The St. Pete Summary

We had almost four days in St. Petersburg--the longest we've been on one place since Beijing--and we still didn't get to see everything on our list (cf Margo's post regarding thoroughness ). The Summer Gardens were on the "to do" list every day, and we never quite got around to it--maybe because it wasn't summer. It was cold! Did I already mention that in one of my previous posts?! We were not prepared for 10 degree Celsius weather. I brought only two long-sleeved shirts, and one was a dress shirt for Church. But, at least we didn't get wet--there wasn't too much rain.

The highlight I think was the Hermitage. More than just the amazing collection, is the building itself in which it is housed--similar to the Louvre, although I would say the Winter Palace is even more interesting because a number of the state rooms have been preserved in the form they were used by the imperial family. And the collection is great. We spent the morning in the state rooms and the Italian collection, and the afternoon looking around here and there as well as the French collection--including some great rooms full of the impressionists: Monet, Cezanne, Gauguin.

Other highlights of St. Petersburg were Peterhof--the royal palace outside the city. The parks are more amazing than the palace itself, with dozens of beautiful fountains. We took a hydrofoil there from the city. We also went on a little boat tour of the canals around town--both were fun.

Besides the Hermitage, we spent an afternoon in the Russian Museum, where most of the Russian paintings are housed. Their collection is amazing as well, although I think I liked the Tretyakov in Moscow better (maybe because we spent more time there). But, both Margo and I agreed that the Russian exhibit at the Guggenheim last year was the ultimate collection of Russian art of all
time because it combined the Tretyakov and St. Petersburg Russian museums along with a lot of modern Russian art from other collections. Going back to New York won't be so bad after all :)

Well, enough of my sidebar commentary: we also spent a morning at the Petropavlovsky Fortress where nearly all the Romanovs are buried and saw the major churches: Kazan, Isaac, and the Church of the Spilled Blood where Tsar Alexander was assassinated. Our hostel was in a great location right on Nevsky Prospect--the main street in town--and we did our own little walking tour.

Finally, we had our first dose of preforming arts culture (the preforming arts also go on vacation in Russia for the entire summer). We saw a performance of "Anna Karenina" by Boris Eifman's modern ballet company.

Finally, St. Petersburg low-lights: the production of Mussorgsky's opera "Boris Godunov" staged in a modern setting. Not only was the plot totally lost on us, but it was a little bit too... contemporary for our staid tastes.