scubacruiserx2

The Faberge Museum is the world's largest museum of Faberge and features the Imperial Eggs in the blue room .

http://fabergemuseum.ru/

The first photo is from their website and the 2nd and 3rd are photos from a book , as they allowed no photography when we last visited .

These fireworks are from Victory day in May of 2015 , when we went with some friends .

And a video clip of a very excited Russian crowd :

Yum!! That dinner and menu looks wonderful!!:)

It's an interesting , and delicious dining experience ! :) :D

After Yusupov's our tour for the day was completed . Tyler was tired and wanted to go back to the ship but Pat and I were thinking a DIY dinner , the Faberge Museum , and the fireworks that evening to celebrate Russia Day .

One of our favorites restaurants in SPB is Kilikia , and it features great Armenian food at a cheap price .

Kamatz Matzoun (yogurt meatballs) - delish

Kharcho - Georgian lamb soup

Greek Salad

Chicken Kabobs with wild rice

Three Bears beer

Here's a link to their menu , in English , with pictures . :)

http://kilikia.spb.ru/menyu

Another day, more wonderful pictures and a fascinating read!

 

 

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Thank you again . Kinda of a creepy way to finish the evening , but we were nearing the end of the second day in SPB . :) :D

We finished our main tour in a dining area which overlooked the main staircase .

After this , we separated from the main group of people to do a limited access tour of where Rasputin was murdered . We first entered an area with attendant sitting by a sign which said " Only for staff ".

We were stopped here and told to wait , until they were ready for us .

In life Rasputin was a strange and controversial person , and the account of his death was no less controversial . And I will borrow some of the Wikipedia account of his death from the article found here :

//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori_Rasputin

When our time came , we were led to a door with a narrow , dark , claustrophobic stair way leading down into a cellar . Part way down , we had to squeeze past another small group leaving . Only one way in and one way out !

The following events from the Wikipedia account we similar to the story told to us :

Around midnight, on Friday 16/Saturday 17 December, Prince Felix went with Dr. Stanislaus de Lazovert to Rasputin's apartment. Yusupov didn't use the regular stairs at this unseemly hour, but a stairwell for servants in the courtyard. Around one o'clock in the morning they drove to the recently refurbished palace, where a sound-proof room, part of the wine cellar, had been specially prepared for the crime with carpets and stain-glass lamps. They had placed four bottles, containing different kinds of sweet wines, either in a window or on a table. Waiting in his drawing room on another floor were the fellow conspirators: Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, Purishkevich, his assistant Lazovert and Sukhotin, a friend of Felix's mother.

According to Yusupov in his memoirs , he offered Rasputin tea and petit fours laced with a large amount of cyanide .

After Rasputin was drunk Yusupov went upstairs and came back with Dmitri's revolver. Rasputin was shot at close quarters by Felix sitting left of him. The bullet entered the chest, penetrating the stomach and the liver; it left the body on the right side . However, Yusupov did not succeed in killing Rasputin. According to Maria Rasputin the bullet wounds were slight. After a while "Rasputin opened his eyes and became aware of his predicament."[288] He struggled up the stairs to reach the first landing, opening an unlocked door to the courtyard, which had been—not long before—used by Yusupov's conspirators. Alarmed by the noise, Purishkevich went down and fired at Rasputin four times, missing three times (from an unknown distance according to Nelipa). The bullet penetrated the right kidney and lodged into the spine.[289] Rasputin never reached the gate,[290] but fell into the snow, just outside the door. Both shots were fatal; he would have died within 10–20 minutes, but when the body made a sudden movement, one of them placed his revolver on the forehead and pulled the trigger.[note 17] Then the body was carried back inside. A nervous Yusupov severely hit his victim in his right eye with his shoe.[294]

This was a hall in which Rasputin tried to escape from his captors .

When his the body was wrapped in a broadcloth, Dimitri and his fellow conspirators drove in the direction of Krestovsky island.[310] The sentry on the bridge was asleep, which allowed the murderes to draw up quite close to railing and threw the corpse into an hole in the ice of the Malaya Nevka River, relying on the current to carry it out to sea. They drove back, without noticing that one of Rasputin's galoshes was stuck between the pylons of the bridge. They forgot to attach weights to his feet to make the body sink, but his fur coat formed an air bell, and the corpse drifted into an ice mass; it prevented the body's disposal into the sea.[311]

wow! so beautiful!

Thank you and welcome aboard , and we hope that you enjoy our cruise ! :) :D

This used to be one of their art galleries

Here's a quote from Wikipedia

From 1830 to 1917, the palace belonged to the House of Yusupov, an immensely wealthy family of Russian nobles, known for their philanthropy and art collections. Thus in the time of Imperial Russia, the palace became known as the Yusupov Palace.

The luxurious interiors of the palace were not inferior to those of contemporary royal palaces. More than 40,000 works of art, including works by Rembrandt, jewelry, and sculptures decorated the palace. Following the Russian Revolution, the Yusupov art collections were nationalized and relocated in the Hermitage and other museums. Ernst Friedrich von Liphart, who was the curator of paintings at the Hermitage, had earlier painted the curtain and ceiling of the palace theatre.[2]

By nationalized they meant confiscated by new government in 1917 . But like many rich or smart people - they had fled the country .

The Yusupov's home theatre

There was a large group seated when we were there

Stained glass window

The Moorish Dining Room

As we returned past the area for dance , we noted that it had be change into a dining area .

Could this be one of their Gala Dinners which we had read about ?

GALA DINNER AT THE YUSUPOV PALACE

Guests depart the hotel for a gala dinner at the Yusupov Palace. The richest of the non-imperial palaces of St. Petersburg, this palace was the home of the noble and powerful Yusupov family, relatives to the Russian Czars.

The Yusupovs were great collectors of art, and their collection was known well beyond Russia. After the revolution most of the collection was moved to the Hermitage, though traces of the incredible wealth that once kept this palace pulsating with life still remain: the various sitting rooms, the intricate chandeliers and candelabras that adorn every room and corridor.

The tour of the palace begins from the private chambers of the Yusupov family on the ground floor. It was in this palace where the assassination of Rasputin, one of the most scandalous figures in Russian history, took place.  Guests split  into small  group s can see wax figures of the conspirators.

Downstairs in the cellar there are two more wax figures: Rasputin and young Felix Yusupov talking over the set table minutes before the assassination. Costumed "hosts" of the palace greet the guests on the main staircase leading the suite of gala rooms of the palace.

The tour of the second floor ends in the Precioza and Antique halls located next to the Home Theatre. Here an elegant cocktail "Emperor" with champagne, black label Russian vodka and state-of-the-art canapés are served for the guests by the best caterer of the city.

After the cocktail guests proceed to the unique Home Theatre of the Yusupov family for a private ballet performance given by the soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre (30 min). This beautiful theatre in Rococo style looks like a cozy version of the famous Mariinsky theatre. Then guests are invited to the most outstanding Imperial dinner reminiscent of those of Yusupov's time. A group of 18th century dancers opens the evening with a polonaise or minuet and the exquisite four-course dinner under heavy chandeliers starts...

We will never know , as we had a date with Felix and Rasputin ....and not for dinner , hopefully !

Blue room

Red room

Check out the floor

This looked like an area for dance

On the ceiling it looked like the Muses from Greek Mythology

This is Felix's mother Zenadia Yusupova . I saw a similar painting in the Russian Museum .

According to his biography , Felix began wearing his mother's gowns at age 12 .

Felix Yusupov was famous fro a number of things in addition to the palace which he was born in , including :

. The richest man in Russia

. Killed Rasputin and wrote a book about it

. In 1932 Yusupov and his wife successfully sued MGM through the English courts for invasion of privacy and libel in connection with the film Rasputin and the Empress. The alleged libel was not that the character based on Felix had committed murder, but that the character based on Irina, called "Princess Natasha" in the film, was portrayed as having been seduced by the lecherous Rasputin.[31] In 1934, the Yusupovs were awarded £25,000 damages, an enormous sum at the time, which was attributed to the successful arguments of their counsel Sir Patrick Hastings. The disclaimer which now screens at the end of every American film, "The preceding was a work of fiction, any similarity to a living person etc.," first appeared as a result of the legal precedent set by the Yusupov case.[32]

Wikipedia used for the quote and the photo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Yusupov

We began our tour after climbing the marble staircase

And moved through room by room

A stitched photo to show the domed ceiling .

Our last stop for the our second day was the Yusupov Palace .

http://www.saint-petersburg.com/palaces/yusupov-palace/

The view from our river cruise

Wow!

 

 

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There is so much to see and do in SPB ! :) :D

One last photo before going inside .

The interior is covered with mosaics

It was crowded on the day that we were there

The iconostasis

And this is the shrine over the spot where Alexander II was assassinated .

Here's a video clip :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dgUhFD7t38

The changes are if you see a photo of a building in St. Petersburg , this will be it .

The Church of Savior on the Spilled Blood . It retains many variations of the name and a dual purpose . The Spilled Blood of Christ and the place where Czar Alexander II's blood was spilled by an assassin .

http://www.saint-petersburg.com/cathedrals/church-resurrection-jesus-christ/

So let's look at it from several viewpoints .

Near the locks of love bridge .

Near the stalls selling souvenirs

From the Field of Mars .

Down the canal

In the evening .

In keeping with our Total Eclipse theme , we have shown our Sunset Veranda from our TA cruise and we will now show Family Veranda # 7108 , from our Baltic cruise in June .

Comes with a doorbell

It has angled , forward facing windows in the living area

and the main bedroom .

and a second bedroom with bunk beds .

Facing aft in the living area and the veranda .

The bath room is standard for the S- Class ship .

After Saint Isaac's we stopped at Stolle before going to The Church on the Spilled Blood . This post has been taken from our Total Eclipse thread .

Most cruisers will not see the Russian Museum but it can be seen in about 1 hour . It has a really great location being the yellow building on the right .

 

 

 

 

And it has a park , next to the church and behind the museum

 

 

 

 

And one of the favorite eating places for the visitor to St. Petersburg is about 1 block away - Stolle . Everybody eats at Stolle .

 

 

 

 

They are famous for their pies both savory meat filled and sweet fruit filled . It can be a nice break or taken away to eat while on the road to your next stop . True Russian fast food .

 

 

 

 

But we go when nobody is there .

 

 

 

 

To relax and enjoy our salmon and rabbit pie .

 

 

 

 

 

Please see their photo filled menu here :

 

http://stolle.ru/en/menu/saint-petersburg

 

If you are interested , there is a good article about St. Isaac's from a great web site here :http://www.nevsky-prospekt.com/isaacs.html

In 2015 we made the climb up the 262 step to the colonnade .

From left to right you can see the Peter and Paul Cathedral spire ,the Admiralty spire , the green Winter Palace and Palace square with the Alexander Column and on the far right The Church on the Spilled Blood .

And where all of the buses are parked is the Saint Isaac's Square .

The iconostasis separates the worshipers from the altar .

When we were there in 2015 , a worship service was going being conducted on the other side of the iconostasis . Members only and no cameras !

Stained glass Jesus

The painting of the Final Judgement is by Fedor Bruni

Another of his huge paintings , The Brazen Serpent , hangs in the Russian Museum

These doors weight 10 tons each

Here's our video clip ( complete with Mandarin narration ) :

We prefer the salmon for myself , rabbit for Pat and we both enjoy the mushroom and the fruit pies . :) :D

Could I but in here with another question please? What are the options of snacking in SPB? Typically a small beer and whatever they offer with it? Thank you.

 

 

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A popular Russian fast food is the blini (Crepe) with fruit , fish or mushrooms from Teremok .

Menu: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://teremok.ru/menu/&prev=search

Also , many people will get meat or fruit pies , to stay or to go , from Stolle .

Menu :http://www.stolle.ru/en/menu/saint-petersburg#block-quicktabs-pirogi

They both are cheap , good , quick and local food . :) :D

The next place that we visited was the amazing St. Isaac's Cathedral .

http://www.saint-petersburg.com/cathedrals/st-isaacs-cathedral/

The view from St. Isaac's Square

We will be using some photos from our 2015 visit

It took 40 years to complete , but it's beautiful

It's about 100 meters to the top of the dome and the statues there are larger than life .

It was much more crowded when we visited this year .

I had the same thing happen as we were getting ready to leave. We were trying to make our way to the stairs for the restrooms/coat-check. There was a HUGE group following an umbrella guide, and they were all pushing and shoving. When we got to the top of the steps one of them shoved me in the back...if it hadn't been wall-to-wall people I would have tumbled to the bottom of the marble staircase. I was shaking like a leaf, and the lady was laughing. It really soured what I thought would be the highlight of the trip.[emoji22]

 

I swore I would never go back, but your posts have shown me it can be done. I would have to do some research, but I love that part![emoji1]

 

 

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Wow !

I never cease to be astonished at the horrible behavior of some people !

:eek:

The crowds in the Yusupov Palace were the noisiest, one of the guides had a large group of Japanese and no one had been supplied with the ear buds for the address system. The guide spoke in such a loud voice to enable her group to hear, that she was told off by our guide.

We did hear some noisy groups in the churches with the high ceilings , but not that noisy ! Fortunately , your guide had the presence to speak up to them ! And hopefully it worked .

Goodness! Your pictures of the Hermitage are stunning not just for the wonderful photography but for the absence of crowds! I was incredibly disappointed in our "early entrance" to the Hermitage in 2013...it was packed, and I didn't even feel safe because of the pushing and shoving of a couple really large groups.:mad:

 

I'm making a mental note. When we go back, we will hire a PRIVATE guide who can truly get us in to the Hermitage before the crowds.

 

Look at the difference --

 

What you saw:

:D

 

What we saw:

:eek:

Thank you Cindy , it certainly is more enjoyable to have fewer people , especially for taking photos ! Our preferred visits are a stay in the shoulder season of May or September and DIY with the SPB card . You have fewer crowds and more time , but it requires a visa . The private guide works good for a family or a small group , but they are not all equal , so confirm a truly early entrance at the Hermitage or Catherine's Palace ( if you go ) , before you go . We have skipped Catherine's Palace several times because of the crowds there and the 4 hour time block needed to visit there .

We feel your crowd pain from your photo , and as a result we try to avoid them as much as possible ! The crowds in those places usually come in waves . We were in the first at the Hermitage and had about an hour before the second wave caught us near the da Vinci room . At about the 2 hour mark and with the third wave crashing - we headed out . As we were exiting , a rogue Chinese lady chasing to catch to group , gave Patty a hockey - style shoulder check which left her sore for a couple of days ! :eek:

Two last photos before leaving the Hermitage .

A giant vase

And a mummy

And NO , it's not Lenin - he's in the Kremlin !

Finally , one last set of comparison and contrast photos

The Hermitage and Palace Square in early May 2015 :

And in mid June 2016

Palace Square was being prepared for a Russian Day holiday concert , later that evening , which we choose not to attend .

I am becoming so excited now seeing all your wonderful pictures. It's a shame we miss out on Stockholm but there is so much to see everywhere anyway.

 

 

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We missed Helsinki on ours and spent an extra day and night in SPB . On our first Baltic cruise (NCL) we had 2 days and a night in SPB , a day in Helsinki and 2 days and a night in Copenhagen . We did prefer the extra day in SPB , and so something had to give . ;)