This is the second of two parts for "St Petersburg, Russia - Day 2". We did so much that day, it was too much for just one post.
We had lunch in a charming little restaurant, in the heart of St Petersburg called Katyusha. From there we then made our way to St. Isaac's Cathedral, the largest Russian Orthodox Cathedral in the city. Another awe-inspiring church of fine mosaic images. We finished the day at the Hermitage Museum. We certainly didn't have time to see all of the Hermitage, that would take days/weeks/months, but we got a sample of what the museum had to offer, and marvelled once again at the richly detailed interiors of the buildings.
Sadly, then it was time to say goodbye to our wonderful tour guide Natalia and our driver Dimitri. We had spent so much time with them over the past two days they were becoming our good friends in Russia. (Well...actually our only friends in Russia.) Natalia had an encyclopedic knowledge of just about everything we saw, and she made the history approachable and the stories interesting. It was a whirlwind visit to St. Petersburg, with so many sites to see and we wanted to see as much as we could in the little time we had. Maybe another trip on another Baltic cruise one day?
This is the entrance to the lower level Katyusha restaurant. The restaurant was outfitted with "warm decoration with delicate lace, chintz lampshades, floral wallpaper, soft sofas, carved mirrors and a truly homey cosiness." It was like stepping back in time and into someone's home. The food and the staff were all great, and a fun feature was the chirping of birds in the bathrooms.
And across the street from the restaurant? Well it turns out that "Сtарбакс" spells STARBUCKS in Russian. Thank goodness for the classic logo, or we never would have guessed that word was "STARBUCKS"!ST. ISAAC'S CATHEDRAL
St. Isaac's Cathedral, with some of it's 112 massive red granite columns and it's high dome plated in pure gold.
"The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings, but when these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, the architect ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics. This work was never completed." But what was completed is awesome.
This display illustrated how the massive granite columns were originally set in place. A wooden frame was constructed (and moved as required), allowing the columns to be hoisted by hand and pully into place.
The centre dome of the cathedral, with rays of light entering through windows at the top and a sculpted white dove representing the Holy Spirit suspended from the centre of the dome.
The iconostasis is framed by columns of semiprecious stone: the green columns are malachite and the two smaller blue ones are lazurite.
A look through the doors of the iconostasis, with the pillars of lazurite on either side of the massive doors and the imposing stained glass image of Christ illuminated behind the altar.
The ceiling was also covered with massive paintings and mosaics.
A couple of close-ups of some of the finely detailed mosaic images covering so many surfaces of the church. The detail of the artists is incredible - you only have to step back a short distance for it to seem like a painting with realistic brushwork.
THE HERMITAGE MUSEUM
The buildings of the Hermitage are as impressive as the works of art contained inside. With over 3 million items in the Hermitage's collection it was impossible to even make a dent in the short time we had to visit. But the rooms and the art that we did see left a lasting impression. This picture is of the Jordan Staircase leading up into the rooms of the former Winter Palace.
This is the Small Throne Room, one of the first of the rooms we visited. Six buildings comprise the Hermitage Museum, but I think we only visited 3 of them. (And that was enough for our short visit.)
"The opulent Armorial Hall, which at over 1000 square meters, is one of the largest and most visually impressive rooms in the Winter Palace."
"The War Gallery of 1812. This narrow but long room houses 333 gold-framed portraits of distinguished military commanders instrumental in defeating Napoleon's Grand Armée. The dominating equestrian portrait is of victorious Tsar Alexander I decked out in a dashing military uniform."
"The monumental St. George Hall served as the principal throne room for the Russian Tsars and was thus the scene of many of the Imperial court's formal ceremonies and elaborate receptions."
"The Peacock Clock is a large automaton featuring three life-sized mechanical birds. It was manufactured by the entrepreneur James Cox in the 2nd half of the 18th century and through the influence of Grigory Potemkin it was acquired by Catherine the Great in 1781." Unfortunately it didn't animate while we were there, but videos of it in action can be found on YouTube.
This is what the crowds were like around the Peacock Clock, making it a challenge to get a decent picture. Luckily it wasn't like this in every room.
Through a window of a bridge hall as we moved from one building to another. Looking like a Russian Venice or maybe Amsterdam.
"The gallery known as the Raphael Loggias, designed by Giacomo Quarenghi and painted by Cristopher Unterberger and his workshop in the 1780s as a replication of the loggia in the Apostolic Palace in Rome."
We didn't see that many paintings on this visit...but here's one of old Venice.
This painting was brought to our attention by our guide. Seen from different angles, the image takes on different perspectives. In the image on the left (taken from the left side of the painting) the building seems to take up only a small portion of the image, but in the photo on the right (taken from the right side of the painting) the building seems to take up at least half of the painting. Other objects seemed to change size as well.
We moved on to a few rooms of statues. On the left is a sculpture of Dionysus, God of wine. On the right is a statue of Emperor Hadrian. (Seemed to be a popular pose of the time.)
This imposing figure is the Statue of Jupiter.
Finally, after a long day, I had the chance to lie down and take a nap...I was so tired and dehydrated by then. Twelve minutes later a museum curator slapped a glass case over me, and I was carted off to the Egyptian Antiquities area. Didn't think I was THAT old. Guess next time I'll be more careful if I take a siesta in a museum. Lesson learned.
As we sailed away from St. Petersburg we passed by some small islands with what looked like old (or maybe current) military buildings, doubtless meant to protect the harbour.
NEXT: (Day 10) Helsinki, Finland
PREV: (Day 9) St. Petersburg, Russia - Day 2 (Part One)
Baltic Cruise - May-June 2018