Lunchtime in Russia

Into the van and back to the city for lunch at an urban upscale restaurant for a better lunch than we had the day before. Fish again, salad, pumpkin squash soup and a fruit desert. The bathroom is unisex so you share the wash sinks. But the music is loud so you can't hear anything else and when you look up at the ceiling you see wine glasses upside down on the ceiling as an art fixture. Wish I would of taken my camera/phone in to the bathroom lol.

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 summer residence is remarkable first of all because of its unique fountain system. 22 km of pipes lead to 150 fountains and 4 big cascades in the park. Altogether the fountains and cascades count two and a half thousand individual jets? Each with its own smaller pipe.

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
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Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul

The end of day one is this amazing, baroque style church. The needle-like spire rising from the bell tower of Peter and Paul reaches a height of 404 feet and provides a spectacular view of the city. The angel holding a cross at the top of the spire is one of the most important symbols of St. Petersburg.

Inside the cathedral are the extravagant tombs of almost all the Russian rulers since Peter the Great. People still leave fresh flowers on Peter's grave. The last to be buried here was Nicholas II and his family, who were re-interred here on July 17, 1998.

But the highlight of the interior is the fantastic iconostasis, constructed by more than 40 Moscow architects under Ivan Zarudny from 1722-1727

I even catch the bells ringing.https://youtu.be/vEFmcyK3iis

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Church of the Spilled Blood.

I could hardly wait to see the church.  Beautiful on the outside and inside.

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Church of the spilled blood.

       Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, St. Petersburg, Russia

Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, St. Petersburg, Russia. The Church of the Resurrection, also known as the Savior on Spilled Blood, was built in memory of Alexander II who was assassinated in 1881. The church stands in the very place where a bomb was thrown into his carriage by a young man who opposed the Tsar's reforms.

 

 

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Catherine's Palace

The Catherine Palace is named after Catherine I, the wife of Peter the Great, who ruled Russia for two years after her husband's death. Originally a modest two-storey building commissioned by Peter for Catherine in 1717, the Catherine Palace owes its awesome grandeur to their daughter, Empress Elizabeth, who chose Tsarskoe Selo as her chief summer residence. 

These pics are taken with my big camera. 

Don't forget to look up. 

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