St Petersburg, Russia part 1

St. Petersburg June 26

We woke up early as the ship took on the pilot at 04:30. It was already light but we were able to return to sleep before getting up for breakfast. The ship was due to clear the authorities allowing us to get off at 7;30 am but the Russian thoroughness prolonged our wait. Imagine a ship of over 2000 passengers waiting to go through immigration authorities. It took a while and finally at about 8:40 we met our tour guide Maria and the remainder of the group. Our group had grown to 13 since I had originally booked. A bonus , since the more clients, the better the rate. We had a small bus at our disposal which would be ours for the next 2 days. St Petersburg enjoys about 35 sunny days each year. The skies are generally overcast and rain is not uncommon at this time of year. We were to get exactly the norm and were lucky enough to only get some heavy rain towards the end of the first days activities. First on the agenda , we drove To Pushkin for a tour of the Catherine Palace. This is a magnificent building which was decorated in a most opulent manner, enjoying gold coverings everywhere the eye could see. In present times the extent of this gold is paint. The buildings have been restored wonderfully when you consider that they go back to the 1700’s. The highlight of the tour was the Amber room. It has been completely restored to the original appearance. The walls are covered with amber panels and mirrors. The original panels were removed by the Germans during their occupation in the second world war and afterward they were recovered and are now stored in a secret place. This is an absolute must to see on a visit to St. Petersburg.
After a stop for lunch we returned to St Petersburg for a visit to the famous Hermitge. It was originally the Winter Palace completed in 1761 and is considered the largest and most ornate building in St. Petersburg. It is now a museum containing many objects of fine art. Both of these attractions were probably the busiest places that we have ever been to. The crowds of tourists are enormous. It seems that everyone on a cruise ship in port were at these sites. On the way to our final stop of the day the sky opened up with a deluge of rain as we visited the Church of the Spilt Blood. This cathedral, famous for its walls of mosaic, was built on the site of the assassination of Alexander II on March 1, 1881. Slightly wet we were tired after such a full day as we returned to the ship.