Saint Petersburg: Maps , pictures and information.

[scubacruiserx2]

Crossing the street , it was time to return to the hotel using a different , less scenic route .

 

 

 

 

 

 

A painting of St. Issac's Cathedral was attached to a wall on the building , next to our hotel .

 

 

 

The hallway to our room with double doors .

 

 

 

 

 

I must admit to some fear of elevators after getting stuck with our suitcases on the 13th floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires , at 4 AM ( yes , they do have a 13th floor ) . I guess they didn't get the memo that 13 is unlucky ( and we proved it ! ) . Fortunately on cruise ships and in the US , the people on the 14th floor don't have to worry about being on the 13th floor , because there is no 13th floor . I for one , am glad that we outsmarted that superstition .

 

 

 

 

Our friends in St. Petersburg have an old elevator , the size of a phone booth ( whatever that is ) . So we walk the stairs , when visiting them .

 

 

 

 

But in Moscow on the ground floor , they have a BIG , partially clad dude to help you with the elevator ( when he's not holding up the ceiling ) .

 

 

Next time : Brunch

[scubacruiserx2]

We called it brunch because of the late hour ( for us ) that we ate at , but it was really breakfast . And being experienced cruisers ( meaning well nourished ) , we pounced on our food like a couple of hungry lions , wearing human clothes .

 

 

Nice dining room

 

 

 

 

with a picture perfect view .

 

 

 

 

The lines at the buffet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Russian breakfast (Zavtrak !)

 

 

 

 

Does anyone know what pink fruit this is ?

 

[Lagerta]

11 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

Does anyone know what pink fruit this is ?

Yes, this is the Dragon fruit, also known as "pitaya", it's grown mostly in Vietnam and is native to Central America.

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, Lagerta said:

Yes, this is the Dragon fruit, also known as "pitaya", it's grown mostly in Vietnam and is native to Central America.

 

Thank you very much !

[scubacruiserx2]

We really loved the view of Red Square from the hotel .

 

 

 

Flying saucers ?

 

 

 

 

We tried to thank the chef in our best Russian

 

 

 

 

Mapped and ready to explore Red Square and the Kremlin .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Walking along the Alexander Gardens toward the Armory , we made a few photo stops . The first is the Ruins Grotto .

 

 

 

When Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812 , his goal was to take Moscow with the hope of Russia surrendering . The Russians adopted a scorched earth policy while retreating toward Moscow and eventually evacuated and set Moscow on fire , leaving nothing for Napoleon . This grotto is a memorial built with rubble from the fire .

 

 

 

An obelisk erected in 1914 celebrating the 300th year of the Romanov dynasty .

 

 

 

This plaque shows the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg on the left and the Cathedral of Christ the Redeemer , in Moscow on the right . Stalin later blew up this Cathedral .

 

 

 

 

And finally , a statute of Tsar Alexander I who fought Napoleon , and had the gardens here named after him . This statue was erected and dedicated by President Putin in 2014 .

[scubacruiserx2]

 

This is the line to enter the Armory . At the top are several guards and metal detectors . Pat was first with our guide Alina between us and we chatted while we waited . As the stern looking guard began to question her in English , I could just barely hear him and her answers .

 

Guard : Pull out your gun

 

Pat : I don't have a gun

 

G : Then pull out your knife

 

P: I don't have a knife

 

G : Then what do you have ?

 

P : 2 Computers , a laptop and a ipad

 

G : Is that what you use to set the bomb off ?

 

P : No bombs

 

G : Why go you have computers ?

 

P : My husband puts photos on them

 

G : Open your backpack . No guns , no knifes , no bombs ?

 

Pat : If you went to the US , would you take a gun , a knife , or a bomb ?

 

G : NO !

 

p: Well then , why would I ?

 

G : You may enter .

 

 

Then came my turn . Open your bag . Nothing but cameras ? No photos ! You may enter .

 

•  

[scubacruiserx2]

Our guide did not go in with us . And because photos are not allowed , they come from the internet and 2 books that I have purchased . Here's a good link to the Armory :

 

http://armoury-chamber.kreml.ru/en-Us/exposure/view/zal-2-russkie-zolotye-i-serebryanye-izdeliya-xvii-nachala-xx-veka/

 

Following a teacher , or a guide , with some children , we found the Imperial Eggs , Hall 2 , case 20

 

 

 

 

These are the 2 books that the photos come from :

 

 

 

This smaller book was purchased at the Armory book store

 

 

 

 

The Moscow Kremlin Egg music box , seen at the top of the showcase , was made in 1906 .

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Kremlin_(Faberg%C3%A9_egg)

 

 

Front and rear

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Here's the Bouquet of Lilies clock egg . The white ring with the Roman numerals, rotates . Made in 1899 .

 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouquet_of_Lilies_Clock

 

 

The Steel Military egg made in 1916 , the year before the Revolution .

 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_Military

 

 

The Romanov Tercentenary egg , 1913 .

 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanov_Tercentenary_(Faberg%C3%A9_egg)

 

 

Alexander the III Equestrian egg , 1910

 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_III_Equestrian

 

 

 

The Memory of Azov egg , 1891 .

 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_of_Azov_Egg

[scubacruiserx2]

Other imperial eggs in the Kremlin Armory :

 

 

The imperial yacht Standart 1909 , ( think private cruise ship ! )

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standart_Yacht_(Faberg%C3%A9_egg)

 

 

Clover Leaf egg , 1902

 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clover_Leaf_(Faberg%C3%A9_egg)

 

 

The Alexander Palace egg , 1908 . We visited this Palace one year , near Catherine's Palace .

 

 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Palace_(Faberg%C3%A9_egg)

 

 

 

And lastly , the Trans-Siberian Railway egg , 1900 . With a train that works .

 

 

 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Siberian_Railway_(Faberg%C3%A9_egg)

 

 

Edited September 29, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Just a few more items before we move into Red Square .

 

 

Fabrege

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are not Fabrege . They are Found in room 7 , showcase # 50 of the Armory , Ancient State Regalia .

 

 

The crown of Monomachus

 

 

 

 

And , the Grand Set .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

After leaving the Kremlin Armory we walked around the Kremlin wall and entered Red Square .

 

 

 

 

As you can see , the massive viewing stands for the previous weeks Victory Day Parade were still in place .

 

 

 

 

On the left side of the photo is the State Department Store known as GUM ( pronounced Goom ) .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUM_(department_store)

 

 

 

 

And there it was , the iconic photo of Russia , St. Basil's , without an umbrella in sight !

 

 

 

Unlike our previous visit , where the photos were taken from beneath an umbrella .

 

 

 

 

And this is the Spasskaya Tower where only special people may enter the Kremlin .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Basil%27s_Cathedral

 

 

The statue in front of St. Basil's Cathedral is Minin and Pozharsky

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_to_Minin_and_Pozharsky

 

 

 

 

 

Let's go inside shall we ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most photos of Red Square show St. Basil's from across the square . This one shows the view from St. Basil's across the square with the points of interest labeled .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

An umbrella is visible in the upper left hand corner of this photo .

 

 

 

 

Four views of St. Basil's as we circled the cathedral .

 

 

The front view , closeup:

 

 

 

 

Right side facing GUM

 

 

 

Rear view with the Kremlin on the left

 

 

 

 

Facing the Savior's Gate of the Kremlin . The cathedral is on the left , out of the frame .

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Before entering GUM , I photographed the Moscow State University building in the distance .

 

 

At about 700' tall ,it was the tallest building in Europe for almost 60 years .

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUM_(department_store)

 

 

GUM was 120 years old when this photo was taken

 

 

 

 

It was decorated for Spring when we were there in May .

 

 

 

And the doves of peace were prominent in the decorations

 

 

 

 

We loved the Centrum

 

 

 

 

And with 3 stories of shopping , all cruise ships would love to have this space .

 

 

 

[napoxoguk]

4 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

...the Moscow State University building in the distance .

The building in your photo is a residential building, not MSU. The University is a bit farther out, you can't really see it from the center.

 

Again, great photos, thanks for sharing!

[scubacruiserx2]

10 minutes ago, napoxoguk said:

The building in your photo is a residential building, not MSU. The University is a bit farther out, you can't really see it from the center.

 

Again, great photos, thanks for sharing!

 

Duly noted .  большое Вам спасибо !

 

[scubacruiserx2]

GUM is great photo op for newlyweds and it produced one of my favorite photos - a game of bridal tug of war .

 

 

 

 

And they also sell a tongue in cheek cake called a Mother in Law cake . It features faux poisonous mushrooms on top .

 

 

 

 

After leaving GUM , we heard English being spoken from a couple of young people wearing a Michigan State hat . That's where Pat's sister went to school , so we had a quick chat while walking to our next location , Nokolskaya Ulitsa .

 

 

http://www.moscow.info/streets/nikolskaya-ulitsa.aspx

 

 

 

This is the Synod Printing House which printed the first book in Russia - The Acts of the Apostles in 1564 .

 

 

 

 

The Lion , the unicorn and the hammer and the sickle .

 

 

 

A little further along , we spied a couple of buskers . Our guide said that she thought they were " creepy " . What do you think ?

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Continuing our walk along Nikolskaya Ulitia we had a another UFO sighting

 

 

 

 

Our next sighting was much more sobering the infamous Lubyanka Prison .

 

 

 

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Lubyanka.aspx

 

Home to torture , interrogations and murders , it was joked in the USSR that " it was the tallest building in Moscow , because you could see Siberia from the basement " ( where the tortures took place ) . Also home to the KGB , it used to have a large statute of it's founder iron Felix Dzerzhinsky in front of the building .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Dzerzhinsky

 

 

 

The previous photo was taken in St. Petersburg , but the original statue in Moscow was torn down by a crowd in Moscow , during the break up of the USSR . It now has a more humble place - the Fallen Monument Park , where children sit on it .

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallen_Monument_Park

 

 

Edited November 3, 2015 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

The next photo stop on our tour was the famous Bolshoi Theatre .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolshoi_Theatre

 

 

 

 

On the right , in the red sign is TsUM

 

 

 

 

I like the stop motion of the water in the fountain

 

 

 

 

The Theater is featured on the 100 Ruble note .

 

 

 

 

Our next stop was Yeliseev's Gastronom .

 

 

http://russiapedia.rt.com/prominent-russians/business/grigory-yeliseev/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you remember them from St. Petersburg ?

 

 

Edited October 3, 2019 by scubacruiserx2

[Host Bonjour]

1 hour ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

I like the stop motion of the water in the fountain

 

The close up of the water in the image is beautiful! Do you know what shutter speed you used? It's a hypnotic result cropping close in on the water dropping down from the fountain in front of Bolshoi but then so too are all of these images with the darker sky. Also great that you added the ruble note to illustrate the use of the landmark on the currency...think I have an old ruble note which I now want to pull out and look at.

 

Just recently saw a photography exhibit wherein the artist used now worthless Venezuelan bolivars and placed images of ordinary people on one side of the currency - it's very colorful, patterned, pretty currency as is often the case with monetary notes. This was part of a bigger project involving a different type of travel but...still...lovely to see how wonderful and creative photographs can be to memorialize a journey and tell a story or just be pretty. 

 

Thanks for sharing your wonderful images here. Have you visited our https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/72-photo-camera-discussions/ Digital Photography and Video board ? 

 

 🙂 

 

 

Edited October 3, 2019 by Host Bonjour

[scubacruiserx2]

Well thank you . Not sure on the shutter speed . I wish that I would have taken a video to capture the hypnotic effect that you describe . I did use it well in the icy waters of South America .

 

 

 

 

 

We think that it's great to see throw away items re purposed into art . There was a pizza restaurant years ago called  " The Bottle Cap Inn " , that had thousands of old bottle caps covering almost everything ( except the toilet seat ) .

 

And yes we have seen , and are using the Photo Boards . We would to thank you , and your co workers for providing this wonderful venue where we can meet and mingle and share stories and photos . Keep up the great work !

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

Several purchases , some gifts and some instant gratification - Alinka , my favorite chocolate for several reasons including one very near and dear to my heart ! 😉

 

[Host Bonjour]

Alinka reminds me of the Gerber baby...a little bit. Oh and my friend's daughter was called Alinka, her name was Allison and of course Alinka was the endearing term for her name. Mine is Kalinka. No one in Russia was ever named Colleen! And I've had Russian chocolate...it's great; different, but on my life's work sampling/evaluating chocolate of the world (unofficially, someone has to 😉 ) it's distinctive and that adds to its enjoyment. My sister reluctantly shared some she brought back from a US/Russian space agency trip she facilitated. 

 

Thank you for the kind words you shared about CC and everyone here, and it goes both ways. We're all here because we love it as much as our members do; most of us are also avid travelers, past/present or future, so we are all like-minded in our vision and passion for travel and community.

 

The videos are equally astounding but of course they've come from the same equipment but, often the best equipment does not produce optimal outcomes unless operated as intended by the engineers and designers. And while technology has made it possible, thankfully, for overall photo/video quality within reach for many users now, maximizing the potential remain up to the individual user. The pan on vid two is cinematic and spectacular, color and sound all terrific, the location, well you knew it was photogenic to shoot, but after that, the place itself gets the credit. 😉 For a while I thought I was somewhere else, not glacier alley too....this place reminded me of other places, I'm not sure where - maybe a little bit of Mount Fuji - I'm not sure why, but again, I was hypnotized. Beautiful.

 

Yes, I've seen instances of bottle-cap art too, though perhaps not as extensive as you describe (wise to skip the toilet, although if they hammered out and polished?) which sounds like a place I'd be keen on hanging out in. There's a place near me that has vintage license plates up all over. I like seeing things made from old palettes or whatever. And, a photo festival (coincidence!) I know and love well in Brooklyn (under the bridge!) exhibits photography every year in repurposed shipping containers, each one becoming a sort of gallery as part of a village under the bridge for two weeks each year. 
 

Visual stories are a wonderful way to share information about places we go, people we meet and things we do. We appreciate so much all the videos and photos shared on Cruise Critic, and ever more so any additional creativity that members put in to capturing their travel memories and posting them on CC. 

 

Thank you again, look forward to your next dispatches 🙂 

[scubacruiserx2]

Kalinka ? As in Kalinka Malinki ?  One of our favorite Russian songs .

 

 

When first laid eyes on the Alyonka chocolate bar in 2009 , we were in a Russian supermarket while visiting St. Petersburg with my wife . In a true deja vu moment of facial recognition , I knew that I must have this candy bar !

 

 

 

 

I had seen that face before .

So here's a photo of a 35 year old T-shirt with a photo from 1958 on the front, of my little Alyonka , Pat - 6 years before the candy was first created in Moscow . 😉

 

 

 

And so , I sit munching my chocolate bar

 

Fore

 

 

 

and aft ,

 

 

 

 

remembering the good , old days !! Chocolate anybody ?