ST PETERSBURG IN FOUR DAYS, DAY THREE A TRIP TO PETERHOF PALACE

Hello dear friends,

tHE story about our 2019 holidays is slowly unfolding.  So far we visited a countries of Qatar and Oman and then flew to St Petersburg, Russia.  Today is our third day in this amazing city and I would like to share with you our visit to Peterhof (German for Peter's Court) Palace, a series of palaces and gardens located in Peterhof.  It was originally commissioned by Peter the Great as a direct response to Palace of Versailles as his country retreat, but then got expanded after his visit to the French royal court in the beginning of 18th century and later was nicknamed as "Russian Versailles".  

Although legally the Peterhof Palace belongs to the city of St Petersburg, it is over 30 kilometres away from it.  There are a few options available for those who wants to see this magnificent property.   Surely, the simplest but expensive would be by a private car or a taxi.  But if you use the public transport system, which is great, by the way, you have two choices to get there:  either by water or by land.  The land option involves the use of various modes of transportation while hydrofoil, a quick and efficient water taxi, is slightly more expensive but it could take you across the Gulf of Finland straight to the Lower Gardens of Peterhof Palace in twenty minutes.   We opted to use the latter as it sounded more appealing.   Besides the hydrofoil pier was just a short stroll away from our hotel.

It was a nice sunny day and our ride across the water was very smooth.  Once disembarked, we joined other visitors at the ticket office and five minutes later were able to enter the Lower Gardens of the estate.  As we stepped onto the wide path that led from the gates to the Palace, the first thing that we saw the breathtaking vista of  a Grand Palace with the resplendent Grand Cascade, with the sprays of water gushing from its spouts glistening under the bright summer sun.

As I mentioned earlier, apart from the Grand Palace, Peterhof Palace is comprised of many smaller palaces, some of them designed by Peter the Great himself, scattered across the estate in the midst of beautifully planned and maintained parks peppered with the fountains and statues and you need a couple of hours to see them all.  Alternatively, you can jump on a small open cart that will take you around the grounds while you listening to the commentary.  

Sadly, it was only in Russian so I had to translate it to my husband on the go.  It was a good way to get an overview of this magnificent place, take some pictures and learn interesting facts about the Palace.

Once we got off the cart, we walked to the Grand Palace to begin our excursion.  As in the Hermitage museum, we were asked to cover our shoes as we walked into the building.  If you didn't read my post about our visit to this extraordinary museum, here is the link to bring you up to date with my story 

As it was summer, there were so many tourist groups crammed inside that we didn't have much time to linger and slowly take it all in.  As we walked from one stunningly appointed room to the next, we had just enough time to hear what the tour guide has to say about it, have a quick look around, take a picture and move on.  

Similarly to what we experienced inside the Hermitage museum, we were smitten by the opulence and richness of every room that we passed.  There were a lot of architectural and decorative details that we had already seen in the Hermitage but because the Palace was previously occupied by the Russian Tzars and their families, we had an opportunity to have glimpses of their lives in the natural habitat and try to imagine of what the day of a Tzar would be like when he is on "vacation"😊. 

Once our tour was completed, we went outside to take a closer look at the Grand Cascade and Samson Fountain.  The Grand Cascade is the most famous ensemble of fountains comprising over 64 different fountains and over 200 bronze statues and other decorative features.  At the centre stands spectacular statue of Samson wrestling the jaw of a lion.  It was absolutely beautiful and because of its size and composition you can spend hours just admiring its beauty and grandeur.

I hope you enjoy reading my travel narratives and will get inspired by them and in case you missed the beginning of the tale about our 2019 holidays, you can read about it in the previous posts.  If you want to know more about the places you read about in my posts or ask me for an advice, please contact me by using the comment section below or e-mail me directly to annmarcus@optusnet.com.au and I will be only happy to help.

Until then,

Anna 😍

xoxo

ST PETERSBURG IN FOUR DAYS, DAY TWO VISIT TO THE HERMITAGE MUSEUM

Hello friends,

It was our second day in this absolutely amazing city (which my husband describes as "Disneyland for Adults") and on the agenda of the day was a visit to the Hermitage museum, the second largest art museum in the world, followed by an evening performance of Swan Lake at Mariinski Theatre.

We knew that during the summer season (we were there at the beginning of July) every tourist attraction would be crowded and were prepared for it.  However, we read on the net that apparently you could avoid queueing for tickets for entrance into the museum if you buy them at the ATM machine placed right next to the huge iron gates that led into the compound.

Having purchased these tickets you can then join a separate queue which is considerably shorter and subsequently faster.  Armed with this knowledge, we did just that and ten minutes later were inside.  True, the tickets were a bit more expensive but it was worth it, especially after we saw just how long the queue to the ticket office was.

Once inside, we were asked to put on funny looking shoe covers, like the ones surgeons wear when they operate and once done, our tour of the Hermitage had begun.

But first, a little bit of history.  The white and green rectangular building that house the Hermitage Museum faces the Palace Square and stretches over 200 meters in and is about 30 meters high.  In the past it was called the Winter Palace and was the official residence of the Russian Tsars from mid 18th century till the Great October Revolution in 1917.

Although, the first Winter Palace was associated with the Russian Tsar and founder of  St Petersburg, Peter the Great, it was when the wife of his great son, Empress Cahterine the Great came to power that the Winter Palace emerged in all its splendid glory.  The palace was constructed on a monumental scale and was intended to reflect the might and power of Imperial Russia.

From the moment we entered the first room, we were amazed by richness of the surroundings from the beautifully painted ceilings to the intricate parquetry, silk wall paper, gilded wall and door features, crystal chandeliers and beautiful ceramic fireplaces not to mention the collections of art and artefacts that were over three floors of the palace.

It soon became very clear that you need much more than a day to view every collection so we had to be selective in what we wanted to see first and then if we had time, see something else.

It was no-brainer that our first and foremost choice was to see the works of Russian and other great Italian and Spanish masters like Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Rafael, El Greco and, my most beloved, Goya.  Walking from room to room, we couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship of the people who helped to build such a magnificent building.

We stopped in the Malachite room which served as a formal reception room of one of the Russian Empresses.  The room earns its name from the use of malachite on its columns, fireplace, an enormous urn, which is called Kolyvan Vase, and is made of  a staggering 19.2 tonnes which remains the biggest single piece of jasper in the world, and other most beautiful decorative pieces.

In the Pavilion Hall we stopped to admire the wonderful Peacock Clock which is more than 200 years old but still springs to life on some special days.  Sadly, that was not the day when we were there still we admired this magnificent example of craftsmanship and the ingenuity of its engineering. 

It was complete and utter sensory overload which was impossible to take in during one day.  We were busy trying to absorb and process what we saw and learnt that we didn't realise the time and, that if we wanted to make it to the theatre, we needed to leave.

We had just enough time to get to the hotel, have a quick bite, get changed and we just made it to the Mariinski Theatre on time.  It was an excellent production of Swan Lake as is expected of such a fine institution and we enjoyed it immensely.

We were quite tired when we returned to the hotel but the next day was promising to be as busy and exciting as this one.  More about it in the next post.

Until then

Anna
xoxo