| St. Petersburg, Russia, May 5-7 May 2012 | ||
Speed Train
Moving along at 218km/h. 3hr 45 min non-stop
The fountains at Peterhof, one of Peter the Great's summer palaces. Main fountain is 21 m high and powered only by gravity.
The happy travelers
Church domes at Peterhof
Trick fountain at Peterhof
On the river. Only rain we had on the whole trip. Bad timing.
One of Sheremetev's Palaces from the canal
Nice new Metro station- Admiralty
Soldiers marching on Palace Square in preparation for Victory Day Parade
Showing off some military hardware
Main Square seen from a window inside The Hermitage
1 of the 2 Leonardo da Vinci pieces of art at the Hermitage. What I did not know was that there are only 14 Da Vinci paintings in existence
These are pictures of the same Canaleto painting from opposite angles, look at the size of the building on the left of the painting. Amazing illusion!
The Travelers on the steps of the Winter Palace
One of the many reception rooms in Winter Palace
Winter Palace, part of the Hermitage from the square
Church on Spilled Blood-built on the spot where Tsar Alexander 2nd was assasimated in 1881
One of the ceiling paintings in the church
Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral
St. Isaac Cathedral
Main dome in St. Isaac's cathedral
Peter the Great's grave
Line of Tsars, Emperors and Empresses from 1613 to 1917
Winter Palace\ Hermitage from across the river
Coffee break before heading back to Moscow@ Yeliseev Cafe.
|
||
Interesting trip to St. Petersburg. We left Moscow on the Sapsan speed train to St. Petersburg @ 0645h Saturday morning and arrived St-Petersburg 3:45 later and headed to the Alexander House Hotel to meet up with the rest of the traveling party that had arrived the night before. First point on agenda was Peterhof. A palace built in 1714 by Peter the Great. Damaged severely during Nazi occupation during the war, many pieces of furniture, chandeliers and artifacts were buried before the German troops arrived. Most of it has been restored with its orignal gilded Baroque decoration. there are 150 or so fountains all gravity powered. Once the sun came out (or so we thought), we headed back to town for a boat trip in the early evening. Nice view of the town from the river and canals. There are 68 rivers/canals in the city of St. Petersburg. Next morning we went to see the Hermitage. Not really fair to only spend 4 hours in this museum. It houses the large collection of artifacts/paintings collected by Catherine the Great with a large portion mostly European. Non of her successors matched the quantity of her purchases. The most impressive part of the Hermitage is the Winter Palace. We had a bonus view of the practicing for Victory Day Parade that is scheduled for 9th May. After lunch we headed down the canal to Church on Spilled Blood aka Resurection Church of Our Savior. It is similar to St. Basil's cathedral on Red Square, in Moscow. Now it is not a functioning church, but a museum. We hope you enjoy the pictures.
Lynne & Atle
|
||
