SPB: Oodles of churches and museums!

Hard to know what to write and include in this post as I don't want to bore you silly, don't want to give you a straight travelogue as you could get that from reading just one of the many we read before coming here and I guess even more basic than that, I don't know what "one" normally should or should not include in a blog post. You sure would have thought I'd have thought of all this before now, huh!  All that to say, sure would appreciate any comments or suggestions as to what you'd like to read as that would help going forward.  Folks, we have another 2 1/2 months to go on this trip, so let me know or otherwise, I'll keep writing in this same vein!

OK, I digress, but what's new!  Mentioned in my last post about going on the free walking tour our first day; we met in Palace Sq. with The Hermitage on one side of it and, on the other side the Staff bldg, one of  Europe's longest buildings; in the middle is Alexander 11's column representing Russia's win over Napoleon.

• The column weighs 60 tons but has no foundation; the locals were so concerned it would topple over the French (!) architect and his dog walked around it every night to prove it was safe.
• Interesting tidbit about churches under Soviet rule when there was no religion: the churches were closed, many were destroyed but that got to be too expensive so other uses were found for them: as museums (of atheism for one), markets, concert halls and even as public swimming pools!
• Speaking of churches and museums, there's generally a 2 tier pricing system for entry fees, i.e. a base price for Russians and a significantly higher price for all others; there has been no senior or pensioner reduced rate here in Russia as compared to Iceland through Estonia though.
• SPB was built on a swamp so we've had to be very careful not to drink the water or even rinse our toothbrushes in it; we're boiling water all the time here in the apt and using it to rinse fruit etc.
• From water to toilets, a natural segue, no?!  You see signs everywhere here as in the other countries for WC - often here though, you enter the public ones after paying the lady at the outside kiosk 30 kopecks, and then get to use the loo; other options include putting money in the lock and then using the facilities; but here comes the "fun" - you can't put the used t.p. down the toilet but rather in a small waste (literally) paper basket.  That's not so bad at the beginning of the day but it does get sort of ripe later in the day when you're lined up behind a dozen women all waiting to use the WC!
• BTW, Tchaikovsky died in a building a 2 minute walk from our apt after drinking the water and getting some disease; saw the plaque on the bldg stating that!
• Have walked miles and miles every day as our apt's location is fantastic; have even gotten used to how gritty the entrance to and the apt itself is and the stench from the cat feces as we trudge up 2 flights of stairs to our apt; never thought I'd have said this after seeing the place for the 1st time a few days ago but I would stay here again. Perhaps I need my head examined!

On 8/17, we took the hydrofoil to and from Peterhof, located 30 kms west of SPB.  It was built by Peter the Great as his Versailles by the Sea.  Here are some photos as my words cannot do justice for the beauty and magnificence of Peterhof:

If you ever come to SPB, our suggestion would be to see Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood aka Church of the Resurrection; it was partly modeled on St. Basil's in Moscow; now most commonly known as the church that took 24 years to build and 27 to restore; it has 700 sq. meters of mosaic; Alexander 11 was blown up there and hence its name.

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Saw the Summer Garden, SPB's most famous park, on 8/18; it was laid out for Peter the Great so it would resemble the park at Versailles. 

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• Spent almost 2 hours last night doing the above as I had difficulty getting the pictures in with the text so I will revert to putting the photos on at the end til I get some technical assistance from Steven another time!
• Also saw a minuscule part of The Hermitage on 8/18; the museum is the 2nd largest in the world after the Louvre and it would take 10 years to see every painting if you spent just 2 minutes looking at each; it's not one building but rather 5 in all and contains almost uniquely non Russian works.
• I had bought online, while we were in Florida, a 2 day pass good over any 3 day period b/c we knew we'd be museumed out trying to see just what we "wanted" to see based on the research I'd done; that turned out to be a wise choice b/c we were both "done" after being in just one bldg for almost 4 hours and no break.
• The museum is of course wonderful, fantastic, spellbinding and every other positive attribute one can apply but the sheer size of it and the corresponding crowds was overwhelming after a few hours so glad we can return today with somewhat fresher eyes.
• Take a look below at the photo of the "security guard" at The Hermitage!  No security guards in any of the museums we've been to wear uniforms and 99% of them are women who also have their purses on their arms or on the chairs they're sitting on while "guarding" the priceless works of art.
• On 8/19, we decided to take the metro over to the Peter and Paul Fortress rather than walking b/c we were curious what the Metro was like after hearing about it from our walking tour guide; that was the only time we've used any of the public transportation here in SPB; withthe decent weather and great location of the apt, we've walked everywhere leaving about 10 every day and getting back about 6 or so; that's enough walking for these folks and our tired feet at the end of the day!
• Zachary would have loved seeing the fortress and hearing the cannon going off at noon but wished we'd had our ear plugs in as it was bloody loud (as my Mum would have said!) as we were so close to it!
• After walking back across one of SPB's gazillion bridges from the fortress and stopping for the 3rd time at the Souvenir Market, we walked to the Russian Museum; it's the country 1st public art gallery and home to Russia's finest Old Masters and contains 400,000 works of art.
• Was able to buy postcards ONLY at The Hermitage and Russian museums and no other souvenir stall, shop, etc anywhere in the city or at Peterhof; the downside for me was that the postcards were only of the paintings, none of ANY bldgs or sights of SPB.
• We take the midnight train to Moscow tonight, the first leg of our Trans Siberian marathon trip.
• On to photos now to give you a sense of what we've been doing and seeing the last few days.

  

  The Hermitage sign in the WC!

  
  

  

  Nicholas II's library at The Hermitage

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  Security guard at work.
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  SPB's Metro

  
  

  

  Entrance to Peter and Paul Fortress

  
  

  

  Cathedral at Peter and Paul Fortress

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  At Peter and Paul Cathedral in their Fortress: Plaque about Tsar Nicholas

  
  

  

  Peter and Paul's Cathedral at the Fortress: Tsar Nicholas and his family are buried here.

  
  

  

  Russian Museum

  
  

  

  R. Museum: Ilya Repin's The State Parliament

  

  R. Museum:  Ilya Repin's Barge Haulers on the Volga; according to the photocopy from the guidebook I brought from home, it shows "an incomparable indictment of Russian social justice."

  
  

  

  R. Museum:  The White Hall; Strauss and Berlioz played here.

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  Steven in front of Portrait of Outraged Jewish Boy!

  
  

  

  R. Museum:  Karl Bryullov's Last Days of Pompeii; people queued for months to see the painting as it was, in its time, the most famous R. painting.