Anderson Family Big Holiday Adventure: 13th May

13^th May – St Petersburg, Russia

So they pre-warned us that it was going to be showery today so we prepared ourselves for cold, cloudy and chance of rain! We were due to dock at 0700am and our 9 hour city tour was due to start at 08.30am! Early start in deed today! Alarm was set for 5am and then Amy got up at 6am to go for breakfast at 6.15am! We sat outside having breakfast as it was a nice temperature. We took hat and gloves and our waterproof jackets just in case but the sun was peeping through so we had sun tan lotion on too!!

As it was Russia we were heading into we had to have a VISA which came with an organised tour so Royal Caribbean made a mint today as 90% of the cruise ship had organised a tour with them and considering there are over 1800 guests on board $£$£$£!! Considering in Flam for the kayaking we would have been an extortionate price if we booked with Royal Caribbean and then Irwin the guide told us that Royal Caribbean request a discount of 30% off their normal price and then put a huge mark up for us poor unsuspecting souls!! But then Royal Caribbean book out whole tours so you can’t book it independently,. In Flam we booked a different tour to which Royal Caribbean was offering so we got round that loop hole with a longer tour and still less than Royal Caribbean were selling their tour for. So sneaky Royal Caribbean were onto a real winner in Russia and the tours were of varying prices but because we wanted to see everything we did the 9 hour tour. Even with our tour and our VISA to get into St Petersburg if felt like we had our hands held the whole day as our guide stayed with us with only 20-30minutes free time at various points but they were still hovering around us!!

Arriving into port which was about half an hour away from the city

Other side of the ship’s view in the port, not very exciting but we are very excited to see beautiful buildings today around St Petersburg or so we thought!

Here are our times, okay Captain. This has been our longest stop in St Petersburg some people were going on 12-13 hour tours and then they offered to go to a Russian Ballet production in the evening too!

Marco Polo cruise ship is behind us the Pilot Captain did a great job reversing us into this spot it just felt like we were trying to park a car!!

The port behind the nose of the ship

So we arrive in port and have to go through Passport Control and this is when Colin and I have the conversation about getting from Moscow airport to our hotel will be interesting but Colin says ‘The Russian alphabet only have a couple more letters in their alphabet than ours!’ Eh I can see a few more than that and that is on just those two words Passport and Control!!! Eeek how on earth we going to find our hotel and not many of the Russians speak English either so Moscow will be fun!!!

Well done we have made it through Passport Control and our passport has been stamped and a loose VISA placed inside our passports, all this for one day WOW!!

Now we have got some Rubles we can get going to find the bus for our tour, oh yeah look at the different letters on the ATM but remember Colin said there are only a couple of letters different from the English alphabet maybe he needs his contact lenses in or glasses on ha ha!! I think we will be playing a match the letters game with our google map directions in Moscow!!

Here are all the buses now to find the right one!

This is us, we all get a sticker with number 23 on it so we get on the right bus each stop we make

Here are the early birds on the bus with the sun shining looks like a lovely day it was forecast for 12 degrees C but the bus is saying 18 degrees C and it is only 8.30am!

The first statue that we came across in the bus, now other than the big sights that we stopped at I am not sure of the other things as Anna our guide was really funny but talked fast so half the time I didn’t hear what it was so sorry can’t really tell what all the things I have photographed today :o( Normally we can fumble along with the things we photograph as we have a map but no map today either!

Anna tells us that the city will still be busy today as ‘the children are still in the city’ she went on to explain that from the 1^st of June to 1^st September all children are sent out of the city to live with grandparents or go to a summer camp so the city gets quieter! Must be weird going round the city and not seeing children though in the summer! Amy face looked astonished when Anna was telling us this, Amy didn’t like the sound of going to a camp for 3 months and not seeing us for that length of time!!

Looks serious this submarine but thankfully it is out of the water, looks like it means business though!!!

Our first bit of colour with the blue domes, shame this building is behind a wall so can’t see the whole thing

Another submarine, don’t mess with the Russians but we kinda knew that already!!

And yet another submarine!!

Statue and a view of some domes in the background

Here we go across the river and I didn’t realise that St Petersburg is known for its canals and bridges and nicknamed the Russian Venice. There are a network of 60 rivers and canals which criss-cross the city and there are about 400 bridges. The bridges all open up during the night to let the boats and barges go through the river system but that means that one side of St Petersburg is cut off from the other!

Another bridge

Another bridge and a view down the River

Beautiful in the sunlight

View down the other side of the river

View behind St Isaac’s Cathedral, our first stop for 10 minutes to take photos

The entrance roof to St Isaac’s Cathedral

The front of St Isaac’s Cathedral

Statue of St Peter and then the palace behind that St Catherine built but she didn’t like staying there as she looked onto the horses bottom and her dad’s back so she gave the palace to the government and even now it is the legislative building

Selfie in front of St Isaac’s Cathedral they have warned us at every stop about pickpockets and people trying to trick tourists so no-one is getting our camera today for a picture of the three of us unless it is someone that is on our tour!

Wow look at the size of pieces of granite for steps and the pillars, amazing!

Statue of man on a horse with a snake on his back – Petro

So we go to the Hermitage Museum for our first stop of the tour, the guide is going to take us round the best bits and then we get half an hour free to look at the art work of our choice, there are 3 million pieces of art in the museum, wow! So the first statue we see and Amy is laughing with her hand over her mouth as the man has his peanut showing (peanut is a name from Sulby school as they weren’t allowed to say any other word for the male genitalia!!) Funny!! Good start eh!!

The first stair way up into the museum, wow it is impressive!

Very good idea we all have headphones and a little receiver so Anna can talk to us all and we can be a little bit away from her, clever as there are about 30-40 of us on the tour

The first stair way up into the museum, wow it is impressive!

The ceiling is absolutely beautiful

Beautiful with all the gold

Heading up the stairs and the steps were really shallow so when the women went up the stairs in their big dresses it looked like they were floating – Anna made us pretend we had big dresses on and to glide up the stairs, made us giggle!

Thought this statue was my star sign the sign of the scales – Libra

Tapestries on the wall

Stunning with the colours on this tapestry

Beautiful room with the chandeliers and ceiling

The wind up working clock they had a video playing next to it showing you what it did when it was wound up, everything moved and the peacock made a chirp on the hour, would have been something to see

Just incredible the ceilings, marble and all the things that are exhibited

The mosaic floor

View from the museum across the River

Incredible stair cases and wow there is something hoovering it, just wouldn’t like that job at all!

Another ceiling

Gold paintings

Part of a ceiling, cute cherub painting

Ceiling paintings are amazing

The ceiling and the 23 numbered lollipop that Anna keeps holding up to keep us all together which is a hard task as the museum is absolutely heaving!

So we see Leonardo Da Vinci the famous Madonna and child painting

The ceiling above the paintings and then another

Da Vinci Madonna and child painting

Above us again!

WOW this room is amazing!

Domed ceiling with the picture of the angel below

Colin loved this vase

More and more paintings in this room

And the table to match Colin’s vase

Another beautiful room to hold more paintings so if you spent 1 minute on each painting in the museum Anna worked it out it would take over 5 years to see all 3 million of them and that would be not eating or sleeping!

The green matching set for Colin’s blue set! And the woman in the green waistcoat is employed to ensure that no-one touches the marble! The women in green waistcoats are dotted around each room making sure you behave whilst in the museum!

And don’t forget the parquet flooring that they provide slippers for if you are wearing high heels.

Another beautiful room, this place is amazing and absolutely massive, they did say you needed to be fit enough to walk over a mile for this trip and I think this is the reason! We have walked and walked, some of the oldies on the tour are struggling and one guy is complaining his back is sore as there are no seats around either!

Another beautiful staircase

Now we are getting a bit fed up with the artwork we have been in the museum for nearly 2 hours! Amy is doing well even though she is bored but we are still looking at the art and trying to find funny bits in them to make us laugh!

The view out of the museum across the Square looking onto the Palace

Monet’s paintings

Henri Cross’s painting full of small brushstrokes

Vincent Van Gogh’s Thatched Cottage painting

Van Gogh

Another Van Gogh painting

Much better view of the Palace Square

Matisse paintings

The famous Dance painting by Matisse

Pablo Picasso’s turn to showcase his paintings

Albert Marquet Rainy day in Paris Notre Dam Cathedral – feels like it was last year we were in Paris hard to believe we have continued our travels since then, each place we visit we just feel like we are on a different holiday

A new part of the museum and no paintings on the ceilings and no windows either to preserve the tapestries

Catherine the Great’s dress

The ballroom with their outfits that they wore in the glass cabinets on the other side was full military gear in the other glass cabinets.

And that was our whistle stop tour of the Hermitage Museum! We walked well don’t know how far but it felt like miles in the museum as it is stretched over 3 massive buildings. We went into the museum at 9.15am and came out at 12.00 just as the guns went off to mark midday, which gave Amy a real fright we were quite close to them so it was loud made me jump too!

Next stop is lunch and then this beautiful St Peter and St Paul’s Fortress on an island in the middle of St Petersburg the oldest building in the city!

Another bridge looking across the river

This is only the side entrance to the Hermitage Museum!

Across the river to the pillars we will stop there after lunch

Yet another bridge with a lovely building behind

The ship that was built in 2006 and then half of it was made into a restaurant and the other half is a gym!

Restaurant for lunch provided on the tour

So we got free shot of vodka, half a glass of champagne and some red caviar. This is a great few pics of Colin showing you how the vodka tasted, funny!!!

Ewh!!!

And the after taste still hanging around ha ha!!

Lunch was salad for entrée, starter was soup, main course was vegetable rice and with chicken in a creamy sauce and ice cream for dessert. Amy has another really wobbly tooth so is struggling to eat and her top 4 front teeth are coming through breaking the skin so her gums are swollen on the top too. It was either an excuse saying her teeth were sore or she didn’t like the food as she said she wasn’t hungry but managed to wolf down 4 pieces of bread and a cookie on the bus!! As long as she ate something that is the main thing but do think she is going to turn into a cookie by the end of the cruise ha ha!!!

The girls and our free drinks!! I had a sip of the vodka and oh my gosh YUCK no thanks so Colin downed mine too and obviously I kept the champagne!! I did try the caviar and it was disgusting with us not being fish lovers anyway it tasted salty and a horrible funny texture!! Think I had the same faces as Colin though real screw up your face moment!!

Colin on my shot of Vodka and the reaction was just the same the second time around but Amy and I just enjoyed the moment as we had already captured it in the photos, made us chuckle

So Amy and I go to the toilet and this has got to be the weirdest sink and tap Amy and I have ever seen. The water went everywhere!! Amy has to keep on reminding me not to throw the toilet roll down the toilet as there are bins by the side to collect toilet roll! It is just habit I am sorry to say and the thought of used toilet paper in a bin next to me when I sit on the toilet just doesn't really do it for me either!!

St Isaac’s Cathedral from across the river

Oh yeah Colin this sign shows that Moscow will be easy to get around only a couple of letters different!!!!!!!

Across the river to where the gun blasted at 12 midday just beside the flag

The boy’s pillar with bows of ships on the side, sun is shining lucky we put sunscreen on, what is all this about cloudy skies and rain forecast!

The former stock exchange building they are refurbishing and the red limo was for a wedding

Across the river to see the length of the yellow and blue/greeny building was the Hermitage Museum where we had been in the morning, we walked the length, around and back of the building no wonder we were goosed at the end!

The girl’s pillar

And then we stopped at a souvenir shop there was only one, felt like we were walking into a backhanded corrupt situation. We bought a couple of small things from them as we had to buy a sticker!!

St Peter and St Pauls Fortress from the outside and the orange building was the boathouse

Recently Colin hasn’t had much work experiences as the opportunities just haven’t been there, until now!! So who would have thought that the guide Anna goes to get the tickets to enter the fortress and needs someone to hold the lollipop to keep all 40 of us together! The likely subject to choose to look after the group was……COLIN really Anna must have heard about his map reading skills! The couple we met this morning from Ayr not in Scotland but Australia behind Colin looks like they are getting nervous at the prospect of Colin taking the tour ha ha!! No need to worry Anna is back, phew!!!

It is now 3pm and the bells are ringing!

First impressions when we walk in!!

The ceiling

Down the Fortress looking onto the pulpit and altar

Females are not allowed behind these gold doorways at the altar. Anna told us that they still hold services in the Fortress on special occasions like Easter only children and the disabled are allowed to sit down as there are only benches down the sides. They say you should be strong enough to last the service which would last a few hours!

Tombstones in the fortress

Tombs of Peter the Great, Catherine the Great and their daughter who never married but she had loads of dresses she bought and nearly bankrupt the state before she died

Just outside the Fortress is the mint where all the Rubles are made!!

The part of the Fortress that was under renovations so we couldn’t get in but then the clouds came over so quickly and then………….

Thankfully we were back on the bus when the heavens just opened!!

Aurora Battle ship, it was still raining so I was nominated to get off the bus to take the photo! One of the drawbacks of being the photographer on the trip!!

A five star hotel on the river but Anna said there were better five star hotels in the city!

So then we stopped at our last stop of the day before heading back to the cruise ship this was one side of the bus and then the other side of the bus view was……..

THIS…… Now this is what I had been waiting for ALL DAY!

WOW here is the Church of Resurrection on the Spilled Blood

So we headed into to see inside the Church of Resurrection on the Spilled Blood as we had a 20 minute stop here cost us 550 Rubles for all 3 of us which is about £10ish. Anna had told us it was well worth seeing inside and then we walked in…… that was after we got rid of our chewing gum and ice cream (a bit random sign really!)

This is the first view of the church and as we get closer we realise all the pictures on the ceilings and walls are all mosaics!! Amazing the time and effort that went into all the mosaics!

Then there was a marble/mosaic floor

One of the inside of the domes

Amazing views around the inside of the church

The Iconostasis door which separates the altar from the central part of the church

Looking up into another dome

The pillars and walls are just covered in mosaics

We exit and see another canal and then head round to the front of the building

The back view of the church

The domes are made from coloured stone, beautiful

Had to get a picture of at least 2 of us in front of this beautiful building!

My magic arm and positioning to get the 3 of us in front of this beautiful building!!! Magic selfies ha ha!!

Driving by a beautiful church on our way back to the cruise ship now

Phew nearly back, what a long and tiring day! We started at 8.30am and we got back at 5.30pm! Well, all three of us felt slightly disappointed by St Petersburg as we thought there would be more colourful buildings than there was and also we didn’t realise the buildings were all so far apart across the city! I think we expected to see more vibrant colours on the buildings but don’t get us wrong we enjoyed our time in St Petersburg and glad we saw what we did. Makes us look forward and get excited about Moscow after seeing the Church of Resurrection on the Spilled Blood.

We headed for dinner at 6pm and Amy’s origami was a gun tonight with a holster!! Stick em up!!!

Aerial show called the Sun we caught a glimpse of before we headed to the Russian Military Folkloric Ensemble show! We saw the Sun aerial show last week

The Russian singers were amazing but they sang quite a lot of songs! Passport control was so tight that the show was delayed as the dancers and singers couldn't get on the ship as they couldn't get through passport control!!! Never mind they made it after 20 minute delay!!