First off, because Matt and I did not get our Russian Visa the only way we could visit the city was by a tour with a local tour company. So not wanting to miss the opportunity of a life time, we booked our excursions for St. Petersburg early when we go onboard the cruise.
Out of the four ports that the cruise was docking, St. Petersburg was the longest one. Our tour was a 9 hour walk/bus tour of city and also of Pushkin (Summer Palace).
Now, after disembarking the cruise you immediately get to a customs office where each person stands in front of a Russian Officer to have your passport stamped. Is it odd that this totally had me excited? That I would have, in my passport, a stamp from Russia? Odd but my excitement was not reciprocated by the officer. She was COLD! I bashed my short Asian eyelashes, flashed my smile, and NOTHING.
This, however, did not dampen my mood. I was ready to see St. Petersburg, and no one could bring me down!
We met with our tour guide outside the customs office, and jumped on a tour bus. She quickly introduced herself and the bus driver before starting our tour. She introduced our stops for the day, which starts with the Summer Palace outside of St. Petersburg. She was very knowledgeable, and was quite fluent in English. The only thing I found funny was how she would also repeat the last two words of her sentences, her sentences, even if it was not worth emphasizing.
While driving out to the Summer Palace, we went through the morning traffic of St. Petersburg.
The image I have of the city was quite different from what I saw. Sure there are beautiful Russian Orthodox Churches but other than that, the city itself looked very, worn out. You can definitely see the presence of the "past" communist influence on the architecture in the city.
Along the way we were informed of lots of different interesting facts about the city and region. We even drove on a highway which was built on the ground where the Nazi Germans front line met the Russian front line in WWII.
Our first stop, the Summer Palace or Catherine Palace, lived up to what I was expecting. The grounds outside the Palace was beautifully landscaped. The gates to the palace was beautiful. Now having said that, we learned that this palace was pretty much destroyed during German Occupation, where the Nazi soldiers had to tear apart the original palace to use as fire wood during the winters. The palace today is almost completely restored back to its former glory.
Our tour brought us through a few rooms in the palace which included the Ballroom, the dining rooms, the famous Amber Room, the Green and Red rooms.
What's interesting about the ballroom is that Steven Spielberg had rented it out for his private functions in the past! I can definitely see why. The room was beautiful, and apparently the acoustics in the room is amazing. I guess this would also explain why Sir Elton John held a couple concerts in this room. What was also interesting is that Elton John had also requested his wedding to be here, but the Russian government declined his request.
The palace did not have any kitchen and all the food that was made to feed the royal family came from across the palace, where the "help" lived. However, the keep the food warm, there are these elaborate warmers that are in the dining halls of the palace. The pictures on it, are portraits of different of different people of different social class.
Unfortunately I was unable to take photos of the amazing Amber Room. The room itself was walled with only Amber, nothing else. It was quite amazing to see. I wanted to sneak a photo but did NOT get the cooperation of my fellow traveller, Ahem!
The Green and Red Room were interesting as well. In the pictures below, you will notice the strips of green and red on the wall, and these were made from, yes, foil paper! Now, it's not the kind of foil paper we use to bake our pizza in the oven, it is actually made of real silver! Didn't think the Tsar would cheap out did you?
Also neat thing I learned is also that it actually was the Tsar Peter's wife Catherine who commissioned the building of this palace to be their summer home in 1717. However, the first palace was deemed outdated by Empress Elizabeth in 1752, and was then, expanded to what we see today.
The garden of the palace was also very grand and beautiful. The picture below is the bath house of Empress Elizabeth.
Our tour ended at Catherine Palace shortly after noon, where we were brought into a large hall for a big lunch back in downtown St. Petersburg. The meal itself was filling and the hall made it feel like we were at some wedding reception! And of course, a shot of vodka to clean the pallet before a meal? It was STRONG!
After lunch, we were brought to the Peter and Paul Fortress. This fortress included a church where all the Tsars are buried. The fortress itself does not really stand out too much in comparison to other castles or forts, but the church has all the tombs of Russian Tsars. From the Peter the Great to the last Tsar Nicholas II, they all were laid to rest here. Now of course, Nicholas the II, the last Tsar of Russia and his entire family was murdered after the Russian Revolution in 1919, their bodies did not have a proper burial. Today, the church as a special closed off section with one tomb for the entire last Romanov family. In this one tomb contains few pieces of bones that were dug up and tested to be the bones of that family. Till today, two more of the family of 7 remains unfound. Unfortunately, the mystery of Anastasia was put to rest by my guide who says that her bones were found and now is in the tomb in the Peter and Paul Church.
Our tour guide then brought us to a souvenir shop. This shop was packed with fantastic souvenirs but I think the prices were a bit more than what we would have paid had we gotten our Russian Visa and visited the city ourselves. Being the shopaholic that I am, of course, I did a bit of spending. Russian Vodka when I get home!
One of the worst things about joining a tour is having to feel like you're just rushing from place to place. Another is having irresponsible people on your tour, so you end up having to wait around for them. When the tour guide says 30 mins, it does NOT mean 50 mins! Boy was the the Russian lady mad!
Our tour became a jump on and jump off photo tour from this point on.
The stops included the Hermitage Museum, which was the Winter Palace of the Tsar of Russia. The museum contains three buildings. The Winter Palace was absorbed as part of the museum under the Communist regime. When we drove by, I was a bit disappointed at how run down it looked!
The tour also took us to the Church of Our Savior on Split Blood. We did not get to go into the church, but it is suppose to house some of the most beautiful mosaic art.
We also drove past the Saint Issac Cathedral which has a gold plated dome, and when you take a closer look on the columns of the cathedral, you can see the scars of WWII.
Our trip was coming to an end. I was not ready for what I was about to see. We made a final stop across the river from the Winter Palace for picture of some pillars. Having not had the opportunity to get a good shot of the palace, I ran quickly for about 200m from where we stopped to the edge of the water to attempt a good shot. As I approached the walkway along the river, I saw.........
Well, the video explains it all.
Yah, this has to be the most outrageous thing I have ever seen in my whole entire life!
I was not able to capture the rest of the conversation, but this was how it went down.
"Do you want a picture?"
"No, that's ok"
"Come on, only $$ for a picture"
"No, we have bears back in Canada"
"But this is not Grizzly, its a Russian Brown Bear!"
"No I'm ok, thanks"
"You can touch him for free"
"No thank you"
I was sadden by this. A baby cub, it was only 1 year old, on the street drinking milk from a bottle and sitting on a stool... now I want to try not to judge and say this is cruel, but how can anyone argue that this bear doesn't belongs in the wild? Sigh.
Out of the four ports that the cruise was docking, St. Petersburg was the longest one. Our tour was a 9 hour walk/bus tour of city and also of Pushkin (Summer Palace).
Now, after disembarking the cruise you immediately get to a customs office where each person stands in front of a Russian Officer to have your passport stamped. Is it odd that this totally had me excited? That I would have, in my passport, a stamp from Russia? Odd but my excitement was not reciprocated by the officer. She was COLD! I bashed my short Asian eyelashes, flashed my smile, and NOTHING.
This, however, did not dampen my mood. I was ready to see St. Petersburg, and no one could bring me down!
We met with our tour guide outside the customs office, and jumped on a tour bus. She quickly introduced herself and the bus driver before starting our tour. She introduced our stops for the day, which starts with the Summer Palace outside of St. Petersburg. She was very knowledgeable, and was quite fluent in English. The only thing I found funny was how she would also repeat the last two words of her sentences, her sentences, even if it was not worth emphasizing.
While driving out to the Summer Palace, we went through the morning traffic of St. Petersburg.
The image I have of the city was quite different from what I saw. Sure there are beautiful Russian Orthodox Churches but other than that, the city itself looked very, worn out. You can definitely see the presence of the "past" communist influence on the architecture in the city.
Along the way we were informed of lots of different interesting facts about the city and region. We even drove on a highway which was built on the ground where the Nazi Germans front line met the Russian front line in WWII.
Our first stop, the Summer Palace or Catherine Palace, lived up to what I was expecting. The grounds outside the Palace was beautifully landscaped. The gates to the palace was beautiful. Now having said that, we learned that this palace was pretty much destroyed during German Occupation, where the Nazi soldiers had to tear apart the original palace to use as fire wood during the winters. The palace today is almost completely restored back to its former glory.
Our tour brought us through a few rooms in the palace which included the Ballroom, the dining rooms, the famous Amber Room, the Green and Red rooms.
What's interesting about the ballroom is that Steven Spielberg had rented it out for his private functions in the past! I can definitely see why. The room was beautiful, and apparently the acoustics in the room is amazing. I guess this would also explain why Sir Elton John held a couple concerts in this room. What was also interesting is that Elton John had also requested his wedding to be here, but the Russian government declined his request.
The palace did not have any kitchen and all the food that was made to feed the royal family came from across the palace, where the "help" lived. However, the keep the food warm, there are these elaborate warmers that are in the dining halls of the palace. The pictures on it, are portraits of different of different people of different social class.
Unfortunately I was unable to take photos of the amazing Amber Room. The room itself was walled with only Amber, nothing else. It was quite amazing to see. I wanted to sneak a photo but did NOT get the cooperation of my fellow traveller, Ahem!
The Green and Red Room were interesting as well. In the pictures below, you will notice the strips of green and red on the wall, and these were made from, yes, foil paper! Now, it's not the kind of foil paper we use to bake our pizza in the oven, it is actually made of real silver! Didn't think the Tsar would cheap out did you?
Also neat thing I learned is also that it actually was the Tsar Peter's wife Catherine who commissioned the building of this palace to be their summer home in 1717. However, the first palace was deemed outdated by Empress Elizabeth in 1752, and was then, expanded to what we see today.
The garden of the palace was also very grand and beautiful. The picture below is the bath house of Empress Elizabeth.
Our tour ended at Catherine Palace shortly after noon, where we were brought into a large hall for a big lunch back in downtown St. Petersburg. The meal itself was filling and the hall made it feel like we were at some wedding reception! And of course, a shot of vodka to clean the pallet before a meal? It was STRONG!
After lunch, we were brought to the Peter and Paul Fortress. This fortress included a church where all the Tsars are buried. The fortress itself does not really stand out too much in comparison to other castles or forts, but the church has all the tombs of Russian Tsars. From the Peter the Great to the last Tsar Nicholas II, they all were laid to rest here. Now of course, Nicholas the II, the last Tsar of Russia and his entire family was murdered after the Russian Revolution in 1919, their bodies did not have a proper burial. Today, the church as a special closed off section with one tomb for the entire last Romanov family. In this one tomb contains few pieces of bones that were dug up and tested to be the bones of that family. Till today, two more of the family of 7 remains unfound. Unfortunately, the mystery of Anastasia was put to rest by my guide who says that her bones were found and now is in the tomb in the Peter and Paul Church.
Our tour guide then brought us to a souvenir shop. This shop was packed with fantastic souvenirs but I think the prices were a bit more than what we would have paid had we gotten our Russian Visa and visited the city ourselves. Being the shopaholic that I am, of course, I did a bit of spending. Russian Vodka when I get home!
One of the worst things about joining a tour is having to feel like you're just rushing from place to place. Another is having irresponsible people on your tour, so you end up having to wait around for them. When the tour guide says 30 mins, it does NOT mean 50 mins! Boy was the the Russian lady mad!
Our tour became a jump on and jump off photo tour from this point on.
The stops included the Hermitage Museum, which was the Winter Palace of the Tsar of Russia. The museum contains three buildings. The Winter Palace was absorbed as part of the museum under the Communist regime. When we drove by, I was a bit disappointed at how run down it looked!
The tour also took us to the Church of Our Savior on Split Blood. We did not get to go into the church, but it is suppose to house some of the most beautiful mosaic art.
We also drove past the Saint Issac Cathedral which has a gold plated dome, and when you take a closer look on the columns of the cathedral, you can see the scars of WWII.
Our trip was coming to an end. I was not ready for what I was about to see. We made a final stop across the river from the Winter Palace for picture of some pillars. Having not had the opportunity to get a good shot of the palace, I ran quickly for about 200m from where we stopped to the edge of the water to attempt a good shot. As I approached the walkway along the river, I saw.........
Well, the video explains it all.
Yah, this has to be the most outrageous thing I have ever seen in my whole entire life!
I was not able to capture the rest of the conversation, but this was how it went down.
"Do you want a picture?"
"No, that's ok"
"Come on, only $$ for a picture"
"No, we have bears back in Canada"
"But this is not Grizzly, its a Russian Brown Bear!"
"No I'm ok, thanks"
"You can touch him for free"
"No thank you"
I was sadden by this. A baby cub, it was only 1 year old, on the street drinking milk from a bottle and sitting on a stool... now I want to try not to judge and say this is cruel, but how can anyone argue that this bear doesn't belongs in the wild? Sigh.
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