27-AUG—St. Petersburg Day 2

Theresa welcomes you to St. Petersburg, Day 2!

Getting to bed after midnight, we were happy to sleep in this morning!  Our tour was to depart at 1:30, so we had a lazy morning.  We went to the Sudoku challenge, finished the blog (mostly), then the lunch buffet.  Disembarking, we breezed through FSB and they were even smiling and jovial!

Yusupov's Palace, grand entry.

Our tour took us first to Yusupov Palace.  The Yusupovs were part of the royal family, as the niece of Nicolas II.  But their line (and wealth) go back ten generations to the leader of a Mongol horde, Han Yusuf (?), who lived from 1480 to 1555.  Anyway, a special advisor to Czar Nicolas II was Rasputin, a very religious man who could neither read nor write, but had memorized the entire Bible.  He was a mystic and purported to have healing powers.  But, a certain “Felix” did not appreciate or approve of Rasputin’s counsel of his uncle Nick.  So, he conspired to have Rasputin killed in the basement of their palace.  It was a long and complicated story, but suffice it to say they poisoned him, and when that failed, they shot him, and when that didn’t work, he escaped to the courtyard, and then was shot again, this time in the head.  The conspirators tried to hide their crime by claiming they shot a stray dog, and even found and killed a dog to make the story believable.  Well, about two months later, the Bolsheviks overthrew the Czar, and pretty much that was that.

.

The Oak Room.  Everything in here was Oak (well, mostly everything).

Oak trim.

Oak floor, tables, even carved oak table legs.

The "Lady's" Bedchamber.  Not sure why she has so many chairs??

The Theatre Room, because every palace needs a private theatre!

A ballroom where an a cappella group sang for us.

The basement where Rasputin was to be assassinated.

A cruise on the waterways.

We left there for a cruise on the water (various rivers and canals in the area).  We saw a few buildings and such.  It was nice.

Duck for the bridge!

The buildings along the Neva River.  Even apartment buildings were made to "look" like palaces from the water.

The channel between buildings of the Hermitage.

NOT where we dined!!  Is the idiot the owner, the chef, or the customer?

Peter I original Palace.  Quite "tame" by later standards.

Church of the Spilled Blood

We ended the trip going to the Church of the Spilled Blood (properly known as "Church of  the Resurrection of Jesus Christ"), which was built on the very spot that Czar Alexander II was assassinated in 1881.  They started the church in 1881, but did not finish it until about 1905.  When the revolution banned religion, it was used as a warehouse, a morgue, etc, until it was finally made into a museum.  So, as a Russian Orthodox church, it served barely a decade.  Since it is barely over a century old, the mosaics are in excellent condition.

Some of the interior.

The main Iconostasis separating the people from the Altar.

The ceiling.

The spot where Czar Alexander II was assassinated.

They left the road exposed where his "blood was spilled".

One of the Onion Domes.

NOT our ship!!  But soon to be a Nuclear Ice Breaker.
(Like for sea ice, not awkward conversational silence!)

We got back to the ship right about 6PM, which is convenient since all-aboard time was 5:15, and the ship was supposed to leave at 5:30.  But it was a ship arranged tour, so not really our problem!  FSB could not process us fast enough, hurrying us all through.  By the time we got to our room, 3-4 minutes after getting off the bus, the Captain was on the PA saying we were ready to go!

We got ready for dinner (the last “formal” night with suit and tie) and headed eventually to dinner.  We enjoyed a nice dinner alone, but there was so much good food and well, we started with good drink early, so it was a FUN dinner.

Another Nuclear Ice Breaker in construction.

Some of the piles of trash we saw coming in, and again going out.

Yeah, we get it..this is Russia!  (Note the flag on the cooling tower.)

The tallest building in all of Europe.
(Or, Putin's Finger)

After dinner, we went to the bar where there was to be some singing, and of course, drinks.  Being normally unsocial, it was difficult, but we pulled ourselves to the bar and had a seat in a spot that allowed people to join us.  In short time, a German couple from our “Trivia Team” came by and joined us.  Then a couple from Australia that we met last night in the Russian Restaurant was looking for someone, and joined us.  One more person and we had 7—Theresa in deep conversation with a woman from our group, me enmeshed with a conversation about wines with our German friend, and his wife in some conversation with the Aussies.  The Village People song “YMCA” came up, and Theresa and I joked at the part “Young man…” that “in this crown, that would be me!”  Also, we realized it was almost certain that in that crowd, I was most likely the only one who had ever stayed a night in the YMCA; but that’s another life ago!  Finally, it was late, and we said goodbyes and stopped to say good night to English friends at another table.  Before I knew it, Theresa was engaged talking to the next group over, where an 80+ year old man was holding Theresa’s hand telling me I was a lucky man, and I don’t really know what else.  He finally told me he was married for 57 years.  He was quite busy telling me how beautiful Theresa was, and asking how we met, and said “Next year I’m having a divorce, and you are invited!  Bring a gift!”   I told him I was not coming, but I was going to bed.  On the way down the room corridor, two women (whom we ate with earlier in the trip) were trying to get into their room, and one started talking to us rather loudly as her friend tried to hush us.  So, in pseudo-drunk fashion, we all hushed each other telling each other we were too loud.  It was simply hysterical!!  Old drunk people.  J