ST. Petersburg, Russia

June 17, 2012

I can picture Peter the Great saying to his planners and builders something like, “I want my new city like Amsterdam, only bigger.” Maybe he really did say that. Peter built his city on the swampy estuary of the Neva River; his intent was to create a European style city and a major seaport. Due to the swampy nature of the land, Peter and his builders put in a network of canals both to help drain the land and also to provide for inner-city transportation. It was 1703 after all. Where the canals still exist, St Petersburg does have an Amsterdam look, but the buildings are much larger.

What puzzles me is that while the Communists outlawed religion for many decades and the government still formally discourages religion, the historic area of St. Petersburg is filled with cathedrals, churches, chapels, and even a mosque. These buildings all have ornate domes or spires in the brightest colors.

The old buildings in St. Petersburg are not wheel chair accessible. So, Bill and I opted for a city bus tour, rather than one of the more extensive tours. The weather was miserable – drizzle, changing to heavy rain, and then back to drizzle. So, at each photo stop, I stayed on the bus and sent Bill out with the camera. The photos from this first day in St Petersburg are his work, but the photo editing is mine.

St Petersburg Neva River with a bridge and the Winter Palace in the background
St Petersburg The Peter and Paul Fortress surrounds the Peter and Paul Cathedral
St Petersburg Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, also known as The Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood
St Petersburg Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ
St Petersburg Buildings along the Neva River
St Petersburg
St Petersburg Hermitage or is it the Winter Palace? Whatever the case, the Hermitage is a part of this complex of buildings.

The Hermitage and Catherine the Great

Empress Catherine the Great – also known as Catherine II - ruled Russia from 1762 to 1796. During that time she collected a very large assortment of paintings and other works of art, primarily by purchasing, sight unseen, art collections from western European nobility. Together these purchases became the largest collection of artwork in the world. She built the Hermitage to house her acquisitions. Ok, that is an over-simplification, but you get the idea.

St Petersburg Alexander Column in the Palace Square

That evening we attended a show by the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Russian Army at a theater in St. Petersburg.

June 18,2012

The weather on the beginning of our second day in St. Petersburg was even worse than the first. Strong winds from the west, travelling the length of the Bay of Finland, bounced our docked ship around and threw large waves up on the pier. One woman, while trying to disembark, was swept off her feet and broke her arm. Bill and I had opted to stay on board ship. Later, the sun broke through, but it continued to be extremely windy. With the pretty blue sky in the background, I took pictures of the communist era apartment buildings near the dock.

St Petersburg We passed this building the day before. Actually it seemed like, with a bit a maintenance, it might not be all that bad a place to live. The apartments with a west view look out over a canal, a very extensive sand bar, and the dock for foreign cruise ships.
St Petersburg