One of the reasons we chose this trip was spending 2 days in St. Petersburg. We decided to book a private tour: a separate visa is needed each time you get off the ship, you can’t walk around in between tours and wait for the next to start, the ship’s tours required participants to return to the ship in between tours (wasted time, in my opinion). The company we chose, Best Guides Group, provides all visas, transportation, admissions, and the guide. We got off to a rocky start when we couldn’t find our guide and found out that the ship had docked at the port closest to the city but the guide company thought we were docking at the pier about an hour outside of the city. If we had been the only two waiting it would have been very uncomfortable, but there were 8 other people…misery loves company. We waited about 45 minutes until she arrived but she was worth the wait. She spoke English well and was knowledgeable and passionate about her city.
First stop: The Hermitage: grand, majestic, opulent, awe-inspiring. It would take at least a week to do this museum justice but we did our best in the limited time we had.
Next stop: The Cathedral of Spilt Blood, a beautiful example of classic “onion dome architecture” so common in St. Petersburg.
Although it was June it was gray and rainy and cool. Not the best weather for sightseeing but the city is so colorful it almost makes up for the weather.
We stopped in to a local market shop and saw a confusing array of merchandise ranging from fresh chicken to beer and soda refilling machines.
We had dinner with our group, local Russian cuisine (reminded me of eating at my Grandparents’ house as a child) and then on to a folk show. Not sure what we expected as these things can sometimes be like a local talent show but we were pleasantly surprised. The performers were talented, varied and enthusiastic. They even served vodka shots during intermission! Welcome to Russia!!!
We weren’t done yet – it was the longest day of the year and there was almost no darkness. Our guide gave out paper and had each of us fold a paper boat. We went to the banks of the Neva River and put our boats into the river and watched them float away.
Actually, most of them sank quickly, but we had fun anyway.
Back to the ship around 11pm – sleep quickly because tomorrow is another full day.
Tip: take a backpack with extra layers and gloves and a rain jacket – it may be summer but it’s a Russian summer.
so….