We were up at 6:30 and had breakfast in the Veranda buffet. We went to the theatre to meet our group at
7:50. Today’s tour is to Catherine’s Palace,
which we haven’t seen before. It took an
hour’s drive to get there. The castle is
in the town of Pushkin. Pushkin was a
writer who was to Russian as Shakespeare is to English.
In front of the entrance to Catherine's Palace
Our tour guide was Larissa, or Laura. She was excellent. Pushkin was a quaint town dominated by the
palace of Catherine. It had blue color
on the outside with large statutes that used to be gold. We had a comfort break and then Larissa
guided us through the palace. The crown
room was spectacular. It had gold
everywhere. The amber room was the only
room where we couldn’t take pictures.
They use amber to stay looking young in Russia and we saw it everywhere!
Catherine The Great's Palace
Panorama of Catherine's Palace
The front of Catherine's Palace
Band playing at the entrance to Catherine's Palace
Statutes on the front of Catherine's Palace - all used to be gilded gold
Beautiful gardens
A view of the gardens from inside the main entrance
Grand staircase
High ceilings and statues
An old clock in the entrance hall
Cherub statues - one on the east waking up, one on the west going to sleep
Grand hall with painted ceiling and lots of gold
Gold and mirrors
Panorama of the grand hall
Magnificent room
Gold and mirrors throughout
Stunning
Each room had a different pattern on the floor
The dining room
Beautiful painted ceilings and lots of gold
Tim taking it all in!
Beautiful painted ceiling murals
Elaborate gold chandeliers
Beautiful rugs and wall adornments
The wooden floors were so intricate and beautiful
Hallway leading to the "Amber Room"
Another formal room beautifully restored
The use of the "orange color" was very new at the time
Painting of Catherine the Great
Portrait Room
The green room - not one of my favorites!!!
Larissa then took us on a stroll through the gardens, to the
boat house, and the sauna. Gorgeous
well-maintained gardens.
Beautiful bridge leading up to the Palace from the gardens
Gates leading to the gardens
One of the separate buildings on the Palace grounds
Beautiful buildings and landscaping
Statues all over
Beautiful walkway around this building looking out on the lake and gardens
Bronze statuary
Beautiful manicured gardens
More gardens
So many beautiful buildings on the grounds of Catherine's Palace
In front of Catherine's Palace in the gardens
The sauna
The back of the Palace
We then went back on the bus and had an hour’s drive back to
the ship. We went for a quick lunch as
we had an afternoon tour. We met our
group in the theatre at 1:50 and headed back through immigration. Russian immigration is much easier after the
first day. Irina was our guide again –
the same as our guide to Peterhof. This
was a St Petersburg canal boat tour followed by shopping. We drove into the city and boarded our
barge. We got good seats outside on the
back. The bridges were very, very low. There were many different types and colors of
bridges and they all had names.
We ended up out in the Neva River. We saw a military parade with a band playing
as today is some sort of holiday. There
were lots of tourists around The Hermitage, especially the Chinese tourists.
St Petersburg is built all around lots of canals and bridges - this is the "Kissing Bridge"
The "Chain Bridge"
Different designs on all of them
Clean waterways and the canals were pretty wide
Statue of Peter the Great
Large buildings line the shore of the Neva River
Most of the bridges are very low
It was a tight fit a couple of times going under
Lots of things to see from the canals on the tour
New and old throughout - the city is in much better shape than our last visit about 10 years ago
St Isaac's Cathedral from the water
Shows how tight the fit was on the barge going under the bridges
Beautiful architecture
Entrance to a former Palace of the Tzars
Twas chilly on the barge out on the Neva River
Military parade on shore as we cruised on the river
The Hermitage from the Neva River
The Peter and Paul Fortress from the Neva River
Lots of yellow buildings
We ended up back at the Church of the Spilled Blood and had a photo stop. Then we headed back to Basel Island where our ship was docked. We made a 30 minute stop for people to shop and have a free shot of vodka – but it was rot gut!!!! Give us Grey Goose any day!
The Church of the Spilled Blood from the canal
Close up to the Church of the Spilled Blood - site of where Peter the Great was assassinated
Beautiful architecture, colors, and lines
We got back to the ship and went up on deck for sail away at 6 pm. We talked to Chris, the assistant cruise director, Gemma and Alex, and a few others. We arranged dinner with Chris and Linda for July 3rd. We thought we could see Peterhof from the water as we sailed out but it was too far away. We did see the barrier that was built in the Bay of Finland to keep St Petersburg from flooding. We passed a large Russian military naval base too.
We rested a short while and then went for cocktails in Observation. We went to the Compass Rose dining room and had a good dinner. Jose from India (aka Morris) was our waiter and we asked him about having an Indian dinner in our cabin. He called Rupesh to arrange it but we aren’t sure if that was setup yet! We’ll check later.
The show was a folk violinist. We stuck our head in and there weren’t many people there. So we left and went to bed early. Time for a good night’s sleep.
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