When we first arrived in St
Petersburg after our long flight via Paris, we quickly went to a supermarket close to the ship to buy milk, water and Coke for our trip. The prices were more or less the same that we pay for similar things in a similar shop - we paid 35 rouble for 500 ml Coke light = R8 - R9.
We had to cross a busy road and remember to look to the
right first! There were trams in the middle of the street and people seemed to embark anywhere. It didn't look very safe to me. (We didn't see trams in Moscow, but there they have lots of trolley buses.)
The tram rails didn't look safe either. St
Petersburg is a beautiful city, but there are many signs of neglect. Many buildings have peeling plaster - a rather strange phenomenon. I wondered whether the harsh climate had anything to do with it.
A rather dilapidated block of flats -we saw several of those. Apparently the average income is about R5000 per month. I guess it is about the same here in S.A. There is also severe poverty and hardship and unemployment. What amazed me, was that we did not see a single beggar or vendor in the street or windscreen washer at traffic lights. (Here you find them at all major intersections.)
And this ordinary looking building that we passed on our way to the Winter Palace? It used to be the headquarters of the K.G.B.! Who would ever have thought that we pass here without any fear? Apparently the K.G.B. did instill terror in every ordinary citizen's life: At one stage (
Breschnev's time or
Gorbachof's? Can't remember) the K.G.B. would go into cinemas and if they found a student bunking class, his
parents would get fired after a 2
nd warning! Our guide said, the University lecturers were surprised when all of a sudden, there was 100% attendance!
The Palace square - also called the
Decembrists square between the
General Staff Building and the Winter Palace. This is the place where, in 1905, the citizens protested that they had no food: they wanted to bring the plight of Russians to the attention of the Tsar (Nicholas II) but he wasn't even in St
Petersburg at the time and his guards started to shoot the crowd. Remember Dr Zhivago? Sounds a lot like
Sharpeville doesn't it?
The yellow building is the longest building in Europe: 700 metres!
The Winter Palace again. It is really so blue and magnificent as we have seen in pics before. St
Petersburg was built by Tsar Peter the Great, so as to have a gateway to the Gulf of Finland. He was a remarkable man: He was very tall 6' 8" - exceptional especially if you think that he lived in the 17
th - 18
th century! He did everything in his power to modernise and Westernise Europe. He learnt shipbuilding in Holland (V.O.C time) and brought his skills to Russia. He became co-Tsar with his not so bright half brother, when he was still a child. He liked to play with soldiers - except his soldiers were boys and not toys. His child army later became a real, great army.
The grand staircase... Once ambassadors entered here to be admitted to the court. I would have liked to play
Tsarina, but did not feel like one clad in jeans and surrounded with all the other similarly clad tourists. We had to buy a permit to take photos inside the palace and the Hermitage.
Jan in front of the throne of Nicholas 1.
This room is devoted to the victory over Napoleon in 1812.
This passage is an exact copy of a passage in the Vatican. The "
frescoes" were copied onto fabric and this was attached to these walls - very well done!
Jan in the Vatican Hall - not the real name, but I can't recall exactly what it was called.
Jan in front of a Picasso painting. The State Hermitage is home to over 3 million pieces of art. It was started by Catherine the Great. She bought whole art collections to impress the rest of Europe, and since then the art museum has grown and grown.
This beautiful
Smolny convent was built by Empress Elizabeth 1 (daughter of Peter the Great). At the end of her life she apparently wanted to become a nun and had this beautiful convent built, but she died before the building had been completed!
Smolny means tar - it was built on the tar yard (for the ships) of Peter the Great. The building was never used as a convent, but later became a school for women of the nobility.
Sir
Isaacs Cathedral: it was the largest cathedral in Russia at one stage. It took 40 years to build it, from 1818 to 1858. Under the Soviet government, the building was first
abandoned, then turned into a museum of atheism! Praise God, today it is again a place of worship, albeit only in one portion of the church. (Jan was especially alarmed that so many churches are "dens of robbers.")
Statue of Tsar Nicholas 1. It seems to me he was the real villain in the history. His predecessor Alexander 1 introduced some reforms, but Nicholas 1 (1825 - 1855) was anti reform and came down on the population like a ton of bricks, making life really hard for serfs. (In his defense, whereas Alexander grew up in the time of enlightenment, Nicholas grew up in the time of the French revolutions and knew that ordinary people were the enemy and had to be kept in their place!)
If only he had not been so autocratic, history could have been different - the seeds of discontent were really sown in his time.
Russian style weddings: Although our city tour was on a Wednesday, we saw many bridal parties, having their photos taken at historic landmarks - amidst the throngs of tourists! Like here, weekends are most popular for weddings, but since there are so many weddings, many people must be satisfied to marry in the middle of the week. The done thing apparently is to hire limousines to
escourt the couple and other guests. Cars and limousines are decorated with
wedding style white and pink ribbons and flowers and big golden rings. (We saw some with bright orange and red ribbons.)
A white wedding limousine - same party as the black Mercedes above.
Busy streets! In the background the Church of our Saviour on Spilled Blood. (See below.)
Our final stop in St
Petersburg was this beautiful church, which was built in memory of Alexander 11, on the spot where he was
assassinated.
Tsar Alexander 11 (1855 -81) was the good guy: he had emancipated the serfs (albeit that they still had considerable problems afterwards) and he was on the verge of forming some sort of parliamentary representation or
Duma, when he was
assassinated.
When his son Alexander 111 (1881- 86) came to power, he tore up those plans. The first
Duma was only installed by Nicholas 11 in 1905, but by then it was far too late and a revolution was inevitable.
(My thoughts: If only Nicholas 1 had not botched up reform, if only Alexander 11 was able to go through with his reforms.... the communist revolution might have been prevented!)
Our time in St
Petersburg was far too short: if ever you go there, make sure that you have a few days and if ever you travel to Russia, make Moscow your last stop -it is the ultimate cherry on the cake!
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