Tsarskoe Selo

Thursday morning we woke up, had breakfast at the hotel and then met Luda at 10 a.m. She had learned her lesson and told us to stop at a store for some snacks so we wouldn’t have to stop and eat. I bought the best yogurt I had there (vanilla pear) in a little store in the metro and also bought some popcorn from a vending machine that popped it while I waited. We rode the metro to the edge of the city and then we took a "bus taxi" to Pushkin, a city about an hour SE of Saint Petersburg. (This first picture shows babushkas selling their flowers outside of the metro. One of the sad things about the country is that older people are not taken care of and most must earn their own income or beg).

A bus taxi is a sort of minivan that holds about 13 people and travels along a preselected route. It’s faster than a bus because once it’s full it doesn’t stop, but it’s cheaper than a regular taxi. This was one of our what we called "Russian experiences--" traveling as the locals, crammed in this taxi with no air conditioning. (It wasn’t too hot, but a few people hadn’t showered either). This was definitely something we couldn’t have done without Luda as even if you spoke Russian it would be really easy to get on the wrong taxi and a little farther away from Saint Petersburg and a little closer to Siberia than you wanted to be.
Pushkin is where Tsarskoe Selo, or the Summer Palace of the Tsars, is located. It was built by Catherine the Great and is the Russian equivalent of Versailles. We got there and I saw a sign that said individual visitors were allowed through the palace only after 4:00 p.m. It’s a good thing Luda can’t read English. She went and bought us tickets and then took us to the front of a very crowded room where people were waiting to go through a door and go on a tour (just Brad and I were going on the tour). She said something to a couple of people in charge and then opened the door and pushed us in and gestured to us to go with a group of people up on the stairs. Well, this plan was fine except for no one told the group of the people on the stairs. When we tried to join their tour we were immediately told, "This is a private tour." We decided that was fine and we would just walk through ourselves. We walked into the big hall. I have to admit that palaces like these tire me. All I can think of is what a waste of money they are and how they symbolize the power of the ruling class who lived lavishly while their subjects suffered. Visiting these grand palaces just reinforces my thankfulness for the principles America was founded on--freedom, hard work, moral values and personal property ownership. Having said this, when I walked into the room I found something truly delightful. The gold trim and mirrors and painted ceilings, although extravagant and costly do not seem truly beautiful to me, but I loved the hardwood floors. (This trip definitely upped the ante for future flooring in our home). When the palace was first built, all the wood for the floors was its original color, nothing was stained. Every shade was just a different type of rare wood. (I’m not sure what happened to the floors during the war as parts of the palace were destroyed, I think some of the flooring is still original, but I think some was restored). Brad and I started walking around the big room, but we soon discovered that to get into the next room you have to be with a tour group. There were older ladies sitting in-between each room and they would let one group in at a time. We snuck in by tagging along at the end of a group for a few rooms, but at one room the lady thought too many people were going in. "Same group? Same group?" she excitedly asked while trying to keep people back. The tourist in front of us looked at us and said, "No," (as in they’re not part of our group). By now we were thoroughly versed in the Russian way of getting places and quickly responded, "Yes! Yes!" and walked into the room.
Besides the amazing floors each room has porcelain heaters/stoves made from Chinese porcelain. Most rooms were decorated in a neoclassical style. During WWII the Axis troops weren’t expected to get to Pushkin, but when they started getting close all the artwork, furniture and artifacts (like the original table and chairs and dishes used by Catherine the Great) were packaged in crates and sent by train to Vladivostock (on the eastern edge of Russia). There is one room made of a precious green stone found only in Russia and another room made all of amber. When they tried to remove the amber it crumbled, so they sandbagged it and built extra walls all around the sandbags. This room was still destroyed in the war, but has been restored to look exactly as before. Well the Axis troops did arrive and the castle was bombed and caught on fire. It wasn’t totally destroyed but probably about half the infrastructure was destroyed and almost all the interior was ruined.
What is most amazing to me about all of this is that when the war was over the people returned and almost immediately set about organizing for its restoration. Millions of dollars was spent restoring this palace when the people were suffering from the impact of the war. As we left the palace there was an exhibit documenting the restoration process. So many people gave time and money to restore the palace. The czars, despite all their cruelty and brutality mean so much to the Russian people. They are proud of them and the legacy they left of beautiful palaces, art and buildings. It made me ask, "What is the legacy our country’s early leaders have left us?" I decided they have given us a legacy of character--sacrifice, discipline, hard work, serving God and man. In addition they have given us the principles our country is founded on--that all men are equal and can have equal opportunity.

We left the palace and met Dad and Luda outside. Dad encouraged us to go and walk around the grounds. Luda didn’t think we had time, but we went anyway. This was one of my favorite places in Russia (the grounds--the ante has been upped for landscaping now, too--I want at least one lake:)). Tsarskoe Selo is surrounded by hundreds of acres of woods, formal gardens, paths and meadows. There is a large lake, and several other smaller castles, churches and buildings. We walked around for a short hour, and the left. We took a taxi back to the metro where we caught a bus for Peterhof.

From Romeo and Juliet to River cruise on the Neva


This is my fourth post but we’re still only on our first day in Saint Petersburg. That was a really long day. These first pictures show some streets in Saint Petersburg. Architecturally, it is a very beautiful city. After we ate we went back to the hotel and changed and then went straight to the ballet. We were seeing Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet performed by the St. Petersburg Mussorgsky State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre at the Mikhailovsky Theatre. The production was excellent, what I would consider classical or traditional ballet with beautiful costumes and dancing and a live orchestra. It was also very long (3 1/2 hours). Brad and I both really enjoyed it but unfortunately due to our long day and jet lag we had a hard time staying awake. One amazing thing about the ballet company is that they have a repertoire of 18 ballets and they perform a different one every night.

When it was over at 10:00 p.m. we were really looking forward to going back to the hotel and sleeping. Imagine my surprise when I walked out of the lobby and saw Luda waiting. She had planned an evening of sightseeing for us. I can honestly say now that I’m glad we did it (went out that night), but at the time I was very tired and not looking forward to it. She told us she had some things she wanted to show us and then there was an 11:30 p.m. boat ride on the Neva River that would last about 45 minutes so we should be back shortly after midnight. We started going but realized we were very hungry (the pancakes didn’t last past the first act of the ballet). We told Luda we needed to eat and she allowed us to stop at a small cafe. Fully nourished we started on a walking tour. We walked past the Kazahn Cathedral (only to look, no time to stop), through a park to the Admiralty and stopped at the Bronze Horseman. This statue is a symbol of Saint Petersburg. (incidentally this photo was taken after 11:00 p.m.). This "statue was commissioned by Catherine the Great in 1768-82 as a tribute to the czar she most admired" (Russia Walks). The base is inscribed simply, "To Peter the First, Catherine the Second, Year 1782." Luda told us that she did this because she wanted to be remembered with Peter, to solidify her greatness with his. It was very enlightening having Luda guide us. She is a true Saint Petersburger, very proud of her city and its history.
We then walked back to the Fontanka Canal where the boat ride was going to start. It was scheduled to leave at 11:30 and we arrived right about this time. After several loud and fast exchanges in Russian between Luda and the drivers she told us they would go but it would be a little later. (You just didn’t mess with her--she knew how to get what she wanted). We pleaded that we wanted to just go home, but to no avail. First of all, it’s pretty hard to convince someone through a translator and second of all, there’s no convincing Luda (but as I said, I’m glad now that we went). She insisted that going on a boat ride on the Neva River during the White Nights (For almost a month during June Saint Petersburg has what they call the "white nights," where it never gets completely dark at night) and seeing the drawbridge open was an experience we needed to have (and what can I say, she was right, though at the time I really thought I could have that experience some other time). After agreeing we would go on the boat ride Luda left to the comforts of home and bed. We walked around a bit more and came back about 12:15 p.m. We got on the boat and waited until about 12:45 p.m. when a few other daring individuals showed up and we left. The driver said since it was late the boat ride would be a little shorter (yeah!). It was still light out toward the north, but it was getting cold.
We slowly made our way out of the canal (with only one minor mishap, the driver ran into the canal wall) onto the river. We drove around slowly and joined the about twenty other boats out on the river. Then when I thought we should be heading back we just drove around the Neva. Finally about 1:30 a.m. the drawbridge opened up. This picture doesn’t capture the "white" sky, but some of our video did. Then the race was on as twenty boats tried to be the first ones through the open drawbridges and back into the canals. Our "short" boat ride lasted an hour and a half. Then after a half hour walk back to the hotel (the quietest I ever saw St. Petersburg) we went to bed around 2:30 a.m.