Wow...Russia

(photo credit Joe Moscheck)

Despite all of the really f**ked up things happening in Russia our ship still made it a major port of call and I thoroughly enjoyed myself there.  It is difficult to get through the port authorities.  You must be on some sort of organized tour (essentially acting as a short tourist visa) or they won’t let you out into St. Petersburg.  So the ship makes up these silly crew tour bus tickets that give you a two-day pass because we are there overnight.  And the shore excursion team is up to the ears creating tours and sending groups of people out on buses.  I have in the past taken advantage of several tours but by no means had done them all.  But after this contract I may have done just about everything!  Being an escort on the tours takes me to so many places without spending my earnings.  Working vacations are difficult that way.

St. Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia and was founded by Peter the Great in 1703.  It was for some time the country’s capital before Moscow.  

There are many palaces in Russia.  This particular one that I visited is the Peterholf Palace, in the suburbs of St. Petersburg.  Originally a small resting building was built here for Peter the Great, but in 1714 he decided to make this his principle out of town residence.  This grand complex of 11 parks, dozens of buildings and pavilions was designed in the Baroque style.  One of the most notable features is the Grand Fountain Cascade, which was designed to resemble Versailles.  The center of the fountain has a statue of known as “Samson Tears Open the Lion’s Jaws”, dedicated to the victory of Russia over Sweden in the Northern War.  (The lion being a symbol of the Swedish army.)  The property was absolutely incredible and lavish as you can see.  And it took several hours to make a dent in the tour of the gardens.  The pathways are made up of crushed clay brick and limestone.  Plenty of bronze gilded statutes and fountains, fountains everywhere- there are over 150 on the property. 

In the first photo here this long pool leads out to the Gulf of Finland which you can somewhat see in the background.

The Grand Fountain Cascade to be a pedestal for the palace.

One of the major bodies of water in St. Petersburg is the Neva River.  Every night from 1a.m.-5a.m. the bridges open for commercial boats to pass through and if you find yourself on the wrong side of the river trying to head home you are S.O.L.  Our tour guide says that many teens and even spouses like to use this as an excuse for not turning up at a reasonable hour.  St. Petersburg is a Venice of the north built up around so many rivers and canals.  When they did finally build a subway system they had to dig 70 meters deep to go under the rivers and the marshy land in the 1950’s.  But that’s another tour and another story. 

I did go on an evening canal cruise.  This makes me giggle because we were visiting during the time of the White Nights.  This is between May 25-July17 when the sun hardly hides behind the horizon and you cannot see stars.   So these photos you will see of my cruise on the Neva River are indeed in the evening but you would never know it.  

Here I am with the never-ending vodka drinks in my hand in front of the famous Hermitage Museum.

I did manage to get out into the city of St. Petersburg just with some friends from the ship.  I had already been to the Hermitage Museum two years ago but they say that if you spend one minute at every piece for 8 hours a day it would take you approximately 15 years to see the entire museum.  I figured I could afford a return visit.  With 350 halls of art inside, this massive collection founded by Catherine the Great occupies a large six building complex. It is located on the Neva River in an area known as the Palace Embankment.  The most well known building in the complex is the Winter Palace because it was a former residence of the Russian Tsar.   I remember posting several interior photos from a previous contract so I will only share with you this very one.  Aside from the incredible art collection, the ornate and over the top details of these buildings are enough of a reason to visit the inside.  My favorite part about the museum is the patterns in the hard wood flooring.  They are so elegant and can be found in many different styles throughout the museum.

We then headed over to the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, probably the most famous sight to see in all of St. Petersburg.  Just visiting the outside will put your mind into a spin.  It reminds me of a gingerbread house with the white icing and candy decorations. 

It began as a small temporary shrine dedicated to the assassination of the Tsar Alexander II on this exact location in 1881.  It was built between 1883 and 1907 and essentially funded by the Imperial family and private donors but still well over budget.  Obviously.  No baptisms, funerals, weddings or other traditional church services were held in here as this was not its intention.  It did become an official cathedral in 1923 but then after the Revolution it was looted and subsequently closed for nearly 40 years until made a branch of another well-known cathedral.  The decades of deterioration and then 27 years of restoration created a very dramatic re-opening of the church in the late 1990s.  

The nice photos of us in front of the church are just not as funny.

The gate outside of the church not only was amazingly beautiful but it matched my pants!

This was a bottle and stopper inspired by the exterior of the church.  Fun stuff.

Now even though I know that great art and architecture can be found inside of churches it does not subside the eery feeling I get inside of them and fear that I will probably burst into flames.  With that said I am glad I was convinced to take a tour inside of the Church of Spilled Blood (it's shortened name).  If you think the outside was ridiculous now take a peek at the inside.  Composed of over 7,500 square meters of mosaic tiles the art links Alexander II's murder with the crucifixion.  It boggled my mind and was one of the most incredible interiors I have ever seen.  Opposite from the altar, on the other side of the church is a permanent shrine for Alexander II.

On our way back to bus we spotted a group of art students painting with watercolors.  I was tickled.

 Now last but not least on my list of tours in Russia was the paint your own Matryoshka experience.  These Russian nesting dolls are quite expensive to buy but truthfully I wishing to design my own and take home something more meaningful.  And after my visit to the Church of Spilled blood I found many inspirations on the walls.  I took patterns from the walls and ceiling and designed my Matryoshka accordingly.  I was the only psychopath on the tour with a sketchbook of an already designed doll.  In the hour and a half they gave us to paint our 5 nesting dolls I just barely got finished with the very most outside one.  I was most pleased with the results despite the fact the art supplies were sub-par.  Art nerd in Russia- what can I say?!  I can’t wait to gloss it when I get home.