Peterhof--There and Back Again
We boarded a bus for Peterhof. It was pretty crowded so we weren’t able to sit together. Peterhof is a palace that Peter the Great built as a resting place between Saint Petersburg and his hunting grounds. It is famous for its water fountains. It took us almost an hour and half to get there. Several times our we were stopped or our route was redirected because a convoy of
government officials was using the road so all other traffic had to be off. We arrived there around 4:30 p.m. We hadn’t eaten since breakfast (except for our snacks) so while some people used the restroom I decided I would buy something from this little stand (these words sa
y hotdog and hamburger). I finally got her to understand that I wanted a pizza not a hamburger (she had to come out and look while I pointed), and I enjoyed my first (and probably only) pickle-hotdog pizza. (It actually wasn’t that bad, that shows what hunger will do to you!).
Since it was so close to five we didn’t have to pay to go in. But we soon found out why. We walked in and started looking at the fountains and then they went off. Peterhof is built on the edge of the Baltic Sea and the fountains actually drain in a sort of canal that runs straight out to the sea. We were planning on taking a boat back to Saint Petersburg, as this would be a lot quicker. When we realized everything was turned off we thought, "Great, we’ll be able to get back sooner so we can have some time on our own." (Although we 
really appreciated Luda we wanted to explore a bit on our own). We walked down to the pier and Luda went and talked to the ticket booth. She came back and said, "There’s a boat that leaves at 7:10 p.m. so we have some time to walk around." ("Ah, yes, just what we wanted, more walking!"). I was sure there was a boat that left earlier (it was maybe 5:30 p.m.) 
but she was determined to show us some things around Peterhof. We walked by the edge of the sea, through the woods and Luda showed us a few more fountains. While we were leaning out on a railing overlooking the Baltic Sea Brad had a deja vu experience. "That’s so weird," he said. "I feel like this conversation has happened before. Everyone 
was here and talking about what we just said and then we missed the boat to go back." "Well," I said, "We’re not missing this boat!" Dad and Luda went back to the dock and Brad and I walked around for a little longer. We agreed to meet back at the dock at 6:45 p.m. The grounds include a fishing pond that Peter used to stock with fish and have his friends over and they would go fishing (wasn’t the Baltic Sea enough?). You can still fish there today (for a fee!).
We met Dad and Luda at 6:45 and were eager to g
et going. We were rather hungry, but I figured out how Russians stay so slender. You don’t ever eat and you walk all day. We were waiting by the ticket booth and I said, "Let’s go get on the boat." For some reason Luda didn’t want to go get on the boat. We just waited and waited. Finally at 7:00 p.m. she started walking out toward the dock. That’s when we heard a horn and saw the boat start to pull away. We started running (eve
ryone there started running) and the boat just pulled away. I couldn’t believe it! We had missed the boat! There were about 30 people on the dock who seemed quite displeased. After a few minutes we saw another boat coming toward us. The only problem was this boat was about 1/4 the size of the other one. All of a sudden 30 people ran toward the place where the boat would dock. Everyone was determined that they wouldn’t be left behind! T
he boat pulled up, but it didn’t get quite close enough to the dock. The front end was near the dock but the back end was about 8 feet away and the waves from the sea kept pushing it out further. The crew tried several times to pull it in, but couldn’t do it. The crowd decided to take matters into their own hands. Everyone ran over to the front of the boat and a couple jumped over the guardrail and started to climb on the boat. I’ll never forget the sight of a Russian woman wearing stilettos with one foot on the boat, the other on the dock, moving up and down up and down as the waves rocked the boat. I’m surprised she didn’t fall in. Evidently she didn’t think the odds were in her favor because she got both feet back on the dock pretty quick. Then everyone ran back to the other end of the boat where they were still trying to pull it in. This is where Brad decided to take matters into 
his own hands. He grabbed the rope behind the crew members and started pulling. A few other people joined in and they got the boat close enough to the dock so we could all get on. We had a pretty bouncy ride back to Saint Petersburg, but everyone was just glad to be back.
It was about eight o’clock when we got back and Dad went back to the hotel (the long way around) and Brad and I headed out on her own. We wanted to explore Nevsky Prospect, the main thoroughfare of downtown Saint Petersburg. We stopped and ate some Turkish food (good) and then thought we’d go somewhere else and get a dessert. Unfortunately, the only two things available in Saint
Petersburg after 9:00 p.m. are beer and cigarettes. The city was packed with people enjoying the night. We walked through a few parks on the way home and they were filled with youth drinking and smoking. We walked around for another hour looking at street artists, buildings and a nice bookstore then we decided to head back to the hotel. On the way back we finally found a place that was selling dessert. After we finished eating Brad talked with the young man who took our order. He found out that he was a doctor that made $200/month so he worked in this bistro three nights a week to supplement his income.
We boarded a bus for Peterhof. It was pretty crowded so we weren’t able to sit together. Peterhof is a palace that Peter the Great built as a resting place between Saint Petersburg and his hunting grounds. It is famous for its water fountains. It took us almost an hour and half to get there. Several times our we were stopped or our route was redirected because a convoy of
government officials was using the road so all other traffic had to be off. We arrived there around 4:30 p.m. We hadn’t eaten since breakfast (except for our snacks) so while some people used the restroom I decided I would buy something from this little stand (these words sa
y hotdog and hamburger). I finally got her to understand that I wanted a pizza not a hamburger (she had to come out and look while I pointed), and I enjoyed my first (and probably only) pickle-hotdog pizza. (It actually wasn’t that bad, that shows what hunger will do to you!).
Since it was so close to five we didn’t have to pay to go in. But we soon found out why. We walked in and started looking at the fountains and then they went off. Peterhof is built on the edge of the Baltic Sea and the fountains actually drain in a sort of canal that runs straight out to the sea. We were planning on taking a boat back to Saint Petersburg, as this would be a lot quicker. When we realized everything was turned off we thought, "Great, we’ll be able to get back sooner so we can have some time on our own." (Although we 
really appreciated Luda we wanted to explore a bit on our own). We walked down to the pier and Luda went and talked to the ticket booth. She came back and said, "There’s a boat that leaves at 7:10 p.m. so we have some time to walk around." ("Ah, yes, just what we wanted, more walking!"). I was sure there was a boat that left earlier (it was maybe 5:30 p.m.) 
but she was determined to show us some things around Peterhof. We walked by the edge of the sea, through the woods and Luda showed us a few more fountains. While we were leaning out on a railing overlooking the Baltic Sea Brad had a deja vu experience. "That’s so weird," he said. "I feel like this conversation has happened before. Everyone 
was here and talking about what we just said and then we missed the boat to go back." "Well," I said, "We’re not missing this boat!" Dad and Luda went back to the dock and Brad and I walked around for a little longer. We agreed to meet back at the dock at 6:45 p.m. The grounds include a fishing pond that Peter used to stock with fish and have his friends over and they would go fishing (wasn’t the Baltic Sea enough?). You can still fish there today (for a fee!).We met Dad and Luda at 6:45 and were eager to g
et going. We were rather hungry, but I figured out how Russians stay so slender. You don’t ever eat and you walk all day. We were waiting by the ticket booth and I said, "Let’s go get on the boat." For some reason Luda didn’t want to go get on the boat. We just waited and waited. Finally at 7:00 p.m. she started walking out toward the dock. That’s when we heard a horn and saw the boat start to pull away. We started running (eve
ryone there started running) and the boat just pulled away. I couldn’t believe it! We had missed the boat! There were about 30 people on the dock who seemed quite displeased. After a few minutes we saw another boat coming toward us. The only problem was this boat was about 1/4 the size of the other one. All of a sudden 30 people ran toward the place where the boat would dock. Everyone was determined that they wouldn’t be left behind! T
he boat pulled up, but it didn’t get quite close enough to the dock. The front end was near the dock but the back end was about 8 feet away and the waves from the sea kept pushing it out further. The crew tried several times to pull it in, but couldn’t do it. The crowd decided to take matters into their own hands. Everyone ran over to the front of the boat and a couple jumped over the guardrail and started to climb on the boat. I’ll never forget the sight of a Russian woman wearing stilettos with one foot on the boat, the other on the dock, moving up and down up and down as the waves rocked the boat. I’m surprised she didn’t fall in. Evidently she didn’t think the odds were in her favor because she got both feet back on the dock pretty quick. Then everyone ran back to the other end of the boat where they were still trying to pull it in. This is where Brad decided to take matters into 
his own hands. He grabbed the rope behind the crew members and started pulling. A few other people joined in and they got the boat close enough to the dock so we could all get on. We had a pretty bouncy ride back to Saint Petersburg, but everyone was just glad to be back.It was about eight o’clock when we got back and Dad went back to the hotel (the long way around) and Brad and I headed out on her own. We wanted to explore Nevsky Prospect, the main thoroughfare of downtown Saint Petersburg. We stopped and ate some Turkish food (good) and then thought we’d go somewhere else and get a dessert. Unfortunately, the only two things available in Saint
Petersburg after 9:00 p.m. are beer and cigarettes. The city was packed with people enjoying the night. We walked through a few parks on the way home and they were filled with youth drinking and smoking. We walked around for another hour looking at street artists, buildings and a nice bookstore then we decided to head back to the hotel. On the way back we finally found a place that was selling dessert. After we finished eating Brad talked with the young man who took our order. He found out that he was a doctor that made $200/month so he worked in this bistro three nights a week to supplement his income.
posted by Laurissa at 9:21 PM
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