a baltic journey
/Best of St. Petersburg, Tallinn & Helsinki in 9 Days, a Rick Steves Tour
/st. petersburg
day 6 - group tour of winter palace/hermitage & free afternoon
One of the main reasons tourists flock to St. Petersburg is to visit the Winter Palace and Hermitage Museum. With lavish interiors, years of history and over 3 million items in collection; it is a must see for everyone. But you are going to need more than one visit to accomplish it. We had a local guide take us through and focus on some of the highlights, but we were nowhere close to seeing everything.
It was very hot in St. Petersburg causing the palace and museum to be a sauna; air conditioning was weak if at all. Of course no water allowed. I think I spent more time finding the air vent in each room than admiring the art detail up close. Don't worry, I still enjoyed all that I could, just also made sure I didn't faint while doing it.
the art collection
One of the largest and oldest museums in the world, the Hermitage was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been open to the public since 1852. It basically houses everything!
As much as I love Impressionist paintings, I would have to say that the most amazing peice of art I witnessed was a table with very tiny mosaic tiled Itailian sceneries. From a distance you wouldn't have known it was tiled.
peterhof palace and gardens
After a quick break for lunch, a few of us were off to take the hydrofoil across to Peter the Great's Palace, which is said to be the Versilles of Russia.
I was busy trying to rush and catch our boat when I tripped on the 'flat' sidewalk. I rolled my ankle, fell on the opposite knee and smashed my DSLR on the cement. Not my best moment. Luckily I broke no bones and only dinted/cracked my lens. Camera still worked.
Once on the hyrdofoil I cleaned up my wound and admired the views as we left St. Petersburg. Then it seemed like our boat was going slower and slower, others were passing us, and you could smell diesel fuel. So much for the short ride, our boat blew the fuel line. Oh well, I had more time to rest my foot and knee and was just thankful that we actually made it there in one peice.
Wow...what a visit. We didn't tour inside the Palace but spent all the time enjoying the fountain and gardens.
after a very long day...
What a day of touring, so much to take in. I thought it was a great idea when someone suggested stopping for a drink on a floating bar just down from the Winter Palace.
Then it was time to freshen up and go walking to find dinner. We ended up at a table that had a huge American flag painted on the wall behind us...I ordered a pepsi and chili so it was somewhat appropriate.
Can you believe there are still 2 days left?