St. Petersburg, Russia
Nothing I could write here would do this city justice, so I'll share the *highlights* of our visit and you just need to get online to book a ticket to this amazing place!
We spent two full days in the city of Peter the Great and saw many treasures of Russia and the Romanov family. On the first day we visted the former winter palace, now known as the Hermitage. This museum is globally-recognized as holding one of the greatest art collections in the world, so our visit barely scratched the surface of what it has to offer. As usual, my favorite wing of the museum included the works of French Impressionism - some classic paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, Renior, etc. Jon enjoyed the vast hallways of ancient Roman and Greek sculptures. Without a doubt, my mom enjoyed all of the above and would be happy to lose herself in the Hermitage forever. But alas, when our poor feet could handle no more hard marble floors, we moved on to the next great site.
St. Petersburg is an interesting combination of Western European and classic Russian influence. Some buildings, like the Hermitage, look like something you could easily stumble upon in Copenhagen, Paris, or Vienna. However, Russian architecture still pops up throughout the city and never ceases to capture my attention. It is buildings like this one that I could admire and photograph all day long because it is so far removed from anything we see in our own country. We found the Russian Orthodox churches to be truly unique because they are not set up for worshippers to sit in orderly pews, rather they are more like roaming sanctuaries. The women we saw inside (and yes, they were mostly women) would walk from statue to statue or painting to painting, praying and worshipping.
Perhaps my favorite palace of the entire trip, was Peterhof Palace, the summer home of Peter the Great and Catherine I. In particular, Peter created an expansive garden filled with waterways and fountains as far as you can see in any direction. There were even a few "trick" fountains to watch out for as you walk - that Peter the Great had a sense of humor! This is all impressive to me, especially considering the "technology" of his time!
One of the other highlights was a Russian folkloric show. The performers showed us dance, music, and costumes of traditional Russia. Jeff & Jon got up close and personal with the dancers as they were pulled into the middle of the action. Unfortunately, they were holding both of the cameras at the time, so no pictures exist of this moment.
We spent two full days in the city of Peter the Great and saw many treasures of Russia and the Romanov family. On the first day we visted the former winter palace, now known as the Hermitage. This museum is globally-recognized as holding one of the greatest art collections in the world, so our visit barely scratched the surface of what it has to offer. As usual, my favorite wing of the museum included the works of French Impressionism - some classic paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, Renior, etc. Jon enjoyed the vast hallways of ancient Roman and Greek sculptures. Without a doubt, my mom enjoyed all of the above and would be happy to lose herself in the Hermitage forever. But alas, when our poor feet could handle no more hard marble floors, we moved on to the next great site.
St. Petersburg is an interesting combination of Western European and classic Russian influence. Some buildings, like the Hermitage, look like something you could easily stumble upon in Copenhagen, Paris, or Vienna. However, Russian architecture still pops up throughout the city and never ceases to capture my attention. It is buildings like this one that I could admire and photograph all day long because it is so far removed from anything we see in our own country. We found the Russian Orthodox churches to be truly unique because they are not set up for worshippers to sit in orderly pews, rather they are more like roaming sanctuaries. The women we saw inside (and yes, they were mostly women) would walk from statue to statue or painting to painting, praying and worshipping.
Perhaps my favorite palace of the entire trip, was Peterhof Palace, the summer home of Peter the Great and Catherine I. In particular, Peter created an expansive garden filled with waterways and fountains as far as you can see in any direction. There were even a few "trick" fountains to watch out for as you walk - that Peter the Great had a sense of humor! This is all impressive to me, especially considering the "technology" of his time!
One of the other highlights was a Russian folkloric show. The performers showed us dance, music, and costumes of traditional Russia. Jeff & Jon got up close and personal with the dancers as they were pulled into the middle of the action. Unfortunately, they were holding both of the cameras at the time, so no pictures exist of this moment.
posted by Julie at 6:21 PM
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