (Day 1)

St. Petersburg was a much-anticipated destination for all of us, but especially for me because I have recently had my nose in various biographies of the Russian royal family, particularly that of Alexandra, the last Tsarina of Russia and also a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.  The history of this country, and particularly this city, is something I've become passionate about. Keep in mind that Moscow only became Russia's capital in 1918 when Lenin created the U.S.S.R.  Previously, St. Petersburg was Russia's capital and home to its ruling Tsars.

From the port, we took a short drive to the center of St. Petersburg where our guide introduced us to the history of this magnificent city. Our first stop was on the Spit of Vasilievsky Island for an opportunity to take in the views of the Neva River, the Rostral Columns, the Winter Palace and other buildings of the Hermitage Museum, as well as St. Peter and Paul Fortress, situated right across the river.

Our tour continued with a drive along the Neva River embankments, passing St. Peter and Paul Fortress.

We paused for a brief view of the Cathedral on Spilled Blood which, reportedly, is nearly identical to the famous St. Basil's cathedral in Red Square, Moscow. 

This Russian Orthodox Church in St Petersburg is one of Russia’s mosaic treasures. Its official name is actually the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ. So where does the spilled blood reference come from? The blood belongs to the assassinated Alexander II of Russia, who was mortally wounded on that site on March 1, 1881.  The Church is prominently situated along the Griboedov Canal. The embankment at that point runs along either side of a canal. As the tsar’s carriage passed along the embankment, a grenade thrown by a conspirator exploded. The tsar, shaken but unhurt, got out of the carriage and started to remonstrate with the presumed culprit. Another conspirator took the chance to explode another explosive device, killing himself and wounding the tsar. The tsar, bleeding heavily, was taken back to the Winter Palace where he died a few hours later.

Next, we visited St. Isaac's Cathedral for a tour of this remarkable building, one of the largest cathedrals in Europe and previously the official cathedral of the Russian Tsars. The interior of the cathedral is richly decorated with different kinds of marble, malachite and other semiprecious stones.

The church itself is an architectural marvel and was built to be the main church of the Russian Empire. The cathedral was under construction for 40 years (1818-1858), and was decorated in the most elaborate way possible. When you enter the cathedral you pass through one of the porticos - the columns are made of single pieces of red granite and weight 80 tons each.  Inside the church many of the icons were created using mosaic techniques (instead of painting).

The cathedral, ironically, became a museum of Atheism during Communist rule and now serves as a "religious museum" with services being held only on "significant ecclesiastical holidays." (???)

 After our tour of St. Isaac's, we boarded the coach for a brief tour through Moscow Prospect, the "main street" of St. Petersburg.  We passed many beautiful cathedrals (religious museums) and politcal/historical monuments. 

Statue of Lenin.  St. Petersburg used to be known as Leningrad.

Then on the Kiev Highway and through the Egyptian Gates, entering the Tsar's Village or the "Village of Pushkin" as it is now commonly called. We got to take a break from our sight-seeing for an authentic Russian meal inside Catherine's Palace.

Catherine's Palace  ranks as one of the masterpieces of world art. From the time the palace was built until the time of the last Russian Tsar, Pushkin (the Tsar's Village) was used as the summer residence of the Royal Family.

We had to wear protective booties to tour the inside of the palace:

The palace tour takes you through a series of magnificent rooms, including the famous Picture Gallery, Amber Room (no photos allowed) and, of course, the Great Hall.

Dining Hall:

Great Hall:

Picture Gallery:

Gold guilding was a common theme throughout.

Inlaid wood was also an impressive feature throughout.

The parks of the estate add to the splendor of the palace, and several of them are embellished with a number of charming pavilions.

The town of Pushkin is famous not only for its remarkable palace and parks, but the man it was named after. Since 1937, it has been named after Alexander Pushkin, the most celebrated poet of Russia and a resident of this town at the beginning of the 19th century.

On the drive back to St. Petersburg we saw many interesting things.  The beautiful Russian countryside,

a car vending machine (the cars are all stacked like items in a vending machine - enter a code and one 'drops' down for you to drive home...?),

lots of city decoration and Russian patriotism (May 27 is the birthday of St. Petersburg, so we were in town for the festivities),

...including this souped-up jeep contest.

Back in town we saw some things reminiscent of home,

and plenty of these awful cement apartments (which reminded us of the married-student housing at BYU, haha!)

It was depressing to see how the average Russian lives in comparison to the royal palace we had just visited.  Our guide told us that these cement pads cost the equivalent of $250,000 each and with the average annual salary equalling about $20,000, often 2 or 3 families have to share one apartment in order to make ends meet.  She also mentioned that mortgage rates range from 12%-15%.  Creates a whole new image of what a "depressed economy" is really like.

Back through customs (it was a lengthy process getting in and out of Russia's immigration depot each day...) Then we cleaned up and played with a special souvenir we purchased from the outdoor market - a hand-carved chess set.