scubacruiserx2
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There is so much to see and do in Saint Petersburg that we would not recommend going to Moscow if you are visiting on a cruise ship .
But we were staying there and we had an invitation from a couple that we had met on a cruise in South America . Anyone who knows Scubacruiserx2 , knows that we like Al Stewart . His song that we remember and listened to as we were traveling there is called Roads to Moscow . This is a video that we shot of him in the Royal Albert Hall a week after visiting Moscow . The Song is about the German invasion of Russian after the secret signing of a non aggression pact .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov–Ribbentrop_Pact
Here's an explanation of the song and the lyrics . Al revealed that the song was based on the life of Russian Nobel Prize winning writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roads_to_Moscow
All music and lyrics by Al StewartThey crossed over the border the hour before dawn
Moving in lines through the day
Most of our planes were destroyed on the ground where they lay
Waiting for orders we held in the wood
Word from the front never came
By evening the sound of the gunfire was miles awayI softly move through the shadows, slip away through the trees
Crossing their lines in the mist in the fields on our hands and our kneesAnd all that I ever
Was able to see
The fire in the air, glowing red
Silhouetting the smoke on the breezeAll summer they drove us back through the Ukraine
Smolensk and Vyazma soon fell
By Autumn we stood with our backs to the town of Orel
Closer and closer to Moscow they come
Riding the wind like a bell
General Guderian stands at the crest of the hillWinter brought with it the rains , oceans of mud filled the roads
Gluing the tracks of their tanks to the ground, while the skies filled with snowAnd all that I ever
Was able to see
The fire in the air, glowing red
Silhouetting the snow on the breezex4 - all thru bridge
In the footsteps of Napoleon, the shadow figures stagger through the winter
Falling back before the gates of Moscow, standing in the wings like an avenger
And far away behind their lines, the partisans are stirring in the forest
Coming unexpectedly upon their outpost, growing like a promise
You'll never know, you'll never know, which way to turn, which way to look you'll never see us
As we steal into the blackness of the night you'll never know, you'll never hear usAnd evening sings in a voice of amber, the dawn is surely coming
The morning road leads to Stalingrad, and the sky is softly hummingTwo broken tigers on fire in the night
Flicker their souls to the wind
We wait in the lines for the final approach to begin
It's been almost four years that I've carried a gun
At home, it will almost be spring
The flames of the tigers are lighting the road to BerlinI quickly move through the ruins that bow to the ground
The old men and children they send out to face us, they can't slow us downAnd all that I ever
Was able to see
The eyes of the city are opening
Now it's the end of a dreamx4 thru this section
I'm coming home, I'm coming home, now you can taste it in the wind the war is over
And I listen to the clicking of the train wheels as we roll across the border
And now they ask about the time that I was caught behind their lines and taken prisoner
They only held me for a day, a lucky break I say
They turn and listen closer
I'll never know, I'll never know, why I was taken from the line with all the others
To board a special train and journey deep into the heart of holy RussiaAnd it's cold and damp in the transit camp and the air is still and sullen
And the pale sun of October whispers the snow will soon be coming
And I wonder when, I'll be home again and the morning answers never
And the evening sighs and the steely, Russian skies go on,
Forever... -
These are friends Yuri and Nellie who we met for lunch after our morning in Smolny . Behind them are a number of icons from their families used to have to hide buried so the Communists would not destroy or confiscate them .
We found that we much more in common than our differences . Yuri is an artist who paints and makes porcelain objects like eggs seen over his shoulder and like Pat , was a swimmer in collage . Nellie was a scientist which I love especially Anatomy and Physiology and loves to cook . They introduced us to a friend of theirs who was an actress on the many stages in Saint Petersburg .
The meal was prepared by Nellie who refused to allow us to do dishes as their guests and Yuri was the toastmaster with wine for everybody and Vodka , usually for the men and always a a cold shot followed with a bite of food after the drink .
We asked if we could return their hospitality by taking them out for dinner and we're glad that they chose Georgian Cuisine . The Georgian love of family and friends is one of the reasons why the supra (tablecloth) is so important in Georgia. Supra is offered spontaneously to relatives, friends or guests. Every supra has its tamada (toastmaster), who gives the toast and entertains the guests . Wikipedia
Dinner was here
Khinkali you bite the dumpling and slurp the juice and meat
Adjarian Kachapuri - Cheese bread with egg and a pat of butter
Nellie painted this bottle that sits on the mantle of the fireplace
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The Smolny Cathedral from a helicopter and then the ground
http://www.saint-petersburg.com/cathedrals/smolny-cathedral/
Busts of Marx and Engels in the garden of the Smolny Institute
The Communist Manifesto, originally the Manifesto of the Communist Party, is a political pamphlet written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, commissioned by the Communist League and originally published in London in 1848. Wikipedia
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On Monday we had a tour in the afternoon with DenRus who was the company that we used in 2006 when we went to Saint Petersburg on the NCL Dream . We liked that they had a phone number using our same area code so we could phone a local number and speak to their office in St. Pete . The tour was called Have lunch with a Russian Family . But Gennadiy had promised us a surprise in the morning . He told us a bit about the Smolny Institute on the way there .
In 1917, Vladimir Lenin chose the building as Bolshevik headquarters immediately before and during the October Revolution. It was Lenin's residence for several months, until the national government was moved to the Moscow Kremlin in March 1918.[3] After that, the Smolny became the headquarters of the local Communist Party apparat, effectively the city hall. In 1927, a monument to Lenin was erected in front of the building, designed by the sculptor Vasily Kozlov and the architects Vladimir Shchuko and Vladimir Gelfreikh. The Smolny Institute was also the site of Sergei Kirov's assassination in 1934.[4]
After 1991, the Smolny was used as the seat of the city mayor (governor after 1996) and city administration of Saint Petersburg. Vladimir Putin worked there from 1991 to 1997 in the administration of Anatoly Sobchak.
Today, this historic building is the official residence of the governor of Saint Petersburg and also houses a museum dedicated to Lenin. Visitors to the museum can tour Lenin's office and living rooms and see the assembly hall where the victory of the October revolution was proclaimed in 1917. Wikipedia
What he didn't tell us was that he was a Colonel in the Russian Army and had retired to become the head of Security at Smolny Institute . We had to wait in a room while he got clearance and he walked us past Security and guards with AK -74 's into the building .
The Ball Room where Lenin spoke from a painting there
In Lenin's office
We had the resident guide give us a tour of the office and artifacts while while Gennadiy translated . It was like stepping back in time to 1917 .
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The next evening we had concert tickets to see Blackmore's night in concert .
Richie Blackmore and Deep Purple were one of my favorite bands growing up and they were also one of President Medvedev favorite bands . When Richie met his wife , Candace Night , the band was formed with Candice on vocals and Richie playing acoustic guitar, hurdy gurdy, mandola, mandolin, nyckelharpa, and electric guitar . Wikipedia
When we got to the concert , I noticed men in suits wearing hearing aids and talking to their coat sleeves . I told Pat that the President may be at the concert . We were allowed to photograph and video the first band . But in about 10 seconds after videoing Blackmore's Night one of the coated men shined a bright flashlight into my face and yelled at me in Russian ! So this is all we got .
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We don't know if the President was at the concert but Pat did point out to me that a red Laser was pointed on the back of peoples heads when they took photos , showing the coated men their next target .
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On Victory Day we walked down to Palace Square to try to see the parade but it was packed .
We went down to the Neva river which was less crowded and the Rostral Column were lit - only on national holidays .
There were also some Naval ships on the Neva River
We also went to the Peter and Paul Fortress
And the Artillery Museum which was free on national holidays to everyone
Lunch was at The Other Place owned by an American married to a Russian . Doug's daughter was there and a WW II Veteran who we bought a drink .
On the previous evening we saw this carriage at a rainy Palace Square
And we saw it a dinner at the pie shop near where we stayed
A lot of people on cruises would grab and go here but because we were staying at dinner time it was uncrowded . We usually had Salmon , mushrooms or this one if they had it Rabbit .
And after dark there were fireworks over the Neva River
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Victory Day signs and decorations were found all over the city . Many people have forgotten that the Russians ( USSR ) were our allies in WWII with Germany .
And on the way to Catherine's Palace at the Narvskaya Metro Victory Arch
The Monument to the Heroic Defenders traffic circle on the way to Catherine's Palace
Palace Square
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This map shows where we stayed ( Apartment Konyushennom in pink ) and where we crossed the River Moyka at the bridge and walked to the Pushka Inn ( also in pink ) . We took photos from across the river to see more of the line up .
https://www.google.com/maps/@59.9413475,30.322475,18.23z?entry=ttu
The last photo is of a Katyusha multiple rocket launcher much feared by the German troops .
German troops coined the nickname "Stalin's organ" (Stalinorgel), after Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, comparing the visual resemblance of the launch array to a pipe organ, and the sound of the weapon's rocket motors, a distinctive howling sound which terrified the German troops,[7] adding a psychological warfare aspect to their use .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyusha_rocket_launcher#Variants
Our video clip of the staged military equipment for the Victory Day Parade
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The day that we went to the Summer Garden was Friday May 8th , 2009 . After lunch I was tired so I took a firefighter's power nap . When I woke up Pat told me " There are tanks around our building ".
I must have really been asleep if I didn't hear the tanks . As I looked out of the windows I didn't see any tanks and so after a cup of tea we grabbed our cameras and went to investigate .
May 9th is a BIG deal in Russia , it's the 2nd most important day after New Years Day . It's called Victory Day of the Great Patriotic War ( WW II ) and is celebrated much like the 4th of July here only on a grander scale . More civilians died in Saint Petersburg than the worst war in our history , the Civil War ( 1 million people ) through starvation and bombardment in the 900 day Siege of Leningrad ( St. Petersburg ) . People became so hungry that they began to eat each others pets and turned to cannibalism in the winters . What we saw was military trucks that were staged for the parade the next day . Photos after church today the next time .
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My favorite wedding photo was in the Moscow mall called GUM ( pronounced Goom ) . The bride is the rope in a tug of war while the groom is being hung by the Mother in Law .
There's no doubt that they will have a Mother in Law Cake which has fake poison mushrooms on it .
A real poisonous mushroom that we saw in the woods when we went to a Dacha
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Most of what we wanted to see in Saint Petersburg in a very small area close to where we stayed . A lot of things are free like the Summer Gardens where you will always see pretty brides when the weather is nice .
A Russian train in the garden
We saw the same bride while we were waiting for the bus at the rear of the garden . You can see their car with 2 wedding rings on the hood . The wedding photographer was setting up to take a photo that was on the cover of a free tourist brochure which showed a single bride on the bench waving to get the bus to stop . They were duplicating the shot on the same bench . When she saw me with my small camera zoomed in she gave me " the pose " .
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We did go to Catherine's Palace on our visit to the Baltic cruise on the NCL Dream in 2006 . The place was packed with people in spite of us bypassing the huge line waiting to get in by using a private guide .
Everybody had to wear booties over their shoes to protect the beautiful floor .
Our guide on our first trip .
Their were no such lines in May when we stayed in Saint Petersburg . Many people think that the palace was made by Catherine the Great . It was a gift from Peter the Great to his second wife Catherine the I , a Polish woman who changed her name . When the Germans forces retreated during WWII after the siege of Leningrad , they had looted the palace and the Amber Room and burned the palace , thus what you see is a reconstruction .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Palace
The gates
The palace
There were delft tile heaters in which a small fire was built and they radiated heat
Catherine the Great
The last Tzar Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra
In the gardens
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Our guide said that he had a surprise for us as we headed South toward the airport . It was the Feodorovskaya Icon Cathedral near Catherine's Palace .
It was said to be the last Czar's favorite church . They would not allow us to photograph the inside while they were restoring it but here's a photo from the story link below .
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Awake at 0400 and we hope to shoot a bird ( or 2 ) about an hour away from where we live . It's about 55 F ( 12.7 C ) and expected to reach 80 F ( 26.6 C ) at 1600 today .
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One of the most exciting things that we did was a helicopter flight aboard a medium size Mil 8 helicopter that flies over Saint Petersburg . I still remember when President Khrushchev visited the US in 1959 and his Kitchen debate with the Vice President Richard Nixon .
During an official visit to the United States in September 1959 Nikita Khrushchev took a flight in the S-58 presidential helicopter for the first time and was reportedly extremely impressed.[8][9] Upon Khrushchev's return he orders the creation of a similar helicopter and wishes it be ready in time for the return visit of the American president to save face.[10] A luxury version of the Mi-4 was quickly created and Khrushchev took an inspection flight where Mikhail Mil proposed that his helicopter in development was more suitable for this role. However, it would be necessary to have a second engine for reliability. This gave Mikhail Mil the power under the orders of Khrushchev to build the original two-engined helicopter which would need purpose built turbine engines created for the first time in Soviet history, rather than those adapted from fixed wing aircraft (as in Mi-6 and the first prototype V-8) and an entirely new main rotor gear box that would be designed in-house for the first time. In May 1960 the order is given for Mikhail Mil to create his twin engine helicopter. The Sergei Isotov Design Bureau accepted the task of creating the engines.
Mi-8 of Baltic Airlines taking off at Peter and Paul Fortress in Saint Petersburg
https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Mil_Mi-8
Here's our videos of the start up and the flight .
The start up
The Flight , soaring over the Rostral Columns and circling the Peter and Paul Fortress before coming in for a landing at the Peter and Paul Fortress to the sound of The Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky .
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Also in the Rembrandt collection was the Sacrifice of Isaac
Christ healing the sick
David and Jonathan
Descent from the cross
Christ and the Samaritan Woman
Photos from the hermitagemuseum.com
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Rembrandt was one of my favorite painters and we were entering a large room of his paintings including one of my favorite Bible stories and my favorite painting , The return of the Prodigal Son .
Depicting the moment of the prodigal son's return to his father in the Biblical parable, it is a renowned work described by art historian Kenneth Clark as "a picture which those who have seen the original in St. Petersburg may be forgiven for claiming as the greatest picture ever painted".[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_of_the_Prodigal_Son_(Rembrandt)
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Before entering the Hermitage we paused and looked across Palace Square to the General Staff building which houses some of the Hermitage .
The Triumphal Arch commemorating the Russian victory over Napoleonic France in the Patriotic War of 1812 Wikipedia
The Throne Room in the Hermitage
Note the lack of crowds
The Da Vinci Room
These doors were made from turtle shells
Da Vinci photos from Hermitagemuseum .org
All others are mine
The Return of the Prodigal Son and the entrance to the Rembrandt Room
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Our flight to Saint Petersburg was uneventful and we met our guide , Gennadiy Chentsov , at the airport . He took us to the apartment that we had rented on that evening and showed us where to shop for food . On the next day we went to the Hermitage Museum without any crowds of cruise ship passengers . They have over 3 million items and works of art from all over the world . At that time Dmitry Medvedev was the President of Russia .
The Palace Square , the Alexander Column and the Hermitage .
The crowd at the Hermitage
The Hermitage Museum complex. From left to right: Hermitage Theatre – Old Hermitage – Small Hermitage – Winter Palace (the "New Hermitage" is situated behind the Old Hermitage)
Last photo from Wikipedia
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We were in transit as we made port in London staying at the airport with a flight to Saint Petersburg , Russia on British Air and staying in an apartment for about a week . Thus these photos are from our visit to London on our first stay in London after having done a Baltic cruise on the NCL Dream in 2006 . We had a overnight stay in St. Petersburg and we saw a lot and missed a lot , so we wanted to visit there before the busy cruise season began in May .
We stayed near Buckingham Palace where we had pre booked a guided tour .
We walked around a lot
An Eye full
Peter and Paul Cathedral
Brown town
Our favorite Fish and Chips were found at the end of the walkway
Here , where we make a visit when we stay in the city , one of our favorite cities .
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Our last stop before London was our first visit to France at La Rochelle . The ship docks a distance from the city and the ship offered bus rides to the Church and return trips from the same place
It was rainy and cold so on the gangway we decided to go back and get an umbrella , good think as there was a light rain all day . We first headed to a store with a bathroom and made a purchase to use the WC . First up a walk around the harbor and to see the 2 towers , the Chain Tower and the Saint Nicolas Tower , patron saint of sailors . They date back to the 15th century and use to stretch a large chain between the towers to keep out unwanted boat traffic .
We went to an early lunch at Les 4 Sergents , a nice place for lunch looking like a pair of drowned rats . We tried our limited French and were seated and given menus in French . After about 15 minutes with no water or bread . We knew that our type were not wanted here - until we could order in French . As we left the man said " Leaving so soon ? " , with a smile . We walked about 2 minutes to a place with a menu in French and English and had a very nice lunch .
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Our last stop was Covadonga to see the Cave of our Lady a shrine dedicated to Mary , the mother of Jesus .
We were raised Roman Catholic but no longer attend that church . Although we would define ourselves as Christians - followers of Christ . The video clip isn't ours but it does show this place better than our still photos .
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19 minutes ago, TRLD said:
Sure now give the rest of the story as Paul Harvey used to say.
The excursion got cut off from the port by a mud slide and had no way back to the ship. The Captain waited until he had to leave in order to make the scheduled Panama Canal transit time. HAL took care of all arrangements to get the passenger to Colon where the ship made an unscheduled stop to pick them up.
Cruise lines do not guarantee that they will always wait for cruise line excursions. They do guarantee that they will take care of the passengers and get them to the ship as soon as possible during those few times when they cannot wait.
We spoke to 2 of the ladies who missed the Canal transit and they told us that was the reason that they booked the cruise .
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5 minutes ago, Mary229 said:
That was covered here on cruise critic HAL board. Some of the people on the affected excursion weighed in. The reason given was to be able to make their Panama Canal transit reservation. That seemed to me to be a good reason. HAL did pay for every expense. It was a miserable affair all around but HAL did live up to the guarantee which is they will pay to get you back to the ship. This differs if you had been on a private excursion where you would have had to figure out how to get back to the ship or home on your own. There are other reasons a ship must leave a port - high winds, tsunamis, etc…
The fact remains that the ship sailed without them on a ship's cruise and they missed the Canal transit .
Guaranteed best price — find a better price on any tour we offer and we'll refund you 100 percent of the price difference in the form of an onboard credit.
This isn't exactly true . We booked a helicopter flight in Greenland for half of HAL's price and paid for it . HAL came in later and bought out all of the helicopter's flights including ours . The company cancelled our flight and refunded the money because of HAL 's actions . When we spoke to HAL about it they claimed that " it is a different flight " . The difference ? A person will walk you about 100 feet to the helicopter pad - At twice the price , thus no onboard credit . The result ? We cancelled that cruise and the ship missed both ports in Greenland , the main reason that we booked .
January 7th NCL Star cruise to Antarctica , Argentina and Chile with a 10 day stay photo travelogue
in Norwegian Cruise Line
Posted
In order to get to Moscow we would be riding the Sapsan high speed train . It was quicker , cheaper and more convenient than flying and having to go thru 2 airports . We just took the Metro to the train station and showed our Passports when boarding the train as we had pre purchased the tickets online .
The Sapsan , Russian for Peregrine Falcon , could fly us at 150 mph nonstop to Moscow in 3 hours and change . Since we were in First Class it included a meal .