Saint Petersburg

St Petersburg is another city of canals

Travel Dates 4th-5th June 2011.
Click on any picture to see a larger version.  

I write this blog for my future self to read in my dotage when the memory is gone. I decided the time has come to catch up on some past trips before it fades completely.

I flew in comfortably on Malev from Budapest. My first glimpse of St Petersburg showed cookie-cutter outer suburbs; a little surprising.

My brief visit to Russia in 2011 was difficult to arrange, messed up by my Russian agent, very frustrating at times and, despite the problems, absolutely fascinating. I am very glad I went but if I ever go again I will know how to do it better.

With only a short time available I obviously wanted to see at least St Petersburg and Moscow. When researching my visit I decided the boat trip linking those cities was a good way to see some of the sights between them. After a lot of research I chose the Lev Tolstoy, mainly because it is one of the few ships offering single berth cabins without a nasty single supplement. I’ll say more about the ship and the cruise in a later post. I will also comment separately on the Peterhof and the Hermitage in a later post.

The best price appeared to be via the Express to Russia agency. Possibly the main advantage of booking via Express to Russia was their assistance obtaining the visa. Hopefully the system has changed now but obtaining that visa was a tedious process. I contacted them in early November 2010 to enquire about the seven-day cruise on MS Lev Tolstoy in June 2011. Elena from Express to Russia replied that there were no cabins available, but a few days later she advised a single cabin had become available on the cruise departing 4th June 2011. After some correspondence about details, including confirmation that the other passengers would be English-speaking, I booked the cruise and paid a deposit.

That week was part of a complex 7-week European itinerary. After I had booked the Russian cruise I made several other bookings most of which could not be cancelled for trains, flights and hotels in France, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Hungary and the UK. A month later Elena informed me that a French tour group had booked the boat out and I would be the only English speaking passenger. Wonderful. I could not change the dates of my other bookings; I was locked in. After some discussion Elena confirmed that I would have a personal English speaking guide during the trip. On that basis I confirmed the booking rather than change my week to a rail trip from St Petersburg to Moscow.

I also booked the Northern Lights Hotel through a different site, discovering after the event that it is also one of their hotels. The room and breakfast were OK but there was no elevator and 70 steps – equivalent to five storeys - up a dim stairwell to the front door. Exhausting.

The hotel's location was excellent, allowing me to wander the inner city by foot. The main square and the Hermitage were close by.

 

The city was renamed Petrograd in 1914, apparently that sounded less German, then became Leningrad in 1924 following the revolution and reverted to St Petersburg after the collapse of communism in 1991.When reading Russian history it is rather surprising that the people did not succeed in a revolt against the Tsars until 1917 because there were some very, very nasty Tsars over the centuries. Peter 1, who ruled from 1682 until his death in 1725 and was also known as Peter the Great, was a tyrant. He was called the Great for his conquests increasing Russia's lands and for bringing Russia into modern Europe by reforming  the army and the education system but he used his people, particularly the peasants, ruthlessly and mercilessly. To him they were simply useful work animals. 

Peter wrested control of the marshy, often flooded or frozen solid, Baltic shore at the mouth of the Neva River from the Swedes in 1703 and built the Peter and Paul Fort which became the beginning of St Petersburg. Peter wanted a permanent port giving summer access to the Baltic and Western Europe. Over following years he created the city using peasant labour from all over Russia forcibly transported in at the rate of 25,000 to 40,000 a year. Many died from the harsh working conditions, the cold or wolves. Thus St Petersburg became known as the City Built on Bones. 

He was passionate about building a great city to become his capital and the envy of Europe. He used French and Italian architects and forced families, including many aristocrats, to move to the city at their own expense. A sad history to create a beautiful city with wide boulevards, parks, many canals and beautiful cathedrals. At least it is beautiful in the summer. I would not want to be in St Petersburg in winter.

I found a restaurant with music in a cellar under a building near the hotel. I took my time enjoying a delicious meal while listening to the music.

Some of the following pictures were taken on my first day as I walked around the centre of town and some were taken during a guided tour as part of the boat trip. 

  

 

I am not sure what this represents but I found it interesting; a combination of cannons and chains.

I was surprised to find so many well preserved churches and cathedrals in Russia after over seven decades of communism. This is the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood which was built  by Alexander III as a memorial to his father Alexander II who was assassinated at the location. Construction began in 1883 but was not completed until 1907. I gradually realised during the trip that the Russians did not believe in building simple churches; the more ornate and decorative, the better. 

 

Nicolas I was not a particularly memorable Tsar but his statue is interesting because only the horse's rear hooves attach it to the base, an example of impressive engineering and balance in the work.

One of two Sphinxes on a quay. The British were not the only ones to remove antiquities from Egypt.

This is one of the Rostral Columns, originally built as guiding beacons for the ships approaching the old port. Their design was intended to show visitors the wealth and power of Russia. They are 32 metres or 105 feet high, equivalent to a ten-storey building.

The Peter and Paul fortress. The walls and structure are massive. For many years it was a prison, including the Bolshevik era when it was also used for executions, it is now a museum.

Cheers, Alan