140618 St Petersburg

The Plan

Your floating hotel sails at 6:00pm, giving you another full day to soak up the sights of St. Petersburg. FB,L,D

Some Information

The Peterhof Palace is 32 km west of St Petersburg on the Gulf of Finland and is the brainchild of Peter the Great.  Peterhof was severely damaged during World War II when it was occupied by the Germans, and was completely gutted in 1944 when they blew it up as they retreated.  The German invasion happened very quickly and so the sculptures were buried to protect them rather than store them in another location.  Pre-war photos and drawings were of invaluable help during restoration, which took several decades but has finally been completed.  The magnificent chandeliers and paintings are originals, which were carried away into safekeeping during the hostilities. The 150 fountains in the 1000-hectare park get drained for the winter, but today is sunshine and summer to enable us to enjoy their splendor.  Peterhof was just a summer palace and so there is no restored heating here. During the winter all the sculptors around the fountains are covered in timber devices to protect them during the severe weather that comes to Russia.

How the Day Turned Out

We arrive at St Petersburg to a very cold day; forecast is for rain, and strong cold winds. After breakfast, we go to the ‘marshalling yards’ to get sorted into our groups for the day’s excursion. While waiting, I feel this feeling that tells me that my day is about to be interrupted – again. We go through Russian Immigration and onto our bus. After 5 minutes or so, I know I have to get off the bus and return to the ship due to strong vertigo. I left Lyn to do the tour to Peterhof Palace where she has wanted to return to since we were here in October 2012.

As far as detail for today’s excursion, I cannot give you but will use some other information we have on the Palace. Enjoy the photos!

Our second day in St Petersburg, we spend on the ship. Lyn has a pamper package to ‘put up with’ and then a acupuncture treatment to hopefully ‘kill’ the tooth pain she has had for 2-3 months. It seems to work as the intensity has worn off somewhat.

It becomes apparent that we should book for the main restaurant earlier than we tried as the only times are 5:30pm (too early) and 9:00pm (too late). The Tamarind Restaurant has a Pan-Asian cuisine evoking the rich culinary traditions of Southeast Asia, China and Japan. It is mid-ship on deck 11 with a magnificent view as we leave St Petersburg. I have ordered ‘salt-free’ and I get the best meal I have had on this trip. I am not a ‘food writer’ – yet, but after that meal, I just may do a bit on the side, too.

On our return to our room, we stop off at the sports bar to watch the Australia Holland World Cup Soccer, which was attended by a number of Aussies. Great game and a good result considering. Then another dizzy hit me and we were back in the room fairly quickly instead of going to the show for the night – a Russian gymnast doing his thing.