Day - 18: Saturday, June 13, 2015
Starting Location: At Sea En-route to St. Petersburg, Russia
Ending Location: St. Petersburg, Russia
Welcome to St Petersburg, "the Venice of Northern Europe", "the most beautiful city in the . . ."
After arrival we departed the ship and entered the marine terminal via a security/immigration check-point. As the non-smiling officer "welcomed" us to Russia and after pounding the various stamps into our passports we were allowed entry. As for me they need not worry that I'll be staying behind. Before heading out I thought I'd pick up a few rubles but here's the problem, the ATM didn't translate well into English and with my Cyrillic being a touch rusty, we headed into St. Petersburg "ruble-ess".
In case you were wondering how Subway is spelled in Cyrillic.
Czarina Catherine sighting!
For the evening's enlightenment, our small group was invited to a "special evening" at the Hermitage. For those of the non-art-cultural set, it's another Russian palace transformed through the years into a museum filled with famous stuff that most of the Russian population never will see.
Sheila at the Hermitage, ready for the experience!
What follows are examples of the glamour and gilt of the museum.
In France it was "Let them have cake!" but in Russia, quoth the czar, "Let them have juice, champagne or maybe a mimosa!"
So that's it sports fans our first day and night in St. Petersburg. We were back onboard the ship by midnight anxious for our 4 AM wake-up call for the Moscow trek on Sunday.
Ending Location: St. Petersburg, Russia
Welcome to St Petersburg, "the Venice of Northern Europe", "the most beautiful city in the . . ."
After arrival we departed the ship and entered the marine terminal via a security/immigration check-point. As the non-smiling officer "welcomed" us to Russia and after pounding the various stamps into our passports we were allowed entry. As for me they need not worry that I'll be staying behind. Before heading out I thought I'd pick up a few rubles but here's the problem, the ATM didn't translate well into English and with my Cyrillic being a touch rusty, we headed into St. Petersburg "ruble-ess".
Our guide and "handler"; guess which of the three was the guide, they're sneaky with the "handlers".
In case you were wondering how Subway is spelled in Cyrillic.
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| Russian Ducks Names: K, G & B |
Series of three famous people, though only one is green and on a horse.
McDonald's and Starbucks in Cyrillic.
Red Square wedding amongst the domes and "onions".
Then there is the not so glitzy. The bus converted into public restrooms, a colorful power plant and a stadium that has so far taken 10 years to construct and is yet to be finished.
For the evening's enlightenment, our small group was invited to a "special evening" at the Hermitage. For those of the non-art-cultural set, it's another Russian palace transformed through the years into a museum filled with famous stuff that most of the Russian population never will see.
Sheila at the Hermitage, ready for the experience!
What follows are examples of the glamour and gilt of the museum.
In France it was "Let them have cake!" but in Russia, quoth the czar, "Let them have juice, champagne or maybe a mimosa!"
Our evening included a performance by The State Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg, my favorite part of the night though the orange juice was pretty good.
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