St. Petersburg, Russia | Day 2

St. Petersburg, Russia: Another day, another Palace. Two in fact. We only have three days in St. Petersburg and we are probably doing too much, but we are enjoying ourselves very much. This morning we joined a tour to Peterhof Palace, the seaside palace of Peter the Great. This palace is absolutely stunning. Though very similar in scale and grandeur and architectural style as Catherine's Palace yesterday, Peterhof stands out because of the setting - on a bluff overlooking the Bay of Finland. It was a 35 minute drive to the Palace and I slept the entire way.

The Peterhof Ballroom


A famous painting of Catherine the Great, dressed in military garb


Dining Room


Dining room

Our guide today, Anna, was terrible. She was difficult to understand and spoke without taking a breath all the way from the ship to the Palace. (Now you know why I dozed.) Anna told us several amazing things: Putin? He has eyes like snake. Ploos, he not so tall like Cleenton. Boosh? He also short. Later she warned us to not talk to Gypsies and then, in a serious tone, Don't luke into der eyes - deh hypnotize you and take alla yer moan-ees. Duly noted.

Peterhof


DT at Peterhof


Here we are at Peterhof


Tee-shirt for sale near Peterhof

After our tour, we were driven back to the ship and had 45 minutes to rest and get something to eat before leaving on our afternoon tour. I tell you, this vacationing is exhausting. Again, we cannot believe our luck with the weather, because our second tour began with a ride in a boat through the canals of St. Petersburg.

Our boat passes through the Hermitage Museum

Our guide, Tatiana (our bus driver was Igor) was great and we had a good tour. Many of the buildings, churches, parks and palaces we had already seen on our "Highlights of St. Petersburg" tour yesterday, so it was even more interesting today, as we felt we had a little idea of where we actually were and it was such a beautiful day to enjoy the sights from a new vista. There was one point where our boat seemed to break down and a man climbed down into the belly of the boat for several minutes before we were our way again. Other than that, it was an enjoyable hour on the canals and the Neva River. As I said before, tomorrow is a celebration of the founding of the Russian Navy, so there are ships from several countries, including the US and Britain, in port. The Navy was founded by Peter the Great. Peter the Great is to Russia what Thomas Jefferson is to America.

The boat dropped us off in front of the Yusupov Palace. Though it is a palace, this was a private home of the richest family in Russia, and probably the world. The Yusupov's owned land and had a huge mining business. They were related to the Romanov's. The home is magnificent, built right on a canal and has four dining rooms, a ballroom, a concert hall, a library and a theater. We never did see a bedroom - they were on the second floor. Nearly everything in the house is original - this building was not destroyed during World War II and the furnishings and art work was hidden away. Our guide explained the building was not destroyed because Mr. Yusupov was a member of the Mason's. Something may have been lost in translation.

The Grand Staircase


The Ballroom, looking into the concert hall in the Yusupov Palace

Yusupov Palace if famous for one thing besides its grandeur: Gregory Rasputin was murdered here. He was murdered in a plot developed by Felix Yusupov, the owner of the home. Rasputin had won the favor of Tsar Nicholas and his wife, Alexandria, because he seemed to have a magical way to heal their hemophiliac son, Alexi. The Tsarina was devoted to Rasputin and people began to believe he had put some sort of spell over the Royal family and was becoming too powerful. Rasputin needed to be exterminated. Yusupov and his friends planned a special dinner for Rasputin where they gave him poisoned cakes. Nothing happened. After dinner, they went for a "walk" in the garden and shot him. Nothing. They shot him again and again. Finally after four shots they thought he was dead, so rolled him up in a cloth and threw him over the bridge into the frozen river. He still was not dead - but his drowned body finally washed up on shore a few days later.

Recreated scene of Rasputin eating poisoned cakes


A sitting room


Another sitting room


Giving new meaning to "home theater"

Okay, everybody back on the bus! We were back to our ship before six and in time to watch the Holland America Rotterdam leave port.

Added later: Tonight the ship was like a ghost town. Over two hundred guests had gone to the ballet and nearly 100 passengers had flown to Moscow for the day. We had a table for two at dinner and I would estimate there were about 60 other people in the massive dining room. I think everyone is exhausted. After dinner they didn't have some sort of Broadway show-tune extravaganza in the lounge, so we went! The show was like a TV game show where we had to guess which member of the panel was a liar. Five words were placed on the screen and four crew members told you the definition of the word. The words were muntjack, ergasiophobia, a lala, Xhosa and Trion. The staff were hilarious giving their definitions and since we had barely a clue about the words, we guessed with the rest. Just so you know: muntjack is a Japanese barking deer. Ergasiophobia is the fear of work. A lala is the cry shouted by Greek warriors as they go into battle. Xhosa is the language of the Bantu tribe, and Trion is the three fig leaves worn by Adam and Eve. Now you know - but try using those words in your everyday conversation, okay?

We stepped outside, just after 11 pm to watch the sunset. Many ships are still coming in to port for the Naval Parade tomorrow. A nice couple from Scotland watched the sunset with us. Just as we were walking back to our room, he said, "I feel a wee bit-a rain."