Final Day in St. Petersburg

Well, I'd say that it has definitely been a whirlwind week, at least for me! Although Marty tells me that his conference was extremely informative. But let's face it, I'd say that I saw a whole lot more of St. Petersburg than he did. What a great trip!  Here you see Marty with the statue of Mars in the background..

While Marty attended the last sessions of the conference,  another excursion was planned for me, this time to Pushkin. Only four other people had signed up besides myself which made the whole experience so enlightening, as Yolanda could explain more information to us and take the time to answer any questions.

Before the bus left the city of St. Petersburg, we traveled down Moscow Blvd south through the city.  Along the way, we passed many historical sites, but one that really surprised me was a statue of Mendelev right outside the meteorology building. The bus was moving at a quick pace, preventing me from capturing a photo of the statue, but I did manage to get this picture of a periodic table of elements on the side of the building behind his statue.

Isn't that great? It was calling my name.

Speaking of Mendelev, did you know that he was responsible for trying to find the best recipe for Vodka. Apparently the best Vodka in the world to buy has the signature Mendelev printed on it. It is 40% proof. Wow! Wonder why we didn't learn this when we studied chemistry?

By the way, we also passed the home of Tolstoy in the town of St. Petersburg, but, unfortunately, I have no photos to share.

Pushkin is south of St. Petersburg and it took us about 45 minutes to get there. We drove along the countryside through the so-called hills of Russia, but Yolanda's definition of a hill is much different than mine. 

Pushkin is a favorite Russian poet.  He had been exiled in the time of Nicholas I due to his political beliefs, and he died in a duel at the age of 37.  But this town has fond remembrances of him, and there are statues devoted to him throughout the town.  

The arrival in Pushkin was extremely entertaining. We stepped off the bus and there was a quartet of older gentlemen dressed in uniform playing a lively tune on brass instruments. We all found ourselves walking to the beat to the front of the palace. Once there, we found ourselves being entertained by yet another group of musicians, this time playing the Viennese waltz followed by the tune whose name escapes me....”Where the Volga flows.....a sweet Russian rose......set my heart aflame....Olga was her name.”, always one of my favorites. I found myself singing the words and felt fortunate that I didn't have my kids around to tell me that I was embarrassing them. Actually, the Polish man on the trip was enjoying singing along with me. What a great time!

This palace was amazing. I do believe that it is referred to as the Little Palace, but believe you me, there is nothing little about it.

 I just loved the color.

I had never seen anything like it.

The place was jam packed with tour groups, and apparently that is the only way one can actually see the interior, so I was very fortunate that this trip had been planned for us.

Catherine's Palace, as it is called, was a victim of the same looting and destruction as Peterhof. And, actually, a lot less of the original was preserved because the German occupation came so fast that there was little time to send off items to Siberia for safe keeping.

There was so much to see and learn inside the palace. I particularly liked this dining room. The table is actually shaped in the form of a letter “E” for Elizabeth. The colors on the tables signify different saints, with blue representing St. Andrew, St. Vladimer, and Orange and black for St. George, the favored saint.

The cabinet in the back holds a set of the original Russian dinnerware made in St. Petersburg..

One room of particular interest was the Amber Room. A friend of mine had just sent me some info regarding this room the other day. The original room had been installed just prior to the German occupation. All of the walls were covered in Amber. Sometime during the occupation the entire room disappeared. No on seems to know what happened to the original. The Russians believe that it is in Germany somewhere, but there is no proof.

A new room has been recreated, but that was the one room that we could not photograph, so I can't even share the grandeur with you. It was pretty amazing to see so many colors of amber adorning the walls.

After walking through the Palace we headed out to the grounds. 

 We admired the beautiful English and French Gardens as we walked to one of the Garden buildings near a pond. We entered and found ourselves in a round room with a cupola. As we stood around the perimeter of the room, 5 men began to sing a lovely melody a cappella.  It was like a dream. The sound resonated around us and I couldn't help but just close my eyes and listen to the lovely tones.. Really, would you have expected such a treat? It was superb.

After we returned from our trip, the conference was pretty much complete, so Marty and I decided to walk into the town to see the Church of the Spilled Blood. We had taken photos the other evening, but did not have the time to actually look very long.

The name of the church comes from the story that Alexander I was assassinated in the area of the church, and so the church was extended over the spot where his murder occurred. Another translation to the Russian name is the Church on the Spilled Blood. Russians use the same word for on and of, which may describe the different names for this beautiful church.

We decided to buy a ticket to see the interior, and were thrilled that we did. The entire inside is covered with mosaics. There is not spot on the walls that is devoid of tile. An amazing amount of work went into the original, and to the restoration afterward.

Looking up always offered a different, interesting site.

After admiring the interior and taking way too many photos, but it was hard to resist such beauty, we opted to have dinner at a nearby restaurant. Since it was after the lunch hour but prior to dinnertime, we had the place nearly to ourselves. We sat on the top floor just beneath a skylight window that showed the beautiful top of the cathedral peeking through the trees.

Not only was the view appealing, the food was fabulous and the chairs were so comfy that I actually nodded off for a few minutes. All I know is when I opened my eyes, my pumpkin zucchini fritters with Marscapone cheese was sitting in front of me...smelling and looking very enticing. 

 Delicious!

Marty and I were enjoying our dinner, 

listening to the background music, when we clearly recognized Andy Williams singing Happy Holidays. We looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh out loud. This confirms my theory that people in other countries play American music and have no idea what they are listening to! Either that, or I missed something and have been stuck in Russia for longer than I had anticipated!

When dinner was complete, Marty and I walked through some gardens and headed to our hotel. The weather was lovely with a brisk chill in the air. The walk home was extremely easy, since we finally figured out the easiest way to get to our hotel.

When we got to our floor in the hotel, we stopped and peeked out the window next to the elevator and admired the view for the last time. How lovely the rooftops looked with the reflection of the sun setting.

It's been a great trip. Here's hoping that we get home tomorrow without incident. I'll keep you posted.