Salt Life

St. Petersburg, Russia-Day Two

Our second day in St. Petersburg was a busy one. We had a delicious breakfast in the hotel restaurant. It was buffet style and we had the baked eggs with ham, apple stuffed pastries, and Russian style pancakes, or as they call them, "blini", and sour cream. Our stomachs were full and we were ready to hit the town!

It was a beautiful, sunny day in the low 30's so we bundled up and started our walk to the Hermitage Museum. It is second only in size to the Louvre in France and it's green & white exterior is breathtaking as you approach the entrance through the courtyard filled with winter-stripped white birch trees. Upon entering we paid for our $14/per person tickets and we were told my camera needed a ticket as well--yes, I was charged a $4 entrance fee for my camera!

We began to enter through the turnstile and were directed away by security, told that we had to check our coats. So we did as told and headed to the coat room. After two or three people cut in front of us to check their coats, we realized that there was no being polite--we needed to be aggressive and push our way or we'd be standing there all day! We finally managed to hand our jackets over and started our tour of this massive collection of history.

The Hermitage was originally the Winter Palace of the Czars and was turned into a museum only after their overthrow. Most of the establishment is used for furnishing artwork & antiquities, however, part of the palace has been preserved in its original state as used by the Czar families. It was fascinating! My personal favorite sections were the ancient artifacts of Rameses II, Nebuchadnezzar, and the Greek and Roman era of Caesar and Darius. It was chilling to see relics dating back to the time of Joseph, Daniel, Moses & Paul!

After our three hour min-tour we were feeling a stirring in our stomachs. We headed for a little restraurant around the corner called the "Literary Cafe". A quite little room up a flight of stairs which housed a violinist and pianst for our enjoyment. We ordered borscht , creamed mushrooms, and a cabbage & sausage dish similar to Dave's Aunt Lucy's "kapusta" she makes. We enjoyed every bite!

Full and warm, we were ready to make our way to our second stop. Passing one of the canals which reminded us of pictures we'd seen of Italy, we noticed a group of police officers and bystanders. They were looking over the rail into the small river of water. Curious, we decided to look ourselves. As we leaned over the rail, to our amazement, there was a hand that could be seen just under the ice that had formed in the water! Yes, a hand, and it was attached to a body! I wanted to take a picture, but Dave pushed me forward, past the many detectives and police officers that we realized were beginning to surround the area. I honestly felt like I was an extra in a movie! Bizarre!

So we finally made it to the Church of the Spilled Blood, weak-kneed and all! Again, we paid our entrance fee of $14.50 as well as the $2.50 fee for my camera...this time we were instructed to put a sticker on my Sony Alpha--for whatever reason!

Everything inside is so intricate and larger than life. Tiny mosaics are used to create complex images of biblical stories and characters. We were in awe. Gorgeous!

AFter the church tour, we stopped for coffee and dessert at a little coffee shop around the corner from our hotel and then made our way to our room. Exhausted, we showered, organized some letters & gifts for orphanage #24 which we had agreed to pass along while in the city, and finalized details with an American family who would personally deliver them for us. We would meet them in our hotel breakfast room tomorrow and enjoy a little food and fellowship with this sweet family of five.

Labels: adoption

posted by Kushmama @ 8:52 AM