Thirty-second Post From Türkiye: Sankt Peterburg

Before we went to Russia, I solicited travel advice from several Russia-hands, and many singled out “Petersburg,” or “Piter,” as the country’s bee’s knees. It is a beautiful city, probably Russia’s most European, a real mixture of Central/Eastern Europe and Northern Europe/Scandinavia (something like a cross between Prague or Vienna and Stockholm). It still possesses some of the old imperial grandeur that Peter I sought to imbue it with, when he moved the capital there to the Gulf of Finland during the Great Northern War in the early 18^th century--letting the Swedes know who was soon to be the boss of the region. Fittingly, it was also the cradle of the three revolutions (1905, February 1917, and October 1917) that ended up replacing the Tsarist Empire with the “Dictatorship of the Proletariat” (i.e. the same empire run by thugs more brutal than the tsars, just without any claims to divine rule or royal blood). It certainly is more genteel than Moscow.

                                                            Ridin' the Rails

Petersburg is a fair distance from Moscow (700 km), but only four hours on the high-speed train. 

This picture is blurry, and I don't really know what my wife was up to, but this is a great example of her expressive eyes. She's always doing something goofy with them to make me laugh.

The "Express Window" sign was false advertising. I stood their for, like, 10 mins waiting for help.

Admiralty Building, former HQ of the Imperial Russian
Navy 

The "Bronze Horseman," a monument to Peter the Great, in Decemberists' Square 

                                                       St. Isaac's Cathedral

For me, the most impressive buildings in town were the churches. As soon as we got off the train, and stowed our stuff at the apartment, we headed to St. Isaac's and climbed the dome--probably a bad idea, as our legs were cramped and sore for the rest of the day.

A Good View, but Worth the Pain?

Winter Palace Square

Lots of earth-shaking events occurred here, including the "Bloody Sunday" that kicked off the 1905 revolution, and the "storming" of the winter palace by the Bolsheviks in October 1918 (behind Trum below).

If you're a nerd like me, you will remember the famous scene from Sergei Eisenstein's Oktyabr' (about the Bolshevik Revolution) and how dudes were climbing this gate to get into the Winter Palace. Also, pretty funny that Trum is pretending to punch his mom in the face...I mean inappropriate.

General Staff Building

Alexander Column

Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood

What's with this church's long and gruesome name you ask? It was built on the site where Tsar Alexander II was fatally wounded by revolutionaries in 1881. I have been in a lot of religious buildings in my day, but the interior of this place contains the most amazing church art I've ever laid eyes on. The walls are coated with mosaics depicting every major event from the life of Christ, in Art Nouveau style.

                                                       Finlyandskii Vokzal

This was the train station where Lenin arrived back in Russia after his long exile in Europe in April 1917. He harangued the crowd that greeted him with some points from his "April Theses," from on top of an armored car, and even many of the Bolsheviks in Petersburg thought his ideas were too extreme.

Petergof

When you're in Petersburg, you have to go see at least one of it's ridiculously lavish tsarist palaces. We choose Petergof, b/c it's got cool fountains, and nice views of the Gulf of Finland. Built on the site of Peter's original log cabin, the place has become much less rustic in 300 years.

Who Doesn't Like Blini?

So, if you see a guy with an 1890s robber mask, make sure and keep an eye on your wallet.

The Grand Cascade

Why was it, again, that starving peasants and workers wanted to overthrow the Tsar?

Why are these people in 1950s period costume? There were filming a movie or TV show, but we weren't able to sneak into a scene.

We actually spent a good chunk of our time trying to get one of these dang squirrels to eat out of our hands. It never worked, but at least I didn't get bitten/contract rabies.

After Petergof we took the hydrofoil back to town, and visited a variety of sites, including the Peter and Paul Fortress

In Trotsky's Cell at the Peter and Paul Fortress

We devoted a good portion of one day to the Hermitage. That's sort of like saying, we spent part of a day at the Smithsonian. We only managed to see most of the collections we wanted at one building (the Winter Palace), but that took four hours of brisk walking, and we were basically crippled afterward from our exertions. This doesn't do it justice but just a couple pics below from the interior.

Tsar Nicholas II's Library

Some Room where it Looks like Scrooge McDuck Threw Up

After a last look at the Peter and Paul Fortress, we boarded the night train for Moscow, so that we could arrive there early the next day. We had hoped against hope that it we be just us three in our four-person sleeping car...'twas not to be!