Monday, August 12, 2019

St. Petersburg, Russia Day 2


The weather forecast is rain today but when we wake up it is sunny sky so we are hopeful. We decide to take our umbrellas to be on the cautious side and glad we did. It was cloudy all day and drizzly rain. This was our first day of rain so I can't complain. We drive to a photo op of a statue of Catherine the Great before we arrive at our canal ride for a different view of the city. We then board our hyrofoil for a 30-40 minute ride to Peterhof Palace known as the "Russian Versailles". Our guide takes us through lush green gardens with amazing fountains throughout. It's starting to rain so up go our umbrellas. It's about 11:00 a.m. and there are allready long lines into the castle and umbrellas for miles. Our tour does not include going into the castle but seeing how many people are there, I could see how that could take 1/2  or whole day. I would like to go back and spend a whole day there.

Interesting facts about the fountains

Peterhof fountains are all sorts of curious shapes and fantasies: triton and lion fountains, dragon fountains and fish-tailed boys blowing sprays of water through conches. There’s the Pyramid fountain, that looks like a water obelisk created with 500 water spurts rising in seven tiers. There are the marble Roman fountains that repeat the ones in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican. The so-called Menager or Economical fountains look simpler but derive their name from their cunningly designed jets, which send a plume of water high in the air. It looks impressive but is in fact hollow, saving water consumption. Then there are Peterhof’s famous trick fountains which look like umbrellas, trees or benches, but which soak the unwary visitor who approaches too close.

All these had been created by fountain masters over the course of several centuries. Up till nowadays, as ever, the whole Peterhof fountain system works without any pumping or electricity. The water to the fountains is fed by gravity. The height of the water spurts is regulated through the diameter of pipes and nozzles.














To read all about St. Peterhof
#StPeterhof #Russia #StPetersburg #Lovetotravel #travellingtheworld #StPeterhofPalace



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