Our Last Night in SPg

I'd been waiting since we got here to eat authentic Russian bliny.  They are crepes stuffed with your choice of meat, vegetables, cheese or jam.  We planned to return to a Tepemok family restaurant for bliny and more kbac.  We had no problem locating one of this Russian chain on our way back to our hotel, thanks to Anne's internet research before we left this morning.

It was a little chaotic at the Tepemok we found:  very crowded with families with children. Until the counter girl produced an English language menu (with pictures of all the items) we  weren't sure how we'd place our orders.  Tepemok Restaurants  It had looked so easy the day before with Peter our FOOD TOUR guide.  But the picture menu, with English translations, mostly worked really well.  I say mostly, because I tried to order borscht, meaning the cold soup, but got a piping hot version.  I did not have the language skills or the energy to try to change my order, so I may have been the only person in all of SPg eating HOT soup that evening!  But it was really good; the bliny (mine with jam, Anne's with chicken) tasted great and the kbac was very cold and refreshing.

We got no funny looks (that we noticed) and the feeling in the restaurant, with the kids and the family groups, was really comfortable.

Next, we did some souvenir shopping.  I should say I did A LOT of souvenir shopping.  We happened on a nice shop for the classic Russian souvenir:  matrushka dolls.  I got some unique (at least to me) hand painted ones for my daughters and my walking buddy, Eileen at home.  I also found another piece of amber with a bug in it for her husband (our neighbor) Mike.  I found smaller bugs in amber for their two amatur geologist sons at a Peterhof gift shop, but I wanted to do do justice to the budget (and cash) they gave me to get these souvenirs for them.  I also got a pretty gift for Eileen for taking care of my cat when my husband was not there, during my extended vacation.

Near our hotel

Anne kept me from spending even more money!  Because shopping is thirsty work, we went to a cafe bar on the canal near our hotel for a last beer in SPg.  Anne asked me if it was OK to show us drinking within the shadow of a church (you'll recognize it in the photo above.)  I said, "Jesus made wine to drink with his friends"  No problem!

On the way back to the hotel to pack we stopped in a little shop for ice-cream cones.  Only as I was paying did I realize that it was a Baskins & Robbins...that logo was on their napkins in English.  Anne said it was good ice-cream...

Peterhof: Not Bad for a Summer House!

Peterhof is 30 kilometers to the West of St.Petersburg. The palace and park complex with its unique array of fountains is considered to be one of the most beautiful in the world.  Thanks to the advice of our FOOD TOUR guide, we did not have to stand in long lines to get to Peterhof and we were not disappointed when we arrived at the BIG gate (Upper Park.)  For a crash course on who built and renovated this summer palace go to Peterhof Palace & Gardens

We saw it on July 2, 2011, on a beautiful, hot & sunny, Sunday afternoon, perfect for enjoying the park & fountains.  Here are a few of my photos, which do not do justice to the amazing scope of this place:  acres & acres of  groomed park land, more fountains than I could count and GOLD LEAF everywhere we turned.  The landscaping is pretty impressive now, but must have been truly breathtaking when Peter the Great and his descendants frolicked here (and their subjects were footing the bill.)

Anne in front of  Peterhof (Upper Park)

Part of Fountain Cascade (Lower Park)

Just some of the gold leaf...

View of Peterhof from the sea

View from Peterhof towards Gulf of Finland

Fountains...

and more fountains...

Peterhof (Lower Park)

View of Peterhof from the sea

If you arrive by boat, you get to see the Lower Park first and view the palace from the open sea and up the canal built to take away the water from the gravity- fed fountains at the front of the palace.  As you get closer you can see the cascade of multiple tiers of fountains on built on multiple terraces on each side of the central canal.
Because we came by Metro & Minibus, we saw the "street" or back side of the palace first, still a pretty impressive view.  The building GLOWS with gold leaf:  the domes & roof ornamentation, the statues and the gargoyles.  The building structure itself is white with yellow (papal colors) so it reflects light very well too.  On a sunny day, such as we had, the glittering can hurt your eyes!
It did not take us long (maybe 10 minutes) to get our tickets to get into the Lower Park.  It was about the same amount to tour the inside (first floor) of the restored palace.  I kept both tickets, with those admission prices, which were 400 rubles (14.28 USD/9.98 Euros) for one and 520 rubles (18.56 USD/12.98 Euros) for the other.  But now I don't remember which (nor can I read the Cyrillic) was for which.  I do remember that there was a long line of tour bus visitors to see the inside, & we opted to have a beer in the pricey but pretty restaurant on site, instead of waiting outside in the heat.

Like all amusements, world-wide, it seems, food is expensive on site.  Several internet sites advised us to pack a lunch and so we did.  We went to a Subway location (yes, the US chain) near our hotel and got hearty submarine sandwiches & drinks for our lunch.  We ate them, in the Lower Park, on a bench within listening distance of a musician playing 18th c. tunes on a xylophone-like instrument, whose sound carried very well outdoors.  So, our lunch was great at Peterhof!

After we has walked a couple of hours around the fountains, down both sides of the canal to the sea and back up to the palace, we were in the mood to see inside.  As I said above, while we waited for a longish line of tourists to subside, we had a beer in the restaurant. A large glass of German Pilsner beer was 200 rubles.  A bit pricey, but we were really thirsty & hot.

Unlike the Russian Museum, which we had toured the day before, inside the restored Peterhof, no photography was allowed at all. We also had to wear paper slippers over our shoes to protect the elaborate wooden parquet floors.  And, we were sandwiched between two large tour groups, each with their own guide:  one speaking an Asian language and the other English.
I would have eavesdropped on the English-speaking guide, but all of her tour  customers wore headsets and even a few feet away from her we could not hear what she said into her mic.  We saw a lot of that technology.  Very slick stuff, much like the assisted listening devices I have used in schools.  I just wonder how they avoid conflicting frequencies when there are so many groups in the same places.   With so many older tourists, most likely with some degree of hearing loss, it must make tour guides' lives easier, if only to save their voices!

So, some of the time Anne & I were squished up against the other tourists.  Not great in the heat.  Much of the Peterhof Palace tour is super controlled, as to where you may walk, and with large groups both ahead & behind you, we had trouble getting away from the crowd.

Here is a brief video (of just one room!) from when they must have allowed photography:  The Golden Room, Peterhof Palace
The complex also includes the "Monplaisir" and "Marly" Palaces and the Hermitage Pavilion, none of which we saw that day. 

Nevertheless, touring all that opulence just wore us out, so we decided to splurge and take a hydrofoil back to St. Petersburg.  I'm glad we did, because we got a different view (a water view) of the city.  Until we took this boat ride, about 30 minutes, I did not get the SPg sobriquet:  Venice of the North.  For me anyway, the approach to SPg looks a lot prettier from the water.

Anne and I had a full day, but we still had to eat dinner and say good bye to SPg...

SPg Transportation for Dummies

Ceiling Fixture in SPg Metro

This post will tell you about our very successful and pretty cheap trip to the Peterhof Summer Palace and Fountains Park outside of SPg.

We were angsting ( I made up that word.  Think anxious bickering) about how to get to Peterhof.  The young staff at the hotel was no real help, although they suggested we take the most expensive options.  So we asked our Food Tour guy, Peter (Sat. AM) what he would recommend.

He gave us the best, clearest and most explicit directions using public transportation that we got from anyone, including every internet site we tried.  Here they are: from the Metro station on Nevsky Prospekt near our Hotel on Bolshaya Konyushennaya Str.25, 191186 Pietari

Take the BLUE line to the Technological Institute Station.  Here you will switch to the RED line.  Take the RED line to the Leninsky Prospekt Station.
Exit toward the back of the train (LEFT) and take the 1st exit (also a LEFT.)
When you get to the street level look for a minibus with the # K103.   the minibuses are for regular commuters too, but the K103 buses will have signs on them for Peterhof and Fontains.  There are lots of these.  Peterhof is at the end of this route.  We paid 60 rubles for one way.  Peter, the guide, told us if we were not sure to ask the driver for "PARK."   Sure enough, although NONE of the Russians appeared to know any English, everyone (like the ladies in the bus queue) knew "Peterhof" and happily pointed out our stop for us when it was time to get off.

Getting off at the correct stop will put you right in front of the BIG gates to the UPPER park. That part is free, but you want to pay to get into the LOWER park with all the fountains, the Palace Museum and the beach on the Gulf of Finland.  The entire trip on the metro and the minibus took about an hour, including changing subway lines and waiting for a 2nd minibus, because the 1st one we found was full.  Did Anne & I ever feel good about using public transportation.  It was safe (on Sunday afternoon), clean and pleasant.  We saved money & got to see real Russians going about their normal day's activities.  Better (& way cheaper) than a tour bus!

Some Catholic Church History in SPg

Sunday's weather was beautiful: sunny and hot. We planned separate activities after an early breakfast: me to mass at the Roman Catholic St. Catherine of Alexandria Church and Anne to shop for birthday outfits for Aleksi & Jenny.   Then we planned to meet and go to the Peterhof Palace and Fountains outside of the city.

Thanks to Anne & the internet, I found an English liturgy at 9:30 AM at St. Catherine's which was only about 3 blocks from our hotel.  Our food guide Peter had pointed out the green dome and cross to us, and it really was close. I could write tons about this place alone, but will just direct you to this Wikipedia site for solid details:  St. Catherine of Alexandria Catholic Cathedral, SPg

The church has been extensively renovated since its restoration to the Catholic community in SPg in the 1990's.  There are no more stained glass windows, no more elevated pulpit, no statues or elaborate altars of any kind except a modest main altar and a few statues in the adjoining "Lady Chapel."

St. Catherine of Alexandria RC Church, SPg, Russia

History Placque

Now the walls are finished and painted in pastel colors, pale pink, green, blue and yellow.  It is very light and airy, a truly beautiful space.  The absolutely stunning acoustics remain a strong feature.  It was a true joy to sing there. However, the east & west side altars were not restored but remain skeletal with only fragments of the stone & marble remaining in piles at the foot of the imprints on the walls where the large carvings once were.  One side altar has an icon of St. Catherine of Alexandria, a gift from a wealthy patron and the other side is adorned only with the large crucifix that a 19 year old parish girl, Sophia Stepulkowska, rescued (in 1938) from the high (main) altar, hid in her home and then gave to another parish for safe keeping until it was returned to St. Catharine's in 1992.  The only other decorations are a few potted plants placed amid the rubble, a striking testament to the suffering of this community.

But there is a happy story here too.  In the Lady Chapel,

Main Altar in Lady Chapel

 where another group of tourists were hearing a mass during our English liturgy, I read on a wall plaque:  "This chapel, restored though the donations of 'ordinary American Catholics',  is dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima who asked us to 'pray for the conversion Russia' in 1917."   I remember saying that prayer with every rosary recitation throughout my childhood.  Praise God, our prayers work!

Chilling at the Rauma Library

This is just a quick note about the GREAT public library in Rauma.  Did I mention that when I explained I was a foreign visitor who wanted to pay for temporary borrowing privileges, they GAVE me a library card at no charge!  Amazing. Being Finnish, the nice lady librarian pointed out that my 1st card is free, but there is a charge for replacements!  I said "Of course," and "kiitos!"  It is really pretty too with sailing ships from a 19th c. painting of the harbor here, I think.

Rauma Library

 Anyway.  They have great internet access, a nice, little, inexpensive cafe in the lobby, which is open with wi-fi, at least a half hour before the library and several shelves of English language novels.

I have gone there twice now to check out & return books and use the free wi-fi. I could stay all day.  I LOVE libraries!

On the way back to the B&B I found more of the Rauma "public art" in the form of statues of people doing ordinary things: 

Rauma Statue:  Swimmer Ladies

I think this is the artist!

These "swimmers" are very much like the ones I saw 2 years ago when we were in Rauma for Anne & Saku's wedding in February 2009.  Lassi (Anne's dad) took us on a civic tour and we walked through the town sports complex that included an indoor swimming pool with a large observation window.  Through that I saw three statues of swimmer ladies perched near the benches for watching competitions.  Maybe they move outdoors for the summer!  The Church of the Holy Cross in Rauma also has a statue of an older lady with a "bun" of gray hair, a modest little black hat and a prayer book.  She is seated near a pillar in a back pew!  Elsewhere in this blog you will see my photos of the "lady on a park bench" statue in Pori. 

I enjoyed the many public flower gardens in Rauma.  This one with the anchor was near the library:

Floral Coat of Arms, Rauma, Finland

This bed was near the entrance to Vanha (Old) Rauma near the "K" City Market and Post Office.

Nevsky Aster Hotel in SPg

Nevsky Aster Hotel, SPg

This post is just about our hotel in SPg. We are here on the recommendation of & arrangement by the Finnish Travel agency in Turku. Anne was not real happy with them, but I have no complaints so far. Yesterday (Friday) I called from Helsinki to arrange transportation from the Finljandsky Train Station to the hotel. I spoke with an English speaking clerk who explained they did not have a shuttle (but they do from the airport) but they could arrange a taxi for us. He said the driver would have a sign with our names & we should just look for him with the sign, out side of the station. The pre-arranged fare was 1200 Rubles.

Within a very short time after we got off our train I saw a pleasant looking young man, slightly apart from the older taxi driver crowd, holding a handmade sign that said "Varjonen Orkola Mauren." He was our guy!

Even more amazing, he spoke English & obligingly pointed out landmarks like the Admiralty, The Aurora ship, the Neva River that we passed and pointed out Nevsky Prospect just beyond our hotel. The entrance to the Nevsky Aster reminds me of some of the places I stayed at in Italy 20 years ago. It is within a courtyard, off the street, accessed by a very narrow driveway.

Our driver squeezed in and parked with no problem. Perhaps I tipped him too soon, because he carried my suitcase all the way into the lobby & got me a receipt from the front desk.  The best part:  even with my tip, it was 200 rubles LESS than the pre-arranged fare.

Ludmilla, the English speaking desk clerk who checked us in, was very young and as we found out from the other helpers there, did not really have the "concierge" thing down.  Nevertheless,  our room was small but clean, the beds & linens good, the bathroom sparkling with lots of water pressure and hot when we wanted it.  It was also quiet except for some next door giggling one morning...

The breakfast (included) was very Finnish-like:  a buffet of oatmeal, good breads, cheeses, old cuts, sliced tomatoes & cucumbers, juices, yogurts, strong coffee. Many of the guests were Finnish (no surprise there) but there were also some French-speaking tourists.  No other English speakers that I heard.

There was lots of security.  We had to ring the door buzzer  to get in the front door.  See picture above.  Perhaps as a hold-over from the Soviet era, there were separate magnetic "keys" for each floor and we were given only one of those.  The room "keys" were the magnetic strip kind that looks like a credit card, but were made of heavy paper.  It was a quiet place with no shady looking characters in sight.

Best of all, it was a GREAT location for walking to many major SPg attractions.  In the middle of its block at Bolshaya Konushennaya 25, 101186, The Nevsky Aster is only 1/2 a block from the major street in SPg, Nevsky Prospekt, and only 5 minutes walk from the Church of the Savior on the Blood and The Kazan Cathedral and maybe 10 minutes walk from The Hermitage and The Winter Palace Square.   On the basis of location alone, I would recommend it.

Near hotel on 1st Day in SPg

Nostrovia!

Here we are in St. Petersburg! Russia is different from what I expected. Which as a North American, was a mixed picture at best. The Allegro train left from Helsinki at 10 AM & was worth every penny. It left EXACTLY on time (a feature of almost everything Finnish) and was clean, nicely appointed, and FAST: >200 km/hr. That's >130 miles/hr.

At the Station in Helsinki

Play room on the Allegro Train to SPg

 We got to St. Petersburg EXACTLY at 2:36 PM and met our pre-arranged taxi guy who took us to the Nevsky Aster Hotel at (including tip) LESS than the pre- arranged fare. He was even cute in a youthful Russian way.

Since we've been here we've trolled Nevsky Prospect a bit, toured the Memorial to Alexander II (fatally wounded at that site in 1881) at the Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood, walked past the Kazan Cathedral, and had dinner at a "English" pub near our hotel.

Ceiling of The Church of the Saviour ...on the Spilled Blood

Anne & I are at our hotel now, drinking cheap, but decent sparkling wine, happily mapping out our next 3 days. We've booked a walking "Food Tour" for tomorrow morning and plan to see as much of the Russian Museum at the Hermitage as possible tomorrow afternoon. I hope to add photos soon.

Yes, that's Anne eating "Fish & Chips" in SPg!