After about twenty hours of travel that included a car, two airplanes and a bus ride,

Statue of Catherine the Great at ten pm

we arrived very weary at our new home on the Viking Akun (13 day river cruise) in St. Petersburg, Russia.  St. Petersburg is the world’s largest most northern city.  It is on the same longitude as Anchorage, Alaska. And like Anchorage, this time of year, they experience “white nights” where the sun does not actually set. It dips below the horizon for a couple of hours for a twilight effect but then comes right back up. It was very strange to realize it was near midnight and we were still up in an afternoon sunlight.

The first thing that struck me about St. Petersburg was all of the high-rise apartment complexes (and cranes dotting the skyline building more). There are practically no single family houses. That is because ninety-nine percent of Russians who live in the city live in high-rise apartments. The center of St. Petersburg is very historic with many palaces, forts and churches. The neoclassical style of architecture is dominant and modern buildings seem like a scar on the landscape.

We went to the ballet and it was beautiful. Unfortunately, they didn’t allow pictures but it was so good that Mike didn’t even fall asleep even though it was after ten o’clock.

Borscht 

We were surprised by how light and delicate Russian cuisine  is, I don’t know why we thought is would be heavy.  Surprisingly, sour cream is a topping on many Russian dishes.

Our time in St. Petersburg was spent touring palaces and museums and learning about the czars and Russia’s early history. The first tour was to the Hermitage which is a partially restored winter palace and art museum. It was founded by Catherine the Great in 1764. The Hermitage is the second largest art museum in the world (we only saw a very small piece of it) Our guide said that anything colored gold is actually gold leaf.

The next day we visited the Catherine Summer Palace, built in 1717 for Catherine I.  In 1752 Empress Elizabeth (Catherine’s daughter) had the original palace demolished and the grander palace built in its place. While we were waiting to get into the palace, a Russian brass band serenaded us. They were very entertaining and helped the wait go by quickly. The palace is over the top ornate. We wore paper booties over our shoes to protect the detailed parquet flooring. We were awestruck at the opulence in which the Russian royalty lived. I had the feeling they were trying very hard to keep up with other European royalty.

On our third and final day in St. Petersburg we tackled the subway system.  The subway is very modern and surprisingly deep underground. We managed to get into the city center without getting on the wrong train. Our boat tour of the canals, that wind through the old section of the city, gave us a broader view of the architecture.  The city is dotted with giant statues representing historic figures.  We also saw the battleship Aurora which fired the shot that signaled the beginning of the Bolshevik revolution.

Our lasting impression of St. Petersburg is how proud the residents are of their city. During WWII the city persevered through a German Nazi siege that lasted for 872 days while 1.2 million residents starved to death. It is also a remarkably beautiful city that we really enjoyed.