Better Internet, some Photos

Too Busy

Life is too busy.... we are having a grand time. Thursday we visited Catherine's Palace at Pushkin. The park and palace is an exquisite monument of Russian art and culture with a worldwide reputation. This was the summer home of the Russian Tzars. It is a fantastic splendour of the most magnificent and richest residence in Europe. It was built between 1744 and 1756, for Catherine I by Peter the Great.

We had a city tour of St. Petersburg so we feel we have a good sense of what this city has. The city is spread over 42 islands interlaced with close to 70 canals and rivers spanned by 300 briddges. Referred to Venice of the North. It lies in the same latitude as Alaska, yet its winter climate remains milder due to warming Altantic air masses crossing the Baltic Sea. The city boasts 200 stunning palaces in Baroque and neo-classical styles. The popluation is 5 million and they have 2 million cars. We certainly seen lots of them, in the deadlocks of traffic.

Friday October 1.

We took our private tour that we had arranged before leaving Canada. We visited Peterhof Palace. Peter the Great had a cabin 29km west of St. Pete. on the Gulf of Finland to oversee construction of his naval base. He liked it so much there that he built a whole series of palaces. This Russian Versailles has spectacular water fountains that were built over 300 years ago and engineered by water pressure from an under ground lake above the palace. At 1100 in the morning the fountain is turned on with great grandeur of music and water cascading over the gold leaf statues.
We then boarded a hydrofoil for a 30 minute down the Gulf of Finaland to the centre of St. Petersburg. We then toured the inside of St. Issacs Cathedral. The 3rd largest cathedral in the world but the most expensive to build due to its rare marble pillars and icons. Words can not decribe it just leaves you standing with your mouth open.
From there we went to Yussupov Palace located in the heart of the city on the Moika River. Built in the 19th century it was one of the richest palaces in the city. Queen Elizabeth declared it to be include in the top 10 Palace in the world. The palace is famous also for the scene of the murder of Rasputin in 1916.
Our last stop was the Church of the Spilled Blood or Ressurection Church. This is a mosaic wonderland both inside and out.

We had a full day. Our ship left the dock at 7pm and we sailed into the Neva River to Lake Ladoga. The staff of the boat had balloons they released off the back as we sailed away playing the national Russian Anthem.

St. Petersburg Russia

Yesterday we visited the Hermitage. It is in the centre of St. Pete and is the state museum. It was the Winter Palace of the Russian emperors. The collection incorporates works of art of over 3,000,000 items, from the stone age to 20th century. Rembrandts, Picasso, Da Vinci, Monet,. The architecture of the palace is incredible.
Last night we went to the Alexandrinsky Theatre for a production of Swan Lake. Magnificent.

St. Petersburg Russia 5' Celcius

Boarded our ship last night for Waterways of the Czar.

We spent yesterday wondering around enjoying the sites. Very windy and chilly, we are glad we have packed longjohns.... Climbed up the Bell Tower of the Cathedral at Peter and Paul Fortress. The metro is fairly easy to use, the elevators are so steep and fast.

The taxi ride from our hotel to the ship took us over 1 hour in horrendous traffic, almost grid lock.

St. Petersburg was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great as his window to the west. Canals were dug to drain the marshy south bank and in 1723 Peter made this place his capital. Architects and artisans came from all over Europe and the result is a city that remains one of Europe's most beautiful.

St. Petersburg Russia

Spacious avenues, colourful low storey buildings, soaring catherdrals with onion and pear shaped golden domes greeted us this morning. Our preconceived visions of austere Soviet Russia evaporated quickly. People are willing to help with directions and our newly acquired knowledge of the cryillic alphabet was indispensable as we navigated the streets of St. Petersburg. The temperature has pulmated with the higher latitude of St. Pete's and the onset of fall. We had to bring out the warm jackets and mittens. Weather remains sunny and bright.

We enjoyed a Georgian dinner and feel asleep counting our remaining rubles. Good Night.

Grandpa's Map

Ella and Ben are following us on the map Alan gave them. Ella is realizing that when we sleep she is awake and vice versa. So the teacher in Alan never ends...

Arriving in Kiev

We have spent the last 2 days cruising up the Dnieper River. The river is covered in green blooming algae in places. Lots of industry along the river. Pollution is a concern. There are many people fishing in small pontoon boats, some with lawn chairs, no life jackets.

We visited Dnepropetrovsk a vital industrial centre of Ukraine. It is one of the key centres of nuclear arms and space industries of the former Soviet Union. Because of its military industry it was a locked city until 1991. Being flat the land has proven easy to utilise and thus explain why the city has been able to grow to such a great extent over the past 200 years.

Kremenchug another city we stopped at was founded in 1571 as a fortress. The inhabitants of the settlement took part in the peasant's revolts. Modern Kremenchug has dveloped important metallurgical and engineering industries that produce steel castings, heavy trucks, rolling stock, and harvesters. Iron Ore is mined in the vicinity. A large hydroelectric station was built in 1959, thus a large reservoir was created. This is one of the 5 locks that we went through.

As we approach Kiev we see the golden domes and towers of the Cave Monastery. It was founded in the 11th century. The caves served as subterranean tombs for the monks. The monastery is divided into 2 parts. The Upper Lavra on the mountain and the Lower Lavra consisting of the so called Near and Far Caves. The Mongolian Tartar attack did a lot of damage to the monastery. The mummies of the monks are laid out in the passages of the caves.

Kiev is one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe and has preseved its charm over the centures. The magnificient palaces, churches and monasteries stool on small grounds in contrast to the small timber houses. Nowadays there are wide, traffic packed roads and huge new house complexes right next to the historically significant ruins. The Dnieper river divides the city in half. On the right shore is the old Kiev.