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So, the second
day in Russia began with another country palace, this one was known as
Catherine’s Summer Palace. It was another huge and very lovely set of buildings
and gardens outside of the main city. It
was the fashion for the rich to leave the city for their summer homes, and this
was one of the finest. We had a tour inside, and then strolled through the
gardens on a lovely morning.
We had to put on plastic booties over our shoes to protect the floors. There were places
to stop and see statues, and bath houses, and places where art was
displayed. The amount of wealth on
display was mind boggling. We learned
that during World War II many of these important buildings to the Russians were
bombed and destroyed, and have been in the rebuilding process ever since.
After touring the palace, we had a brief time to explore the gardens. Wow!! They certainly were impressive. So many different types of plants and flowers.
Lunch was back in
downtown, and this time we were prepared with nice sandwiches from the ship
which we ate in a park. We then strolled
around enjoying the canals, nice buildings, and parks.
We stumbled upon
a movie shoot happening in front of a classic statue. There were watch for about 45 minutes as
actors dressed in the late 1800’s-style clothes, and horse drawn carriages went
through several “takes”. It was totally
fun to see this in action.
We walked back to our meeting point through the Mikhailovsky Garden. We had the chance there to purchase some ice cream and some fresh dark cherries.
After lunch we
had time for two more churches. First,
The Cathedral of the Spilled Blood. This
was the site where one of the Tsars was killed and his son commissioned the
mosaic-intensive church in honor of his father. The mosaics were amazing,
focusing on scenes from the Bible.
Veronica helped us to interpret what we were seeing. Again, crushing crowds, but because we were
hooked up with our headsets, Veronica could communicate with us as we walked.
The last stop was
at The Church of St. Isaac. By the time,
Patti was out of gas with the cold, having been a trooper throughout the
tour. Dick suggested that she stay in
the bus which she did.
Dick enjoyed the
time in the church, including some lovely singing. However, he and several other men were caught
a bit off guard when suddenly it was a church rather than a museum like the
others we had visited and they were asked to remove their hats. Whoops! More lovely things to look at, and
then back on the bus.
The group was
quiet on the home stretch. A few more
questions, but mostly we were ready to be done.
We enjoyed our taste of Saint Petersburg, and it was now time to get
back on the ship.
It was clear by
now that we did not bring enough cold medicines and cough drops along with us,
so Dick went on a hunt to get some. It took several stops at places on the ship
and then Patti got a call from the nurse down at the medical center saying if
she came in the next 7-minutes she could get some things for her cough and
cold. Dick arrived back to help her find the place. Thank you, Dick, and nurse
Theresa. Good medicine. And decent night’s sleep. It is never fun to be sick on the road, but
it happens. Good night!
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