Contrasts of Scandinavia and Russia
Day Seven – 29 May 2010
Weather: Partly cloudy, 16
Have you seen the movie “White Nights?” Well, it’s real. The nights are white. I had a hard time getting my curtains closed so that the light was streaming in from the sides all night and I had a hard time getting to sleep. I was up at 2 am and peeked out to see the sky was white. Amazing. Victor told us that the nights are about 1 ½ hours long and since the sun doesn’t go much more than 9 degrees below the horizon, it doesn’t get dark at night for much of the summer.
I went down for breakfast which was fairly sparse. I took some croissants and scrambled eggs but there was egg shell in it. After I finished gagging, I feasted on the croissants and returned to my room to hook up to the internet and check my email.
We departed at 9 am for St. Catherine’s Palace outside the city. It was a Saturday morning so the traffic was very light. It took about an hour to get to Peterhof. During the drive, Victor gave us a detailed talk about Lada. He told us how the Russians wanted a car of their own and the government didn’t go to VW or Volvo – they went with Fiat.
Fix It Again Tommy.
Yeah. That Fiat.
A close friend to Ford.
Found On Road Dead. Fix or repair daily.
The Fiat company had close ties to labour unions in Italy and that appealed to the Russians. It would take years for individuals to order a car, and of course, we know about their reliability. Victor told us a couple of jokes:
What do a Lada and a pregnant teenage daughter have in common? Both are a disgrace to the family.
<groan>
Why does a Lada have heated rear windows? To keep your fingers warm when you push it.
LOL
Never imagined the KGB could have such a good sense of humour.
At one point we passed a red brick building on the far side of the river/canal. Victor said it was a prison and that the government doesn’t like the idea of prisoners having such a nice view and they are rebuilding the prison outside the city and selling the land to developers.
It took about an hour to get to St. Catherine’s Palace.
This optional I have dubbed the “Line up like a Russian” optional. There was a line-up to get to the front of the palace. A line up to get in the front door. A line up at the bathroom and a line up at several points inside the palace.
We saw the Hall of mirrors which was full of mirrors and gilded statues. As we waited to proceed, I realized that it was a line of doorways, all gilded with gold ornaments. I was like looking down a mirror that just goes on and on and on. Hopefully, my pictures came out for that.
As we moved between the rooms, seeing a dining room and the like, we came to the famous Amber Room. It was almost completely covered in amber but not in sheets like I had imagined but in pieces perhaps an inch or two in diameter each. The amber is apparently worth 250 million dollars. Oddly enough, it’s not the original. Much of the palace was disassembled and buried during the Second World War and they have yet to find the original in order to dig it up. Photos were not permitted in this room, but funny thing…I must have accidentally hit my shutter release.
After the visit, we lined up to leave.
Yup. A real treat in Russia.
The next stop was the grounds of a palace in Peterhof. We had a quick lunch (another Danish and coke) and then we went on to visit the gardens and we were treated to some sun peeking out through the clouds to make for some great pictures.
Victor told us the inside of the palace wasn’t worth seeing – that’s what Catherine’s palace is for. Peterhof is for the grounds which are some 5 miles long and full of fountains. There is a huge fountain below the palace with a canal leading to the Baltic. Hydraulic pressure keeps the fountains going and they are surrounded with gilded statues.
We walked, took pictures and learned that some of the fountains are trick fountains (land mines, I would call them). In one case, you have to walk across and step on certain stones to keep the fountain from spraying you but walk on the wrong stone and you get soaked.
The king must have a had a field day with that one – sending the dignitaries to sit on the bench next to the rocks.
After a pleasant walk through the grounds, we took advantage of the shopping outside the palace where the prices were very reasonable.
Optional Opinion: Depends on what you’re into. If you like palaces and beautiful grounds (with great picture opportunities if it’s sunny) and want to see the Amber Room, go for it. As much as I’ve been “Palaced” out on this tour, they still each have something unique that draws you there. The grounds were well worth it for me.
On the way back, we drove by the Cruiser Aurora which was involved in the first days of the February Revolution when part of the crew mutinied. The following October, a blank shot from this ship signaled the assault on the Winter Palace which was the beginning of the October Revolution.
It was getting onto 5:30 pm by the time we got back and we had to leave for the ballet at 7 pm. That didn’t give us much time to get supper. We went to the train station hoping for a Mcdonalds, but no go. We settled for pizza and rushed to get ready for the ballet.
Tonight, it’s Swan Lake.
And no, you don’t have to dress up. One man wore a suit. The rest of us were still wearing what we were during the day. Some threw on a scarf or put on different shoes, but the rest of us were in jeans. One guy wore his batman t-shirt. Hilarious.
The ballet was in a nice theatre complete with viewing areas in the side and a balcony. I’ve never been to a ballet and found it was best if you read the program before it starts so that you have an idea what is going on.
And don’t get up to leave at the end of the first act.
The show went from 8 until 10:30 with two intermissions. The second was much shorter. It seemed a lot of us were quite tired and struggled to keep our eyes open. I got my second wind for the second act and enjoyed the ballet though I can’t say I would go out of my way to see another.
Optional Opinion: Only if you are one of two things – you like ballet or you just want to be able to see a Russian ballet for the experience. Otherwise (and now knowing what the Russian Folklore show was like) I would say to skip this one if you want to do anything on your own. We get precious little time to do anything on our own, so if you want to, then book an extra day or skip one of the optionals.
We drove back to the hotel in a pouring rain and arrived at 11 pm and it was still light enough to take pictures without a flash. I managed to close my curtains tight enough to keep the light out.
Then it was lights out.
And I was out like a light.
Go to Day Eight
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