Wednesday, May 27th
Nick and I both were so excited to visit Russia. How many people can say they've visited Russia? We knew this would likely be a once in a lifetime opportunity.
When we pulled into the port, it was dark, cloudy and pouring rain. We had been warned that Russia might have bad weather, from a friend that had previously visited during the same time of year. She had a horrible experience because it was pouring rain and cold. We were prepared for the worst!
In order to exit the boat, cruisers had to obtain a visa months in advance, or chose to do a guided tour. We opted for the guided tour with Alla Tours; they're ranked #2 on Tripadvisor.
We exited the boat, spent 20 minutes going through customs, and met our tour guide, Angie, before 7am. Phew! We boarded our mini-bus with 12 other people and we were off!
Nick and I were at the very back of the bus and couldn't see much of what the guide was talking about. When we got out for our first photo op, our guide moved the other guests around so we could have a better view. We were so grateful! Some of them were using seats at the front as holding spots for their purses. (Ugh! Don't get me started.:))
At our first photo op! Nick on the Neva River with St. Isaac's Cathedral dome in the background.
We got to visit the metro. It's about a kilometer underground and one of the cleanest in the world. There are literally no rats and no graffiti.
We hopped on at the Sadovaya station and rode to Zvenigorodskaya stop. It took us underneath two rivers and runs at about 70 mph. It was almost deafening it was so loud even with all of the windows closed.
We met our driver down the street from the metro exit because the traffic was so bad. It was a national holiday that day in Russia.
On our way to our bus, we saw a McDonalds! It even had a walk-thru window! I've never seen that before!
Our next stop was an hour away at Catherine's Summer Palace. (Just one of her summer palaces)
We waited about 20 minutes on this staircase, while tours were directed through the Palace. Our crowd pushing skills we've learned in Italy came in handy here. :)
There was gold dripping from every corner of the palace. None of this is real, since the Nazi's vandalized all of it in WWI.
The red stripe you see in the background was painted tin foil. That was a new thing back then. :)
"I love goooollld."
Our tour guide was so funny. She gave us secret words, or "KGB words," to use for different needs. If we needed to use the restroom, we would say we were"Russian," because we were Rush-in' to get to the bathroom. We would say "Pushkin" if we needed to elbow our way through a heavy crowd, and no one was the wiser. :)
We all took naps on our drive over to the Peterhof summer estate. I have never been so tired or hungry as I was that day. I could not WAIT for lunch!
We stopped on a random parking lot. Our tour guide jumped out of the van and grabbed two large grocery bags from a random girl. Our lunches consisted of: an apple, a juice box, a small savory pastry, a sweet pastry, and a chocolate bar. I had only had coffee that morning, so I was starving. I ate my lunch in about 2 minutes, and I could have easily had a second serving of everything! (At the end of the tour, they asked for comments or recommendations. I said, "More food! We're big people.")
While we were stopped in the parking lot for 2 minutes, one of the tourists in our bus jumped out to take more photos. Her name was Daisy, and she was very energetic. She was 55 and Chinese, but dressed like she was 7 years old with pigtails. She was always the first one off the bus, and the last one on. She probably took a picture of every possible thing we saw. She had not just one camera, but TWO! I've never seen anything like it. Unfortunately, she became the running joke of our bus. An Irish fellow on our tour laughed because she was in every photo he'd taken in Russia. She would run up to every possibly photo op and pose while her husband snapped 1000 photos. I tried very hard not to get her in my photos.
We meandered through the gardens of the summer estate.
We had these earphones on the whole day, so our tour guide wouldn't have to shout at us all day. We felt like secret service. :)
My favorite part of the gardens were the magic fountains. They would spray water randomly. Kids LOVED this. They were standing on either side of the fountain daring each other to run across. Most of the kids were smart and would run with their umbrellas up, so they wouldn't get wet. haha! This girl was so happy she made it across before the water turned on.
Although, they thought it was random, it was actually controlled by a man in a both behind the benches.
Next we rode on a hydrofoil boat 30 minutes to the Hermitage. We met our driver there, and drove to the Peter and Paul fortress. I fell sound asleep on the ride. Nick had to wake my up when we arrived.
Inside the Peter and Paul fortress is this church. It's the burial ground to many Russian emperors including: Peter the Great and Nicholas II. I was fascinated not by their graves, but their stories.
I begged our tour guide to take us to the Church on Spilled Blood. She and Alex, our driver, drove us by. She said this was the best location for a picture. Normally, they take guests inside the church, but it's closed on Wednesdays.
Our second to last stop was the Hermitage Museum.
By this time, most of us weren't paying much attention, and we were seriously lagging on energy. It was beautiful though!
This was a coo-coo clock. It's not running anymore but it was THE most impressive clock I've ever seen.
This fresco was delivered to Russia on the original wall it was painted on! Yikes!
Nick standing under a vase. Haha!
Our last stop was a tourist spot with souvenirs. I didn't buy anything, but the people working there were very pleasant. Our tour guide joked that they were girls that were left behind on their cruise because they didn't have visas. Haha!
Alex and Angie were so nice! They put up with a lot from our group! We loved Russia even though we were exhausted from the 12 hour tour.
I'm so glad we made it back to our boat on time! That would have been some serious trouble without having visas! I didn't want to sell souvenirs the rest of my life. :)
That night we had another delicious meal onboard, and then went to a marriage game show in the main theater. Nick thought it would be funny to volunteer us for the show. The director was asking for an old couple, a newly married couple and a wild card couple. We were supposed to be the wild card. We went up to the front of the audience to compete with 2 other couples. The women had to say, "Tarzan, tarzan, where is my tarzan." The man would reply with, "Me Tarzan. You Jane." And then beat his chest like an ape. Haha! The first two couples were hilarious. We didn't put much effort into, so we wouldn't be picked. It worked! They had the most awkward questions on that show like, "what do you do to turn on your wife?" Or, "where's the craziest place you've made 'whoopi?'" I've never been more thankful in my life, for not being picked!
Our last stop would be Helsinki, Finland...
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