North Sea Serenade – Day Five

This morning was almost a catastrophe.  First of all we overslept because we’d been having such a hard time getting to sleep that we didn’t worry about setting an alarm.  But we should have worried last night  And then our original plans said that our trip was at 9:45 A and so we got up in time to get ready and have a roll and some coffee when Tom went to get out tickets it said 9:15 A so we really had to scramble to get to the theater in time to get on our bus.  So we didn’t get any coffee and we didn’t get any breakfast.  Which usually makes me pretty cranky.  So we go out and go through immigration with a woman who was so grumpy she must not have had her morning coffee either.  Not even a HINT of a smile.  So we get on the bus and the bus seats are so uncomfortable for us.  So off we go and there is a slight rain and everything is covered in fog.  Great.

Our guide was super funny.  We go through the station at the end of the terminal and he says everybody don’t smile because if you smile too much our men in black will come on and want to know why you are so happy to be in Russia.  So first of all we drive around the city and it’s hard to take pictures because there is rain all over the windows but Tom did his best.  Unlike my memories of Moscow the buildings here are all pastel in color.  We saw the Winter Palace and St. Isaac’s Square and the Aurora which shot the canon which started the Bolshevik Revolution.  Then we went to the Peter & Paul Fortress where they have the crypts for all the tsars. He said that contrary to popular belief it is not Anastasia’s body that was missing but Peter and Ivan.  

As we were walking around I noticed that there was a man who had noticed Tom and was sketching him.  It kind of freaked me out but I told Tom and he didn’t seem concerned.  Afterward he approached Tom and sold him the charcoal sketch – and it is really good.  For only $5 US.  Then we went to the officially sanctioned souvenir store and I got the scarf for the traveling hat.  It is a really soft, wool scarf which is about as thick as a spider web.  Then we went to the Spilled Blood Cathedral which you can’t go into but is one of the icons of St. Petersburg.  In front of the Spilled Blood Cathedral is what our guide called the Spilled Champagne Bridge which is where Russian brides go to have their pictures taken and in fact there were so many of them taking pictures that they had to line up.  

Then we came back to the ship and we were so hungry we ran up to get some food.  They had peanut butter ice cream that was just super yummy.  Then we went downstairs and almost slept through trivia but managed to make it downstairs whereupon we lost.  Who knew that Bridge Over the River Kwai was filmed in Thailand.  Oh right, I did.  But I forgot so that wasn’t very useful.  Because we knew that dinner was going to be late we went up to a special Russian dinner which the ship had prepared and I had borscht and stroganoff (I don’t think I’ve ever had stroganoff that had pickles and beets) and chicken kiev.  

Then we went down and got on our tour for Catherine’s Palace.  The trip was supposed to take 1.5 hours to Pushkin and the traffic was so bad we were almost 45 minute later.  HOWEVER, the other bus drivers opted NOT to take the expressway and so we had to wait and wait and wait for them to arrive in Pushkin.  So the guide decided to stall by making us walk to the carriage house.  Now most of the ladies, including me, had dressed up for the event since it was supposed to be an elegant dinner.  And everybody was complaining because the guide walked super fast and it was uphill a lot of the way and we all had non-walking shoes on so now I have blisters and I’m sure they do too.  

The carriages were super elegant but some of them reminded me of circus carriages.  And some people were complaining up a storm that they had to walk that far and I’m not a big fan of standing around.  So we wait and wait and wait and then we go into the palace and wait some more and then wait some more and finally we get to go into the palace.  You have to wear these super sexy brown covers on your shoes which reminded me of the shoes the Seven Dwarfs wear.  The palace cannot be described.  It is absolutely spectacular.  And they had a man playing the flute and one playing the harpsichord which I don’t think I’ve ever heard live and then we go to the end and got a seat and they played some Russian classical music and then Catherine the Great came out and we had a toast to world peace and then some court dancing which was kind of odd but it was well done.  

So after that we went to dinner and dinner at the Russian House Restaurant was salad, rubber chicken, a strange potato pancake and some sorbet with seeds.  There were some Russian folk singers but we have no idea what they were singing about but Tom danced with one of them but unfortunately I had to take the picture and it did not turn out very well.  The drive back to the ship was about half the time but we were so late and had to wait so long to get things going that it is 1:30 AM and we have another tour of the Hermitage and the Gold Room in about seven hours.  Did I mention that we are exhausted?   

Tomorrow:  St. Petersburg, Part 2.