Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
MeznG. In the air, on the road, river or sea again
- Blog
-
Location Date North America 1462662000 South America 1462575600 Asia 1441580400 Europe 
1410562800 Oceania 1377817200 -
Location Date Russia
1410562800 Ireland 1375138800 UK 1374966000 Norway 1374706800 Denmark 1374274800 Germany 1374188400 Sweden 1373929200 Finland 1373842800 Estonia 1373583600 Turkey 1348959600 Czech Republic 1316041200 Hungary 1315782000 Slovakia 1315695600 Austria 1315609200 Netherlands 1314745200 -
Location Date Korsakov 1410562800 Saint Petersburg 1373756400 Peterhof
1373670000
Early start, awake just after 5 to watch the ship sail into St Petersburg. You can't leave the ship in Russia unless you have a visa or a tour booked.
We have booked 2 full days of sightseeing so once we have cleared customs, we are on our little bus 16 people in our group and off we go.
First up is a canal trip. I did not realise that St Petersburg was built on reclaimed land and that it has canals.
Next stop is Pushkin - Catherine's Palace about a 40 minute drive. So much history, numbers , dates names! The Palace is very very ornate. A lot of gold leaf, huge halls and sitting rooms. As the power changed and a new Tsar took over they would add their influences to the palace.The gardens and ponds and grounds are very pretty . Once again it is a beautiful fine sunny day. St Petersburg only have about 60 days of sunshine a year!
Lunch is soup, Russian Goulash and mashed potato, ice cream and coffee.
Peterhof is summer residence founded by Peter the Great in 1712.
It's not the palace we have come to see but the gardens and its 150 gravity fed fountains . It is a beautiful area, the fountains are gilded in gold leaf and magnificent. Peter the Great had a strange sense of humour and he had a number of trick fountains that would catch his guests unawares. It is quite crowded today as it is Saturday and also Peterhof Day!
To get back to St Petersburg we take the hovercraft across the Gulf of Finland.
From the dock the bus then takes us to the Peter and Paul Cathedral which is where the Tsars and Tsarinas are buried.
We get back to the ship with barely 15 minutes to spare to get ready to go out again on our evening fun tour.
I booked these tours on the Internet and not through the cruise line so did not really know what to expect . As it turns out, we are the only people from our ship on this tour , the other 38 are from the other ships in port.
We nearly didn't make the tour because the lovely Russian lady in customs was not convinced that we had a booking for a tour. They are very particular about who they let in!
The fun cruise is all about vodka. I think I will rename it the vodka bus. We have learnt the Russian etiquette of drinking vodka! We discovered a few different types of vodka from normal to chilli flavoured to cranberry infused all 40% proof.
We have booked 2 full days of sightseeing so once we have cleared customs, we are on our little bus 16 people in our group and off we go.
First up is a canal trip. I did not realise that St Petersburg was built on reclaimed land and that it has canals.
Next stop is Pushkin - Catherine's Palace about a 40 minute drive. So much history, numbers , dates names! The Palace is very very ornate. A lot of gold leaf, huge halls and sitting rooms. As the power changed and a new Tsar took over they would add their influences to the palace.The gardens and ponds and grounds are very pretty . Once again it is a beautiful fine sunny day. St Petersburg only have about 60 days of sunshine a year!
Lunch is soup, Russian Goulash and mashed potato, ice cream and coffee.
Peterhof is summer residence founded by Peter the Great in 1712.
It's not the palace we have come to see but the gardens and its 150 gravity fed fountains . It is a beautiful area, the fountains are gilded in gold leaf and magnificent. Peter the Great had a strange sense of humour and he had a number of trick fountains that would catch his guests unawares. It is quite crowded today as it is Saturday and also Peterhof Day!
To get back to St Petersburg we take the hovercraft across the Gulf of Finland.
From the dock the bus then takes us to the Peter and Paul Cathedral which is where the Tsars and Tsarinas are buried.
We get back to the ship with barely 15 minutes to spare to get ready to go out again on our evening fun tour.
I booked these tours on the Internet and not through the cruise line so did not really know what to expect . As it turns out, we are the only people from our ship on this tour , the other 38 are from the other ships in port.
We nearly didn't make the tour because the lovely Russian lady in customs was not convinced that we had a booking for a tour. They are very particular about who they let in!
The fun cruise is all about vodka. I think I will rename it the vodka bus. We have learnt the Russian etiquette of drinking vodka! We discovered a few different types of vodka from normal to chilli flavoured to cranberry infused all 40% proof.
- comments