Baltic Cruise Notes, Day 6: St. Petersburg

This was one of the days we've been looking forward to since we booked the trip. St. Petersburg, historical capital of Russia, home of the csars, flashpoint for the 1917 revolution. History galore! We headed out from the ship early, and went straight to the Summer Palace, also known as Catherine's Palace, named for Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great. She was tsarina of Russia for 30 years, after knocking off her husband, Peter II. Nobody in 18th century Russia seemed to have any compunctions about getting rid of inconvenient family members, and although Catherine II was truly beloved of the people, she didn't like her husband very much, and some of her relatives (she was from Germany) tried to get Peter II to abdicate the throne in favor of Catherine. When he refused, he somehow ended up dead. We didn't get a lot of gory details, but I think that was gist of the story. The palace almost makes Versailles look dowdy. The outside is robin's egg blue, with columns, cupolas, and bric-a-brac that was originally gilded in gold. Now, some of the features are gold and some are painted with goldish paint. Not unattractive, although quite a bit of St. Petersburg is dirty, and there were areas in and around the palaced that were somewhat dingy. I guess if you only have a few weeks of decent weather, you don't want to waste them dusting the corners of your palace. Anyhow, we donned paper booties not unlike surgical wear, before entering the halls of the palace. The floor throughout is immaculately restored, as are the walls and ceiling. Each room was bright and airy, due to the very large windows, and every room had paintings on walls and, usually, ceiling. And each room was different, with different themes and colors. At the Amber Room, we moved from opulent to decadent. The walls were covered with several tons of amber, arranged to form pictures and decorations, including frames for other pictures. I would show you a picture, but we were not allowed to take photos in that room. The grounds of the palace to on and on. We understood the guide to say that the retinue of the csar and family would be about 3000 people, including servants and soldiers, so there were a lot of folks living on the grounds of the palace, and it looks like there was plenty of room for them. We left the palace proper, and stopped in a music pavilion on the grounds, where we were serenaded by a sextet of gentlemen, with a Russian folksong. They sang a cappella, as is the custom in the Russian Orthodox Church, and the natural resonance of the chamber, combined with the rich voices and harmonies, brought tears to our eyes. The tenors were excellent, but the bass sang below anything I had ever heard a human voice reach, and he appeared to be putting little effort, all the while staying perfectly on pitch with a rich, warm tone. If you'd like to hear them, I took a video, and when I get back to a fast Internet connection, I'm going to put it on Facebook. Following the palace, we drove back to St. Petersburg proper, and stopped very briefly at a cathedral (name escapes me), just long enough to get some photos, and then on to a restaurant for lunch. We were served several courses, ending with chicken stroganov and dessert of vanilla custard. Not quite the same as to food on-board the ship, but not bad for a quick lunch. After lunch, we drove to Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral, located on the grounds of an old fortress. It is where all the csars are buried, including (since 1998) Nicolaus II and his family, who were murdered by the bolsheviks in 1917. The inside of this church was undergoing renovation, but with the parts that were already restored, you have never seen that much gold in all your life! Quoting the writer of the book Lives of a Cell, "The mind, too overwhelmed to boggle, twitches." Next was the Church of Spilled Blood, site of the murder of some famous csar or family member thereof. The details have really run together, not in least part because the names are all very similar, with a great deal of overlap. For instance, Peter I, or Peter the Great, was married to Catherine I, who was not Catherine the Great. Peter II was married to Catherine II, who was not of the royal bloodline, but who became tsarina Catherine the Great. You got that? Me neither. It all started to sound like the "Who's on First" Abbott and Costello gag, or the court scene from "What's Up, Doc?" Ryan O'Neill: "Is that clear?" Judge: "No, but it's consistent...." At the last few stops, there were several weddings going on, a veritable brood of brides and gaggle of grooms, all carrying on with great hilarity, with the grooms carrying the brides, then kissing them, as family and costumes actors looked on and posed for pictures. In one open area on a bridge, there were four or five of these situations all going on at the same time, spaced randomly, with little thought or obvious preparation. Our guide said that summer is very popular for weddings, and Fridays are the usual day for them to be carried out. On Denise's Facebook page, there is a collage of photos of brides. You should go look. We returned to the ship, more or less spent. After a rest, we dressed and went to the Red Ginger cafe. As I told Denise, I keep thinking each night that tomorrow's meal couldn't possibly top this one. And I keep getting proven wrong. We started with appetizers, Denise with remoulades of beef and me with carmelized prawns. Second was a lovely Asian soup, name escapes me. Then, on to the main course. We both had lobster pad Thai, which the chef had added a bit more pepper than usual, at our request. It was perfect. After dinner, we stopped in one of the lounges and listened to a string quartet play popular classical and romantic pieces, then took a stroll on the deck before retiring to the room. It is now a little after 11 PM, and sun finaly set. Tomorrow, we're off to the Hermitage, a spectacular museum started by Catherine the Great. Good night.