Palace Tour in St. Petersburg: Fairytales Do Exist

     Once upon a time, Jasmine stepped off her palace balcony for a curb-side carpet ride, Cinderella fled from the castle losing her one-size-fits-only-her shoe, and Ariel swam from her castle in the sea to trade her fins for legs and a little silence.  Disney produced these fairytales for our viewing entertainment causing little girls to play princesses and older ones to wonder where their prince charmings are.  Although the magic may be a fairytale, the castles and palaces most certainly are not; as in, people actually lived (live) as extravagantly as these stories tell.  I guess it is a little more overwhelming to someone from the US to find out that palaces, exquisite fountains, golden ballrooms, and royal families actually did (do) exist.  My once upon a dream was made a reality on our palace tour of St. Petersburg, Russia.

Peterhof

     After searching for a great many touring companies, we came across Best Guides, who were able to organize a day just for us and exactly what we wanted to see for a decent price.  We started the day with a ride to the outskirts of St. Petersburg landing at Peterhof Palace, also known as the Russian Versailles; it consists of a series of palaces built by Peter the Great and expanded by his successors.  Like Versailles in France, the grounds are packed full of fountains for beauty and fun.  The main palace is a small one having only 30 rooms, but each has been restored to its original decor (WWII damaged the palace greatly).

At the entrance to Peterhof Palace, the church of the grounds in the background.  Yes, that is real gold plated on those fancy things.

Preparing for the fountains to begin.....again, real gold.

Some of the gardens with some pretty creative designs.  I plan on incorporating this into our terrace next spring.

Sound in my head: Opera singer backed by full orchestra.

Canal empties into the Gulf of Finland.

It only took us 5 tries to get this picture due to the interference of East Asian tour groups, their umbrellas, and own picture taking.

The fountains are completely natural (no pumps), powered by gravity and natural springs (hills sure do make a difference).

Swirls and shooting water.

I'm not sure which is prettier (the fountains or us).  Sheesh PDub, did you pack anything other than the track jacket?

Samson tearing into a lion; special to Peter the Great because he was considered Samson and Sweden the lion (he had just won a war against them).

Fountains with the Grand Palace in the background.

The view guests would see when they arrived from the sea.  Peter the Great would greet them with fireworks to make them feel special and him appear super loaded.

One of the many fountains on the grounds of Peterhof.

Peter's more modest villa and his favorite, Monplaisir.  (Still on the grounds of Peterhof).

Overlooking the Gulf of Finland, from Monplaisir.

One of the trick fountains where getting to the bench without triggering the fountain was the obstacle.  Little do the players know that an "onlooker" is triggering the water flow.

Another trick fountain.  Peter the Great would take his guests down this pathway where they would be surprised (and drenched) with the activation of this fountain.  The individuals here thought they were prepared for it, but the full-blown super-soaker firing squad looked to be a shock.

One of the beautiful fountains.

Checkerboard fountain aka Dragon fountain.

Pavlovsk Palace

     After lunching on some Russian pancakes, which happened to be exactly like French crepes, we headed for the next palace on our list, Pavlovsk Palace or Paul's Palace.  Catherine the Great ordered this palace to be built for her son, Paul, and his second wife, Maria.  Although this one was not as ornate as Peterhof, it was probably my favorite; I could actually picture myself living in it.  Again, WWII drove the palace into ruin; however, it has been completely restored to its original state.  Unlike the well landscaped grounds of Peterhof, Pavlovsk has more natural grounds, something that I also prefer.  I did not take many pictures at this one....

I could not capture the entire palace seeing that it wrapped around in a partial circle, but you get the gist.

Catherine Palace

     Our last stop for the day was the Catherine Palace, built by Catherine I and later revamped by Empress Elizabeth.  Elizabeth was well-known for her need for luxury and excess; she is reported to have owned 15,000 dresses!  Therefore, this palace was truly decked out with 100kg of gold for the exterior and an impressive interior including the well-known Amber Room (walls completely made of amber).  After Empress Elizabeth passed away, the palace was passed on to Catherine the Great, who it is named after; it was her favorite palace.  Again, the palace has been restored since its destruction during WWII.

The golden gates entering into the palace grounds.

Some fun photography of the palace.

More fun.

Catherine Palace.

So pretty...

I think this might be a new addition to the front door of our dream house.

Yes, the Beauty and the Beast ballroom does exist.

PDub wouldn't waltz with me.

The Amber Room with wall panels made of amber.  Restoration of this room alone cost over $12 million.  The original panels were most likely stolen by Germans and never returned during WWII.

The grounds of Catherine Palace.

Catherine Palace from the gardens.

The Hermitage with a dumbwaiter mechanism dining.  The food is elevated to the guests from the floor below.  No waiters necessary.

     I am still in awe as to the lifestyles of the Romanov (royal) family in Russia.  With their extremely lavish ways, I do not blame the peasants for overthrowing them back in the early 1900's sadly falling into communist hands.  I thank Russia for taking the time and money to restore these palaces to their original state; it makes Disney's happily ever after all the more realistic.

White Nights and St. Isaac's Cathedral St. Petersburg, Russia

     Fact: St. Petersburg, Russia is the northernmost city to have a population over 1 million.  Based on its northern location, St. P experiences a phenomenon known as white nights between the days of June 11th and July 2nd.  The sun dips barely below the horizon creating a dusk-like sky before it rises in full again.  The night hours remain so bright that the street lamps are never turned on because they are just not needed.  Strolling along the canals and meeting several fellow-walkers, it is hard to believe that your watch is correct and that your body is not tricking you with its need for sleep.

     Although we felt like it was bedtime at the 11 o'clock hour, PDub and I fought the need for slumber and headed for St. Isaac's Cathedral (built 1818-1858); the colonnade is gratefully open until 4am during white nights.  The cathedral is the largest in the city of St. P and can be seen from afar due to its elevated location and pure gold-plated dome.  No worries, I did not bring my chisel to doggie bag some goodies.    During WWII, the dome was painted over with gray so as not to lure in the enemy.  Architecturally, the cathedral was an influence to the Cathedral in Helsinki (visited there earlier in the trip) and the Wisconsin State Capitol (cheese!).  Although the cathedral currently contains both a museum and a place for worship, it originally was built solely for religious purposes; however, under the soviet government, all religious statues were removed, and the building was turned into a museum.  Thankfully, it now doubles as both.  From the colonnade, we were able to see fantastic views of the city as well as the sunset at 11:45pm.  You can see how the sky changes in the pictures.

St. Isaac's Cathedral

One of the religious statues at of St. Isaac's Cathedral.

They wouldn't let me ring the bell, and they didn't get my Quasimodo joke (I guess that's for Paris).

The Mariinsky Palace and Senate Square (where the Decembrist Revolt occurred).

Moon!

The Triumphal Arch at Palace Square (building now contains government offices).

Sunset!

Winter Palace and Hermitage is the blue building on the far left.

Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood in the distance.

Sun is almost gone!  (But not really.)

JDUB!!!!

     Sleep tight white nights!

Getting Sentimental....and a Russian Ballet

     When you ask a child what they want to be when they grow up, the highly entertaining answers generally range from astronaut to princess.  When I was asked that question, my answer was always "ballerina" (a typical girl answer).  At the age of 5, my parents enrolled me in dance classes so that I might pursue this dream, just like most little girls.  At the age of 9, they began taking me to the Broadway season series performed at the St. Louis Fox Theater.  I was lucky to have parents who saw my passions and helped to feed them.  By the age of 18, I was still dancing (unlike most girls); it was at this time that I chose the brains instead of the arts route, attending a private university and studying biology.  I was never able to give up dance completely; even to this day, I still torture my body with a class here and there.  Because of this love for the arts and even possibly for my own regrets of not becoming that ballerina (some would support that I have grown up), I still push myself to attend performances and enjoy the other world.  When I heard St. Petersburg was on our itinerary, I immediately purchased tickets to the ballet.

My first tutu.

Tap was never my favorite but who could hate the fringe, sequins, and excessively large bows?

     Ballet originated in the Italian Renaissance courts in the 15th century.  In the 17th century, France created the first theatrical ballet company coupled with opera, also generating its vocabulary.  In the 18th century, Russia took ballet to a completely new level, establishing one of the first independent companies, and becoming very influential in the art form.  This company, the Imperial Russian Ballet, was founded in the 1740's following Russia's first ballet school in 1738.  Although the Imperial Russian Ballet has changed names, now known as the Kirov Ballet or Mariinsky Ballet, it still thrives and is recognized as one of the world's greatest ballets.  You have probably guessed it by now, PDub and I attended one of their performances (Cinderella) at the new Mariinsky Theater (II).

A scene from the performance.

The little cinder girl (Diana Vishneva, who performs with the Mariinsky Ballet and the ABT....currently, one of the best ballerinas in the world).

The curtain call at the performance we attended.

The Mariinsky Theater (dating back to 1783) where individuals such as Anna Pavlova, George Balanchine, and Mikhail Baryshnikov danced.  We did not get to visit this theater, but it is at the top of our list for next time.

The Mariinsky Theater II sits right next door to the old one and is considered one of the largest theater venues in the world.  The $700 million stage opened merely a month before we visited.

In the auditorium of the Mariinsky Theater II awaiting the 49th performance of Ratmansky's Cinderella.

     I sat in the audience with tears in my eyes but a smile on my face.  I may not have grown up to be a ballerina, but my dreams came true that night.  I got to see one of my favorite stories performed by the best and oldest ballet companies on one of the newest stages with the most historical one right next door.  I realized that I am apart of that world even if I can only call myself a spectator, feeling the emotions and cheering on those who did become ballerinas.

I hope you don't get so emotional over what you wanted to be when you grew up.....a ninja, Indiana Jones, a monkey, etc.

Our Walking Tour in St. Petersburg, Russia

     Put on your comfy shoes!  We are hitting the streets of the beautiful St. Petersburg for a walking tour, the best way to become acquainted with a new city.  My shoe selection: Toms.  Today, I glance at this choice with sadness thinking that this pair of shoes should now be retired with the number of miles I put on them and the wear and tear they faced.  Focus, the ode to my shoes is over, and we get back to topic, our walking tour.  Instead of hiring a guide, we simply opened our travel bible, Lonely Planet: St. Petersburg, and found a walking tour of the historic heart.  If you want the whole tour, I recommend purchasing the book, but here are a few sites we saw along the way....

Entering the Triumphal Arch at Palace Square

On the other side of the Triumphal Arch at Palace Square.  The architecture in St. P is so unique!

The blue and white building is the Winter Palace, where the ruling tsar spent the majority of their time.  It now is the Hermitage, housing artwork (we visited the following day).

Palace Square, where many historical events took place such as Bloody Sunday (1907) and the October Revolution of 1917.

Church on the Spilled Blood

Church on the Spilled Blood....what I consider to be St. Petersburg's skyline structure (Eiffel Tower to Paris, Arch to St. Louis, etc.).

There were several artists (youth to adult) in this area sketching or painting the church.

This ironwork was commonly found throughout the city.

Mikhailovsky Castle, also known as St. Michael's Castle and Engineers' Castle, which was also a royal residence.

Arts Square with a Monument to Pushkin, considered Russia's greatest poet, and the Russian Museum in the background.

Kazan Cathedral

Kazan Cathedral with a PDub

Some fun camera work.

St. Petersburg is considered the Venice of the North with its water roadways.  Church on the Spilled Blood is in the background.  This is probably one of my favorite photos of St. P; hence its extra largeness.

Bank Bridge with four griffins, which in mythology are guards of treasure....the bridge sits in front of a bank.

     Hope you enjoyed our stroll!

Our Struggle in St. Petersburg, Russia

     Lonely Planet (our touring bible) refers to the history of St. Petersburg, also known as Petrograd and Leningrad, as one of struggle.  First, its struggle of identity, where even from its birth over 300 years ago, St. P has been striving to be more like Europe.  Second, its struggle with ideas, where communism has gone against fascism and more simply put, democracy versus autocracy (which is still an issue to this day).  As soon as PDub and I set foot on St. P soil, our struggle was with East Asian tour groups (apologies to all of my Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese friends).  In the line for immigration, I clung to PDub's arm fearing that myself and my 35lb pack would be knocked over and trampled by individuals shorter than me (and I am 5'3").

     No worries, after a few thrown elbows and bloody noses, PDub and I were on our way to the historic heart of St. P.  I instantly felt like I was in a different country where the architecture was like none I had seen before and the people spoke only Russian and looked completely different.  I have been to other countries (aside from the U.S.) but never felt this instant outsider notion.  When in Mexico, I felt like I was back in Texas, and when we visited Paris later in this trip, it took me three days to finally feel like I was in France.  To me, being a visitor and experiencing a new culture is like being in heaven, and Russia hit the spot.

     The shuttle dropped us off at St. Isaac's Cathedral (you can't miss it) where we proceeded to walk the few blocks to our hostel.  Yes, we went from hotel rooms with heated floors to rocking, tiny ferry rooms to a private room with community bathrooms, but for the price and location, we couldn't have asked for a better place to stay.  After hearing about the amenities, which included free international calls (sorry parents for not taking advantage of this), and dropping our packs off in our room, we headed for the streets of St. P.  First stop: food! at the ZooM Cafe where I indulged on some borscht, a cold, red soup containing cucumber, potato, beets, and topped with sour cream.

St. Isaac's Cathedral

Soul Kitchen Hostel Jr.  I would recommend this place to anyone!!

The ZooM Cafe.  We had a tough time finding places seeing they are typically hidden and the restaurant name written in Cyrillic.....kind of a challenge for us.

Borscht.....Probably wouldn't order it again but glad I did.

     After lunch, our true struggle began: getting everything in within the 72 hours (about 60 for us) that our visa-free allowed.  I look back at my travel journal and still can't fathom how we did it all, although we did miss much.  Here was our itinerary and what I hope to share with you over the next few days:

Day 1: Hostel Check-In

            Lunch

            Lonely Planet Walking Tour

            Pub Break

            Dinner

            Ballet Performance

            View and sunset from St. Isaac's Cathedral

Day 2: Breakfast

            Private Palace Tour (with lunch in there somewhere)

            Hermitage

            Dinner

Day 3: Breakfast

            Check-out

            Church of Spilled Blood

            Walk to Peter and Paul Fortress

            Lunch

            Hermitage

            Cafe Break

            Return to Ferry

St. Petersburg, Russia: Visa-Free on the Ferry from Helsinki

     The purpose of this blog: to aid those fellow-travelers and travel agents who would like to visit or plan someone's trip to St. Petersburg, Russia using the visa-free policy.

     With respect to this rule, I read so many articles, TripAdvisor comments, and of course the rule itself, Russian Federation Government Resolution No. 397.  I also spoke with our own travel agent as well as others, all of whom supported obtaining a travel visa and refuted the visa-free travel; of course, all of this made me extremely nervous and highly apprehensive to visit St. P.  In my mind, the Russians were not going to allow us into St. P from the ferry, and we would have to wait the rest of the day at the harbor to return.  Even worse, we would be contained in the tiniest of cells with bread and water, no toilet, no shower, and most likely torture for non-existent information until someone from our embassy or even the President of the United States would come to our rescue; hence, the start of World War III.  Luckily, none of this occurred, and my fears turned out to be ridiculous....even laughable.
     What is this visa-free rule?  In 2009, the Russian Government passed a new rule which allows foreign tourists and persons without citizenship traveling by ferry to enter St. P without a visa and remain there for no longer than 72 hours.  These persons may include those traveling on the ferry from Helsinki (like ourselves) or those traveling on a cruise ship.  All you need is a passport (duh), your arrival and departure ticket from the ferry (they give you when you check-in), hotel confirmation (never asked for it, but we had it), and a tour booked (this could be the shuttle from the ferry into the city...already included in your ferry price).  With all of this (which isn't much if you think about it), you have a trip to St. P.

Our first time on a boat overnight.

Our VERY tiny room for the night, and of all days, PDub decided that he was running low on socks (it was like day 4) and was wearing this pair for the second time.  The sweet smell of stinky feet was inescapable.  The flask was a gift from the groom.

On the deck of the boat before heading down to dine at one of the many restaurants and hit up cocktail hour at one of the bars.

     Why would we choose visa-free instead of getting a travel visa?  Obtaining the travel visa was our other option; this required a visit to the Russian embassy and some money (would you expect anything less).  If you do not have the convenience of having embassy row next door, your next best option is to hire a travel agent to get your visa.  A couple we met at the wedding obtained two 90-day tourist visas for $1,000.  PDub thought we could spend our travel money on other things, so we took advantage of the visa-free policy and ate more Russian pancakes.
     Honestly, our choice of using the visa-free policy worked out great for us.  My nerves were uncalled for, and I think that travel agents should take more advantage of this newer Russian rule.  Shoot me an e-mail if you have concerns or questions!