Of Winds and Whispers.

[drron29]

Now we go outside.This is the other side of the Palace to that we entered.Those not with a Russian guide have to enter here.The line is horrendous and a waiting time of ~ 2 hours.Mostly due to Chinese groups who bring their own tour guides who aren't accredited hence they enter here as well.

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[drron29]

The last of the Catherine Palace.The original palace on this site was built by Catherine 1st.Her daughter though didn't think it grand enough and had it torn down and the basic shape of today's palace was built.It was said at least 100Kg of gold was used.Her daughter Catherine 2nd or Catherine the Great actually stopped some of the excesses and afterwards the palace was little used with the Peterhof palace preferred.

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[drron29]

A bridal car was waiting-

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Now the drive back to the ship-

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Soviet era classics-

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But things are changing-

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We were totally exhausted.Straight to bed after dinner.

[drron29]

So to Wednesday and our last day in St.Petersburg.after 2 fine days we awoke to grey skies.It remaine dry for our first activity of the day-a river and canal cruise.Joined up with all the SPB private tours,not just those from the Whisper.Stopped across the river at an Egyptian group of statues.No idea why they are there-

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Rubbing of the head was meant to grant me my wish.The sun didn't come out though.The view across the river from the Hermitage to the left and the Whisper hiding behind the bridge on the right-

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[TLCOhio]

But things are changing-

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Appreciate the continued pictures from St. Petersburg. Oh, so they now have an Outlet Center there in that part of Russia?? Not sure if that is good or bad for their future. Hoping to get 80% off?? That word of "Sale" should be a warning point!! Change for . . . good or bad??

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 202,951 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[spinnaker2]

Sphinxes ( is that the right plural?) are from Thebes. Were found buried in sand in Egypt in 1800s and supposed to be bought by French. deal fell through and Russia bought them.

The Sphinx is of Amenhotep III from 15th century BC.

There is a story that staring at them can drive you crazy. Also that dead fishermen appear next to them...

Go figure.

[drron29]

Terry I think most Russians think it is a good change.

Spinnaker2-Rojaan would tell you I was crazy well before encountering these objects.Fortunately I am no fisherman though I do love going fishing.

But back to our mimi cruise-

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That is not an old ship but a purpose built floating restaurant.

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Edited September 11, 2016 by drron29

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In that last building is the apartment of the Mayor elected in Russia's brief period of democracy.He let the people pick whether they wanted to change the name back to St.Petersburg from Leningrad.They did.

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[drron29]

Now there are said to be over 600 palaces in St.Petersburg.By now we think we have been past every one of them when in truth have certainly seen less than half.But the cruise goes on-

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[drron29]

The cruise finishes and we are off to the main drag-The Nevsky Prospect and a stop at a food hall.But naturally some shots on the way-

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[drron29]

And we arrive at the Eliseyev Emporium,also known as Yeliseevskiy Gastronom,a couple of minutes before opening-

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The staff eagerly await our arrival-

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[drron29]

The place opened in 1902 and was closed for a short period from 1917 until it's reopening in 2012.

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[drron29]

A little café where the caviar seemed good value-48 roubles to the $A,64 to $US.The owners looked on from above-

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We were now meant to have ~ 2 hours free time walking the Nevsky Prospect but the rain was now bucketing down.So Rojaan jumped at the chance of going to an enclosed shopping mall next to the main train station.First to the supermarket which certainly was well stocked-

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[Stumblefoot]

The place opened in 1902 and was closed for a short period from 1917 until it's reopening in 2012.

Those remodeling projects are a killer.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[drron29]

On our trip to Moscow rojaan had found shoes reasonably priced in Russia and bought a pair.Still not badly priced but alas no success.She had also expressed a desire to send a postcard to the grandkids so on the way to lunch we stopped at the main Post Office-hardly any one there.It contains the marker measuring distances from St.Petersburg-

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Next was lunch.Taken to a "pie"restaurant.Started with a mushroom soup and a salad mainly egg and potato.Both were nice-

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The pies were dry and not that tasty.A meat and a raspberry variety-

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[drron29]

Next off to the palace famous for a murder.Known as either the Yusupov palace but they actually owned 4 so really the Palace on Moika.A nice little place across the canal-

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The Yusupovs were very rich.by 1917 they had an art collection of over 40000 objects including many Rembrandts and several important sculptures.However to see them today you go to the Hermitage or the National Museum in Moscow.Several times you see "the original is in the Hermitage" or empty spaces with a similar message.Still an attractive place-

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There are still family portraits-

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[drron29]

The murder of course was of Rasputin.It occurred on 17/12/1916.So the centennial this December.They have a display in the rooms involved-

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The cellars are impressive-

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And how it looked in 1917-

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