Starting the countdown to home, but still so many beautiful places to see.
We arrived around lunchtime, ate, then settled in to our digs before heading off on a "see the back streets of St Petersburg " tour. It was great. Full of canals and lovely buildings. They have taken extra care to ensure the ugly is behind the facades of the past.
Nevsky Prospect, the main drag, is full of people and shops. Our guide took us to a great coffee shop with excellent cakes. Seems to set the right mood when one arrives in a new city. Just for something new there seems to be plenty of music happening on the streets and off. Being Saturday there was a fair bit of action.
Reminiscent of a few experiences our weather turned into full on rain. Did I tell you about our umbrella exchange in Moscow?. I tossed a coin to choose which colour and we left them with Ash's very dilapidated tartan job from Turkey. Anyway, to the point, our umbrellas have been essential items. Everyone here carries an umbrella as it is humid and changeable.
We had booked the opera with Normen and Georg; "The Three oranges". Vicky and Wayne had different seats. It was amazing. The Marininsky theatre was so beautiful and we had plush velvet chairs in the dress circle. I would be lying if I said the opera was fantastic. The plot was totally inane but would have been even crazier (as Normen puts it) if we hadn't had the translation screen to at least read what they were singing. The time went quickly, with sparkling white at interval and Ash even thinks he might go again in Melbourne sometime.
As usual, an adventure getting back to meet the others. It was bucketing rain and we had arrived by taxi and had no idea where we were. We jumped a bus, literally, managed to get our case across and were told to get off immediately and head in the opposite direction on no 23. So we did. It wasn't a relaxed trip as there had been considerable debate between Ash and I about where the 23 went from and what direction we needed to face. It wasn't relaxed because we were hooning around side streets and basically nothing looked familiar. Naturally, I made contact with one of the Russians on the bus who was finding the whole situation very amusing, she affirmed we were on the right track and I had a great chat with her about her life as a young mother and student in St Petersburg. She put us off at the right stop and all was well.
With everyone under our umbrellas we found the ballet visitors and a restaurant where we sat under canvas, watching the torrent, eating and drinking. Vodka does make one warm and relaxed. No doubt about it and we had a really good time. Walking was out of the question so around 2am we caught some taxis back. Our driver had long hair and seemed OK until we left the known route and headed off in what, I thought, was the different direction. Imagining dark alleys and being held up for copious amounts of money, I told him to stop. "Just 1 minute" was his answer and low and behold we were at the hotel and a familiar landmark. It would have been reasonable if the boys were miffed. The taxi driver was pint sized and I was with 3 strapping fellows. Something they pointed out next day.
Sunday, Ash and I slept late and took an easy stroll down Nevsky Prospect. The Russians seem to like a stuffed animal suit so I saw a bear, cat and a Russian doll. I couldn't resist having a photo with them.
The others had to do a day of galleries as they only had limited time. It is pretty busy on Intrepid. We were to visit the curiosity museum with Normen and Georg but the queue was too long, there were too many people and we decided to just wander home. The boys went and loved it so we will visit through the week.
As a group we headed to the suburbs for pancakes with a Russian family. They were fantastic people and we learnt a lot about Russia from them. Our aim for the night was to stay up and watch the bridges go up. All the bridges split and rise about 2am to let the water traffic through.
We walked and then went to a Greek, yes Greek, restaurant for a late meal and our farewell dinner. Food was excellent, a little Russian in its emphasis, and we were the stayers.
The bridge going up was a festive atmosphere. Crowds of people lining the river waiting. Fire dancers, musicians, icecream stalls. You name it. Quite a festival and party.
We walked home, the 5 kms marvelling at the architecture, lit up. Georg is into taxidermy so we showed him a shop we had found earlier. Trish would love the bear rug in the window. It wasn't all that expensive either.
Monday left us heading to our new accommodation and meeting Normen and Georg to visit the zoology museum. Our accommodation is simple but right in the middle of town. We took a punt and caught a bus. The conductor got the giggles when I gave her a 500 rub note instead of 50, then garbled at us about where we got off. Again we went with it and the bus turned a corner and dropped us outside the hostel.
With security at every gateway, and codes and magnetic keys, we were lucky to get inside and up the 2 floors. We are behind a facade and around a garden square. Really quite pleasant.
We met the boys and saw the most incredible collection of animal history and specimens you could imagine. We thought how much Dennis would love it. As a result of the Communist regime, centralizing regional collections and taking over private ones, the collection was enormous. Georg, who lives in London and travels extensively with an interest in zoological specimens , regards it as the best he has seen (it houses over 17 million species and displays "only" 500,000 at a time). I got involved, as usual, talking with some young students and teachers from Northern Russia, having my photograph taken with them, and believe it or not giving them autographs. The boys saw the insect collection!
Later Georg and Ash climbed up St Isaacs cathedral to see the view, and we headed for the Cemetery where the famous lie and the photo opportunities abound. Having heaps of daylight helps what you can do in a day. Ash and I bailed out and came home to a welcoming bed and a good night's sleep before the Hermitage,- apparently a mammoth day.
We spent 6 hours at the Hermitage (just the Winter Palace part) today and think we saw most of the site. We still have a ticket for tomorrow which gets us into all the other sites. Wow, what a collection. Two rooms of Picasso, Matisse, Renoir, Gaughin, Van gough. Again, the government seized private collections (as well as heaps from the Germans post WW2) for the State and they are all there, available for the masses to see. I love their attitude. It is cheap for Russians and they have a dearer tourist price. They have days where entry is totally free. They want the people to have access and the people do. Getting in wasn't easy, but once in, the collection is vast and varied. Excellent displays of Egyptian artefacts surprised us, as did the frescoes collected from Turkmenistan. The palace art and furniture was expected but is indescribable. Ash will post pics when we have a good connection. As David said, given the collection and grandeur it is a wonder the Russians didn't revolt earlier.
It has been a long day and we have another tomorrow so I will sign out. It seems like 5pm but is really after 9 so I reckon we had better get some food as well.
Lots of love Janet and Ash
