Third Port of Call: St. Petersburg, Russia (Part 5)

Our tour of St. Petersburg included a private boat rode along the Neve River. The river was so high that day we often had to duck under the bridges, or risk hitting our heads on them. Ashley smugly sat there for the most part not ducking, but there was at least one where she took the safe road.

Back at Peterhof Nadya, our Russian tour guide, told us Peter the Great felt the best way to see St. Petersburg was by boat. In 1670 (the beginning of his reign) this river was the boundary of St. Petersburg. Until then there were only seven bridges crossing the river, and they were drawbridges that could go up to protect the city from invaders. According to Wikipedia, there are now 342 bridges over the canals and rivers of St. Petersburg. I know I shouldn't cite Wikipedia as a credible source. That shows how lazy I am feeling at the moment with working full-time and falling behind in posting stories. 


Keep in mind during the winter the rivers and canals tend to freeze making the bridges not as important.

The boat company provided giant blankets with sleeves to keep us warm on the river. At first we poo pooed them, but then Ashley and I decided to share one.  Even on the nice day, it still helped.

Nadya pointed out the buildings on our left were former mansions. The buildings on the other side of the river were rental properties for wealthy people with multiple homes. Each block is built on one solid foundation (even if multiple buildings) because the ground is so swampy. The embankments were added in the second half of the 18th century. Catherine the Great wanted granite because it was the most expensive material of the time. The builders compromised in at least place -- they used granite in the direction she would travel to the armory so she would see it, but used cheaper materials in the other directions. Ahh... it is good to be the queen.

We passed lots of amazing looking buildings, and she shared many stories. This green and white building is the Dramatic Theater of St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg is the cultural capital of Russia. 

During Peter the Great's time St. Petersburg was a giant construction site. Until the end of the 19th century, no building was allowed to be taller than the Winter Palace. This part of St. Petersburg mostly adheres to that rule because the buildings are so old. It gives the city a comfortable feel you can't get in New York City. I thought of the old rule in Philadelphia where nothing could be built taller than the statue of William Penn on top of City Hall. 

I have a whole bunch of odd notes:
This is one of the original drawbridges. Though no longer a drawbridge. The square posts on each end were for guards to stay in and protect the city. Trinity Church is the blue domed building behind it. It has three blue domes.

* White building: one of the oldest royal palaces

* Pink building with white columns: now a TV station's offices

* Faberge Museum (we did not go inside this one): designed 50 eggs

* Yellow palace: museum of musical instruments. Many museums in town.

* Yellow church (near bridge) from 1730.

First Circus in Russia: the yellow, round building was made for elephant stalls. They fed the elephants vodka to keep them warm. Sounds like vodka is not good for elephants since they died early.

The yellow building was a palace built for Paul -- Catherine II's only son. He ruled for four years, four months, and four days before being killed by one of his son's guards. He had the option of abdicating and living, but didn't. Seems four is his unlucky number. Later this was turned into a school for noble boys. Dostoevsky and Tchaikovsky both attended here, but

were not good students because they did not want to become a lawyer or an engineer.

* Peter the Great's Summer garden: built in 1704, ten years before Peterhof. In it he grew (or rather, had gardeners grow) fruits and vegetables.

* Drawbridge designed by Eiffel: very wide.

Red columns/green building: Hermitage, plans to visit tomorrow. 460 rooms. Catherine the Great deemed it too large. It sits next to a short yellow building, that was the original Hermitage. If you were paying attention during the post about Peterhof, you know the word "Hermitage" means a place for royals to be "hermits" and escape from royal duties.

The spire was made out of wood. It broke. A carpenter fixed it for free. The king was so happy he was given a letter from the king citing he would get for free vodka for life. Unfortunately the letter was stolen from him (the Russians really like their vodka). Rather than have it happen again, the king had the letter tattooed on his neck. No chance of losing that. The story was forgotten until the Soviet era (which was their Prohibition). Somehow the story continues with people pointing to their necks a certain way to indicate they want to order a vodka.

* The river gets fresh water from a lake 45 minutes away. They don't walk on the river any more, but that is how they crossed it in Peter the Great's era.

* The Metro goes under the river. 

* The river is 20 meters deep (65 feet).

* 5.3 million people live in St. Petersburg today.

* The University of St. Petersburg has 20,000 students. It was built in 1724 by Peter the Great. 

* It took about eight years to build each palace for each of his friends. Hopefully they stayed friends (and stayed alive) until their dream home was complete.

* 74% of the population are Russian Orthodox. They are not assigned to a church. Worship services are held daily, but the Russians are not obligated to attend. Russians pray in front of an icon, cross themselves three times, kiss the icon, and then leave. This is their equivalent of a worship service. Ladies cover their heads and shoulders for worship, and wear long skirts. Men wear long pants for worship and take off their hats and caps at all times. They worship standing up for up to three hours. Only the choir and pastor sing. The congregation keeps quiet during worship.

By the end of the boat ride we were all lulled into a calm state of ready to crash for the night. Since it was vacation, that wasn't on the schedule. Instead we rushed to dinner then saw official Russian dancers perform a dance show for us. We were told to get there early because this was the most popular show of the whole cruise. So popular it was simulcast in two other locations (but did not seem to be on the TV in our room). Guess we've seen too many Broadway and Broadway-caliber shows (even at local high schools and community theater) that we were not impressed by the shows on the ship. Good thing they were included in the price of the cruise.