Weeks 41 and 42 - July 11, 2018 St. Petersburg Adventures

After arriving in St. Petersburg, our guide, Michael, took us to the Metro, then we walked about the last 20 minutes to our hotel, passing beautiful canals on the way.

 An elderly woman was feeding the pigeons.  Michael showed us how to throw a backpack in the air, and all the pigeons fly upward.  We really got a kick out of it!  

 As we walked to the hotel, I loved seeing everyone having such a good time together.

 After getting settled into our hotel, we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe to get something to eat.

 Gpa George loves playing games with the kids all the time.

 We began our tour the next day at the Memorial to the Siege Victims of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) beginning in 1941. 
 

 Nine hundred lights burning--one for each of the 900 days the siege lasted.  

One million people died out of a city of 2 1/2 million, but the people never surrendered even though they were dying from starvation and cold, with bombs and incinerator devices being dropped on them daily.  The young boys went to the roofs and had small sand boxes that they quickly covered the devices so their houses wouldn't burn down.    

Music helped them forget their troubles.

 Inside the little plastic box shows the size of the piece of bread they got daily--that was all.  Next to it is a little diary of a young person who talked about first her dad dying, then her mother, then the note said, she, too, died ten days after she wrote this little diary.

 Monument to the factory worker as well as the soldier who won the war for Russia.

 On one side was a memorial to the foot soldiers . . .

 on the other were the marines.

 It was extremely moving seeing this memorial and touched all of us.

 We next went on to Catherine Palace.

The servants' quarters.

Filled with gold inside!

We couldn't believe how the stars all aligned so that we could see Pam and Dan Newbold, who we have traveled with for at least six years in the past, were in the Catherine Palace at the same time with a tour they were leading from Utah.

It was just like seeing family!

Picture of Catherine the Great over the sofa.

Pictures of Catherine and Peter the Great.

We didn't let a little rain stop us!

We ate a fun lunch at a great restaurant where Jory and Ethan tried bear/moose dumplings!

As for George, he'd rather be eating ice cream anytime!

We next arrived in Peterhof--what can I say--truly one of the most beautiful places in the world!

Absolutely no pumps are used on the many fountains--only gravity causes the beautiful fountains that absolutely captivate your attention wherever you look.

Water from the fountains drains into the Gulf of Finland

Even though he had the huge palace, Peter the Great preferred to stay in this small bungalow when he came here.

It is such fun seeing the trick trees and stones that Peter the Great had installed as a joke when his visitors would come.  He had quite a sense of humor and enjoyed seeing them get doused when unexpected.

Everyone tries to throw a coin inside Peter the Great's boot for good luck.  Kent got it on the first try!

The Gulf of Finland.

A great reminder:  Our friend's got pick-pocketed when they visited St. Petersburg last month.

Next stop:  The Winter Palace, or now know as The Hermitage Museum

The throne room.

 Peter the Great had this hall made to the exact specifications as the hall in the Vatican.

 The Return of the Prodigal Son is an oil painting by Rembrandt. It is among the Dutch master's final works, likely completed within two years of his death in 1669.

 Rembrandt's painting of Abraham ready to sacrifice his son, Issac.

"The Descent from the Cross," by Rembrandt.  Notice how his mother Mary is looking older and her sorrow is shown on her face.  It looks like people are having to hold her up as she has probably fainted.

"The Old Man in Red," by Rembrandt.  As Rembrandt grew older himself, he said he wanted to paint people as they really were and not always just the young and beautiful.

 Vase made of malachite, which is very abundant near the city of Yekatrinburg in the Ural Mountains.

 The walls had to be built afterwards because this vase was so large.

 The Hermitage, also, houses a few things from Egypt.

Great first day in St. Petersburg.  We went back to our hotel where we ate, and had a great time watching one of the soccer matches there on their tv in the restaurant.

One more day in St. Petersburg--Continued on next blog.