Today we berthed in St Petersburg. It's the port everyone has been waiting for and many of the passengers only booked this cruise in order to tick St Petersburg off their respective Bucket lists.
Peter and I are due to act as escorts on the St Petersburg "2 day Package", today is the first day, and we are due to visit Catherine's Palace and the Peterhof Gardens, we've not been before and are really looking forward to it. So it was up and to breakfast early, although a lot of passengers were a lot earlier than us! Considering the fact that as escorts, we have to be the first off the ship, passengers wrapped up and queuing on the stairs ready to go were in for a long wait!
We breakfasted as usual in the Bistro, and couldn't help being caught up in the actions of the woman on the table next to us. We are quite used to the fact that many passengers will take a couple of danish pastries, or bananas, or both from the restaurant to eat later whilst they are ashore. Understandable really. However the woman on the table next to us was either trying to feed about 10 people, or was expecting a famine. She started with a plate of rolls and cold meat, which she made into sandwiches, wrapped, and put into her shopping bag. Then she went back for another plateful, then another, then another. Me n Peter were quite dumbfounded. What was she going to do with all that food? We know that the tours are either half day and bring you back at mealtimes, or are full day with a lunch included. And what about the Russian immigration people. What would they make of her if they found all them rolls in her shopping bag?
Sadly, we didn't see her again, so we never did find out what she was up to. Anyway, moving on, we finished breakfast, got our stuff and then sidled past all the queues to be the first off the ship cos we were the escorts. Oh the priviledge!
There were 6 bus loads of passengers on this tour and I was number 5. My 33 passengers loaded up and we were off, first stop, Catherine's Palace for what proved to be quite an awesome walk through the spectacular rooms of the palace. It really is a fantastic place to look around, my only problem were the passengers.
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| Catherine's Palace - St Petersburg. Beautifully restored after the germans tried to destroy and burn it down during the 2nd World War. |
I had couple of problem couples. In the palace, couple number one caused all sorts of problems with security because they didn't hand in their rucksack to the cloakroom staff as instructed, and were subsequently called out of the queue and sent back to swap it for a cloakroom ticket. Not a worry, but they didn't hand their coats in either, and had to take them off and carry them around the building. They were constantly dropping things or stopping to find something stashed somewhere in one their pockets. And then they complained that they had forgotten the camera because it was in the rucksack. I didn't know it at the time, but that was a bit of a godsend.
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| Inside one of the rooms of Catherine's Palace |
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| Gold guilding every where |
And then there was couple number two. The husband seemed to be on a little planet of his own, looking for all the world like a walking washing line, with his shoe laces undone, his coat flying open and his trousers falling down. He was oblivious of the need to keep up with the guide, didn't listen to or follow any instructions and insisted on reading great swathes of information when we were already well behind the rest of the group. He happily dawdled, whilst I sort of forced him along and his wife disappeared in all directions looking at the shops and the stalls! I daren't tell him to tie his shoelaces fearing that would slow him down even further. I finally got him to the end, but even though I had got him to the cloakroom to collect his things, I had to go back for him to get him to go out of the exit.
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| Such an opulent lifestyle. |
After the palace we were taken for lunch, where we enjoyed traditional Russian Borscht (as well as a main meal and icecream for afters), before boarding the bus to our next stop, Peterhof Gardens.
By this time, the weather had deteriorated, and we were stood just inside the entrance of the gardens shivering in the cold wind and blustery rain. It was at this point that couple number two elected to go explore the market stalls rather than follow the guide on the tour of the gardens, much to my relief.
But....Couple number one now came back into their own. They now had their camera and insisted on taking pictures of themselves at every fountain we came to, and if you know the Peterhof Gardens, then you'll know how many flamin' pictures they wanted to take. Good job I'm a patient lady innit!
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| It's a shame we didn't get to see the gardens in the summer. They are probably quite stunning. The fountains were still awesome though |
No matter, the fountains, despite the cold and the rain, were quite wonderful. It's a shame the weather wasn't better because we could have enjoyed them more, but maybe another day?
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| The main fountain cascade. The photo doesn't do it justice. |
So then we were back on bus to return to St Petersburg with just a souvenier shop between us and the ship. We were treated to vodka liqueur and coffee whilst we were there. Lovely.
So that was our 1st day in St Petersburg. I've not said much about the city although I learnt quite a few bits and pieces from the guide. Maybe on my next blog post, cos we escorting Day 2 of the 2 Day Package tomorrow. The sites we'll be visiting really are something special, and I'm really looking forward to it.
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