Saint Petersburg

Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Saints Petersburg

09/10/2008 We docked in an industrial harbor, I was up early and caught of beautiful sunrise off the bow of the ship. Before our trip I had booked our excursion over the Internet with DenRus Tours and was able to get the two day guided tour for 66% of what the ship was charging. They picked us up at the dock and got us back both days in plenty of time. Our guide, a young woman, was very knowledgeable, open and informative not only about the sites but also about the past and current life in Russia. The cruise lines leads you to believe that you will have difficulty getting off the ship if you don't use their excursions but it is just not true. We had no difficulty.




Saint Petersburg is a beautiful city, the Czars and Czarinas set out to build the most beautiful city in Europe and they achieved their goal. The first half of our day was spent driving through the city for photo opportunities off the cities boulevards and a river cruise; then a champagne lunch of beef stroganoff with a Vodka chaser.
I had no idea that Saint Petersburg had such an elaborate system of rivers and canals. We were lucky and had one of Saint Petersburg’s 60 sunny days each year. The afternoon was spent in the Hermitage, the winter home, for the pleasure of the ruling class from 1754 through 1839 when it was opened to the public. It is now the world’s largest art museum with over 3 million displays. The pintings by Picassa were overwelming to me who loves his work. I have been to many exibisions but I hav never seen a display to match this. I saw more Picasso’s, Monet’s, and Matisse then I have seen in any prior museum, I was blown away, I didn’t want to leave, I wanted to stay and study.
Saint Petersburg is a city of over 9 million and the center of the city is as it was 200 years ago, a Russian Venice.