Our second day in St Petersburg, and what a day it was. Our tour guide Nadya picked us up at 07:30 this morning for our part 2 of our two day tour. Our first stop was a ride on the St Petersburg Metro. The first thing that strikes you when you enter a Metro Station is how beautiful they are. The walls are all lined in marble and mosaic. Each station has a unique theme and it is almost like being in an art gallery. Trains arrive every 5 minutes or so and Nadya took us for a quick ride to the next station and back. It was an interesting experience and the people of St Petersburg are very proud of their underground rail system.
After the Metro we briefly dropped into a souvenir shop which was interesting to look at. Rosa tried on a pair of mink ear muffs.
Our second stop was Catherine the Great’s Summer Palace. Located in forest some distance from the city this immense structure was created to conduct the affairs of state during the summer months.
The interior decorations take your breath away and even photos can’t do them justice. Everything is covered in real gold leaf. The tour took us right through the palace which has undergone extensive restoration after almost total destruction by the Germans in WWII.
After a couple of hours in the Summer Palace we were driven further into the countryside to a building which looked like another small palace but which was in fact a restaurant where we were stopping for lunch.
In the afternoon our tour took us to Peterhof, which was built by the Czar Peter the Great. He was very fond of fountains, and Peterhof consists of a large palace with more than 150 gravity fed fountains. Once again it is a site which defies description. Even when you’re standing there it is hard to believe. The interesting aspect of Peter the Great was, that when he was not engaged in affairs of state, he would dress in ordinary clothes and live in a small cottage on the grounds of Peterhof, which he much preferred to the adjacent palace.
After a beautiful walk through the grounds of Peterhof it was time to return to the Constellation and by 5:15 we were tucked away on board and sailed at 6:00 pm.
We all agreed that St Petersburg was an absolutely astonishing part of our trip, and the service provided by our tour company DenRus was outstanding.
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