From Russia with Love

Greetings from St. Petersburg. As we sailed into St. Pete it was raining and gray, kind of befitting as we sailed past their naval island where we saw some old dilapidated battleships but also many of their newer members of the naval fleet. However, by the time we docked in Petersburg, the rain had ceased and the sun was starting to appear. Everybody was very anxious to get off the ship and begin their tours. We made it through Customs without any problem and emerged on the other side to look for our private guide. There were about 25 different guides waiting, all holding name boards of different passengers who had booked private excursions. We found our guide and proceeded outside to meet our driver. Nadia was our tour guide and Vladimir was our driver. We set off for our tour of the city. How amazing it was to see what is called one of the “most beautiful cities in the world”. On Saturday we saw 2 Egyptian Sphinx that were a gift to Petersburg in 1830. We toured the Peter and Paul Fortress where the walls are 12 meters thick and where prisoners were kept inside those walls. We saw the Baroque style Peter & Paul Cathedral built between 1712-1719, the battleship Aurora, which fired the first shot of the 1917 Revolution, the beautiful Church of the Spilt Blood, the green Triumphant Arch built to recognize Russia’s victory over Sweden in 1721 and St. Nicholas Cathedral built by Elizabeth in a Russian Orthodox design. Around 5PM we went to a traditional Russian restaurant where we enjoyed a very typical Russian meal in a beautiful setting. After dinner we went to a traditional folkloric show before heading back to the ship.
Sunday dawned bright and sunny with temperatures eventually getting into the low 90’s for the day. Nadia and Vladimir were waiting for us at 9AM and we headed off to see Catherine’s Palace. The crowds were many as we walked up to the entrance but being on an independent tour with a knowledgeable guide has its benefits. Nadia took us right to the front of the line and said “stick with me lie glue” and she meant it as we pushed (with permission) through the lines and into the palace grounds. Utterly amazing and breathtaking is even not enough to describe the grandeur and gaudiness inside the palace. The palace grounds were beautiful as well, Our tour included a 5 course Russian lunch at a popular country restaurant.
After lunch we enjoyed the scenic drive to the Peterhoff Palace and Fountain Gardens. On our visit to the gardens we saw a majority of the 180 fountains that are on the grounds. Amazing to see the technology that was used when these fountains were built hundreds of years ago. The designs themes are something to behold. After our walk thru the gardens we took a hydrofoil back to the city center of Petersburg where Nadia gave us some free time on our own to walk around and have a bite to eat before our evening canal cruise. We successfully chose little café and ordered something to eat off the Russian menu which turned out to be quite good. The canal cruise was interesting and we were grateful that Nadia was along because the narration was all in Russian. Nadia and Vladimir delivered us back to the Disney Magic where we bid them farewell and thanked them for a delightful visit to their city.
Two very long, sunny days in Petersburg, but it has been the highlight of our shore excursions thus far. I will try and update on our next two ports before we get back to Dover on Friday.