Peter and Catherine were Great Indeed!

First, a quick update on Montgomery (the Full Monty) Scott Mace for all the dog lovers. . . . .our terrific vet, Dr. Shields, is giving us 48 hour updates on our sick friend.  His first was encouraging and today's update from Dr. Shields told us "Monty has the heart of a lion.  He is continuing to eat well for us and his water consumption is good.   Yesterday we increased his food portion size a bit. . . .he is making the most of (it) and is enjoying the canned diet we have been feeding him.   Monty's promotion came through and he is now officially a 'boarder" rather than a 'patient'. "   Great news for the loving but far away parents, and we appreciate Dr. Shields for keeping us posted.

Front entrance to Catherine's Palace

Our second full day here (Wednesday, May 8) began with a visit to the town of Pushkin, named for Russia's greatest poet, and a suburb of St. Petersburg.   Its park and palace of Tsarkoye Selo very clearly demonstrates the extravagance of Russia's imperial rulers whose grandeur and excess is said to surpass even that of Versailles.. . . in fact, the opulence of Versailles turned out to pale in comparison. The estate originally belonged to a Swedish noble whose countrymen were seemingly at war with Russia for centuries, until finally conquered by Peter the Great.  

 

A ballroom at the Palace of Catherine I

Given to his wife, the future Empress Catherine I, as a present, she developed it into a royal ountry residence in a baroque fashion between 1744 and 1756.   The opulence - gold leaf on everything - was staggering.   She played chess with guests for diamonds . . . .a spoonful at a time.  If she lost (apparently seldom happening), a servant would give the victor their prize.  

A separate house on the grounds was a summer location for dinner where guests up to 20 were served by 480 servants who used a rope system to lower and raise food and place settings from underneath.  And, after dinner, they'd board ferries on the large, private lake to dance late into the evening on yet another smaller palace on an island.



Church of the Spilled Blood



The afternoon provided a city tour of St. Petersburg, beginning with a magnificent convent where Catherine intended to retire as a nun.   Guess giving up the good life was too hard for her, though, and she died on her magnificent estate.  From there, we went to the Church of the Spilled Blood (officially the Church of the Resurrection, a Russian Orthodox church), so named because it was the site of the mortal wounding of the czar, Alexander the II, in 1881 (apparently, the czars were always being hounded by anarchists intent on wiping out the Romanov family).   This church was beautiful and was of a style that would come to mind when one thinks of Russian architecture.    As we were preparing to leave, we were treated to another ad hoc parade of Russian military vehicles as they moved into positions for the following day's VE ceremony and again, the local Russians cheered

Russian soldiers and their vintage ride, preparing
 for the next day's celebration

Our next stop was the Church of St. Issac (yes, Russian Orthodox) which was adjacent to the center of the parade route.   A Russian military orchestra was rehearsing and treated us to a magnificent display of music, but only our first for the day.   Military vehicles were parked nearby including an awesome and obviously vintage motorcycle with sidecar and mounted machine gun (I wonder if Harley Davidson sells those?).  I attempted to ask its uniformed driver its age, saying very slowly, clearly, and loudly (as if that would help) "What - year - is - this".   He looked at me quizzically, obviously not speaking English, muttered something in Russian, and turned away.   Oh well.



The interior of the chapel at The Peter and Paul Fortress,

home to Russian czars including Peter the Great

and the Romanov family murdered in 1917



The final stop of the day was The Peter and Paul Fortress, the original citadel of St. Petersburg, and the oldest building of the city.    The brainchild of Peter the Great, it was built in 1706 as a defense against the dastardly Swedes, but they were defeated before it was finished.   Used as a prison until 1917, its residents included Dostoevsky, Gorky, Trotsky, and Lenin's older brother Alexander.  A second, and perhaps more impressive display of music, was provided to us by 5 Russian men singing acapella.   Their voices were simply wonderful together - I've never heard a bass voice go that low, ever!   Of course, being a music lover, I just had to buy a couple of their CDs (one religious and the other folk songs) . .  . reminding me of times I've been at concerts with best friend Tod where, after a few cold beverages, we'd spring up to buy the CD of some artist we thought was awesome but never heard from again (Tod, remember the Algerian singer who opened for Peter Gabriel?)  I doubt, though, that this will be the case with this acapella music.



The chapel at St. Peter and Paul, was also magnificent and houses the remains of many czars, including Peter the Great and the last Romanov family who were all assassinated by drunken Bolsheviks, including the famed Anastasia (or as Mick Jagger sang, "Anastasia screamed in vain" for all you Stones fans).

After this, it was time to return to the bus and the four of us - Cheryl, Ray, Mary Lee, and particularly myself - said little as we were all simply exhausted.  Having slept about 5 hours over two days, I don't remember ever being as tired as I was on that bus.  And, of course, the traffic on this national holiday was simply unbelievable (the busiest New York traffic pales in comparison).  Our driver decided that it was a good idea to return to the ship via Nevsky Prospekt, the main avenue where capitalism is on full display with swanky shop after shop.  

Even the Russians like Big Macs



An hour plus later we rolled up to the boat dock (and my father-in-law Ray, navy veteran, is cringing at my lack of clarity between calling it a boat or a ship!), we adjourned for dinner and decided to pass on the Cossack dancing show adjacent to the ship. We also decided to pass on the tour the following morning for  the other magnificent estate (the Peterhof) as a day sleeping in seemed the best course of action.   Although booked solid at the time of this writing (11:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 9), an afternoon tour of the city's canals may still be possible so we're on the waiting list for that.   Otherwise, we rest and prepare for tonight's welcome dinner and departing for our next stop on Day 5 - Mandrogy - on the Svir River.   I'll give you the report of our day tomorrow!