Russia: St. Petersburg and Peterhof

It's been 35 years since I took Russian History, so before I left I did some brushing up with Robert Massey's new book on Catherine the Great and re-watched the Peter the Great movie based on Massey's 1981 biography. So I was very "into" Peter and Catherine on this trip. It was perfect. Bill, as a teacher of Russian History for 31 years, was in his element. Except for our very brief visit to St. Petersburg on a 1993 Baltic cruise, he hasn't read much Russian since graduate school. It came right back to him, which amazed and delighted him and which was helpful to all of us.


After spending two very full and satisfying days in Moscow with Steve, Maria, Anna, and Kate (previous blog post on this site), we took the fast train to St. Petersburg. Steve and Maria did a great job of posting St. Petersburg and Peterhof pictures and commentary on their blog. You can see them in multiple posts at www.mariavittone.blogspot.com, so I won't duplicate their work. The pictures below are an addition to what they have already posted.

 I took these pictures from the window of a train traveling about 180mph. The vast forests were exactly what I had imagined they would be.

The occasional village would pop briefly into view.

Tradition in the Russian Orthodox church calls for long services, during which everyone stands throughout, including the tsar or empress. Notice that this is not a chair.

I am including this modern statue of Peter the Great even though it's also on Steve and Maria's blog because of some connections I made. It's by Mihail Chemiakin, the same sculptor who did Children Victims of Adult Vices shown in my Moscow posting. The style is so distinctive (and so unlike the way Peter actually looked) that I remembered it when we got to France and caught a glimpse of the one below in someone's walled, locked front yard. I'm sure it's also a Mihail Chemiakin. I couldn't resist sticking my arm as far through the iron gate as it would go in order to get the picture. I will forever wonder who the French one is supposed to be. 

This spot, inside the Church upon the Spilled Blood, is exactly the place on the road where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated. If you look closely you can see some cobblestones.

 We so enjoyed our evening walks on those rather cold nights. This is the Church upon the Spilled Blood from a distance as we walked along the canal behind it.

Natasha said she would take us to lunch at Stolle, where the "best" Russian pies are served--both savory and sweet. What a great "fast food" lunch!

The Cathedral in the Fortress of Sts. Peter and Paul is the burial place of tsars from Peter the Great through Nicholas II. Their tombs are typically white marble, except for these two. Alexander II chose the red for his wife, Maria Alexandrovna. After his assassination, his was created in black. Notice that the same two stones have been incorporated into his marker in the Church on the Spilled Blood (above).

Our home in St. Petersburg was the Rossi Hotel, named after architect Carlo di Giovanni Rossi (b. 1775), who did much of his work designing classical buildings in St. Petersburg.

  

 Our bathroom was probably an add-on in the corner of the original rather small room. Each room was unique. We were the only ones in the family with a complete glass bathroom wall...

 ...and a multi-function shower stall...

 ...and complete instructions on what NOT to flush.

For our goodbye to St. Petersburg at 6:15 AM, we asked Vittole, our driver, to take us by the statues of Peter I (The Great) and Catherine II (The Great). The Bronze Horseman was a gift from Catherine in honor and memory of Peter.

It was dark and snowing that early morning as we bid farewell to Catherine and to Russia.

You will see our guide Natasha on Steve and Maria's blog. This is Vitalle, our driver, who welcomed us at the train station and, here, is seeing us off at the airport.