Of Wings and Whispers

[drron]

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[drron]

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And what a Great Empress wore-

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[drron]

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One of these men was a Czar of Russia,the other a King of England-

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[drron]

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And that basically completes the tour inside the Palace.There is one room you are not allowed to take pictures in-the Amber Room.It is naturally a reproduction.The original was taken apart by the Germans in WW2 and transferred to Konisberg castle where the Russians say it was destroyed when Konisberg was retaken.Though other theories abound.Some say the Germans moved it again-either by ship which were then sunk-or by train with many thinking it is buried in Poland.On the other hand some believe the Russians recovered it and it is now hidden somewhere in Russia.This theory received a boost when Brezhnev ordered the destruction of what was left of Konisberg castle without allowing any onsite research.It is said the Russians wanted to be able to blame the Germans for it's disappearance.

What is not disputed is that the Germans looted the Palace and set out to destroy it when they retreated.So some pics of what they did-

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[drron]

And now the restoration particularly trying to recreate the Amber Room-

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Now we go outside.This is the other side of the Palace to that we entered.Those not with a Russian guide have to enter here.The line is horrendous and a waiting time of ~ 2 hours.Mostly due to Chinese groups who bring their own tour guides who aren't accredited hence they enter here as well.

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[drron]

The last of the Catherine Palace.The original palace on this site was built by Catherine 1st.Her daughter though didn't think it grand enough and had it torn down and the basic shape of today's palace was built.It was said at least 100Kg of gold was used.Her daughter Catherine 2nd or Catherine the Great actually stopped some of the excesses and afterwards the palace was little used with the Peterhof palace preferred.

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A bridal car was waiting-

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The first signs of autumn-

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[drron]

Now the drive back to the ship-

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Soviet era classics-

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But things are changing-

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We were totally exhausted.Straight to bed after dinner.

 

[RooFlyer]

Hope you don't mind drron ... our guide at Catherine Palace said no photos in the Amber room, but you CAN take photos from outside the amber room

Just to give readers an idea ...



A bit of zoom helped:




I think it amazing that it was the Soviet regime, under the hard-core-ers of Brezhnev etc, who restored the Catherine Palace (with help from the Germans for the Amber room)

 

[drron]

So to Wednesday and our last day in St.Petersburg.after 2 fine days we awoke to grey skies.It remaine dry for our first activity of the day-a river and canal cruise.Joined up with all the SPB private tours,not just those from the Whisper.Stopped across the river at an Egyptian group of statues.No idea why they are there-

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Rubbing of the head was meant to grant me my wish.The sun didn't come out though.The view across the river from the Hermitage to the left and the Whisper hiding behind the bridge on the right-

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[drron]

Continuing the cruise-

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[drron]

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That is not an old ship but a purpose built floating restaurant.

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[drron]

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[drron]

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In that last building is the apartment of the Mayor elected in Russia's brief period of democracy.He let the people pick whether they wanted to change the name back to St.Petersburg from Leningrad.They did.

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[OATEK]

All the pictures have been great, and what with SBS showing the history of the Romanovs over the last few weeks we are really excited for our visit next April.

 

[ellen10]

We visited the USSR back in 1982 for 2 weeks, when Brezhnev was dying.
Its a very different Russia today and yes St Petersburg was called Leningrad.
Loving the photos.

 

[drron]

We should have gone in 1983.A long story but we were invited to go by the USSR Ambassador to Australia.
Should have said yes rather than using the excuse of work commitments.

 

[ellen10]

Back in 1982, they never stamped your passport when you entered the country. Only the visa papers and when we left via the Polish border they took the visa back from us. So no record of ever entering the USSR although we did take photos of our passports, visas a map and Russian roubles, so we would have some evidence.

 

[drron]

Thanks to all those commenting.And Rooflyer please feel free to post pictures or other info as hopefully these TRs are a help for others in planning trips or indeed adding to their ever increasing bucket lists!
So back to the TR.Now there are said to be over 600 palaces in St.Petersburg.By now we think we have been past every one of them when in truth have certainly seen less than half.But the cruise goes on-

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That fellow was checking us out.Flew by a few times.

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The cruise finishes and we are off to the main drag-The Nevsky Prospect and a stop at a food hall.But naturally some shots on the way-

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[drron]

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And we arrive at the Eliseyev Emporium,also known as Yeliseevskiy Gastronom,a couple of minutes before opening-

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The staff eagerly await our arrival-

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[drron]

The place opened in 1902 and was closed for a short period from 1917 until it's reopening in 2012.

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A little café where the caviar seemed good value-48 roubles to the $A.The owners looked on from above-

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