An Elegant Sufficiency

View Original

A city to be seen from the water

Such is St Petersburg, we were told.  So that’s what we did.  We crossed the bridge to our waiting canalboat.

See this content in the original post

I’m saying nothing about those.

See this content in the original post

As soon as we got on board, we remembered the  low bridges!  Mind your head.

See this content in the original post

Like everyone else, we sat outside, up top, for the best photographs (not that this is a fine example!)   “On your left, you can see the Hermitage.  Notice the large windows upstairs”.

See this content in the original post

From there it was straight out onto the River Neva.  A stiff breeze was blowing and one by one, almost all of our fellow stalwarts had gone inside.  Just an handful wrapped up warm and stayed out.

See this content in the original post

The front of the Hermitage was behind us as we continued up river.

See this content in the original post

Inna, still with us, pointed out the significant landmarks, including the Peter and Paul Fortress, where the Tsars are buried.  We’ve not been there ourselves and would have liked to have visited, but the schedule didn’t allow for it.  Never mind, we had a good view.  There, next to the pavilion by the wall, is a small hut, from where the daily shot is fired at noon.

See this content in the original post

Under the bridge designed and built by Eiffel – not that you’d have guessed!

See this content in the original post

There, on our left was the battleship Aurora, which I remembered, was famous for the shot which started the revolution.  Now, that’s not bad going for a non-historian like me – I felt quite proud of myself!  It’s on such random facts that a great Trivia team is built, of course

See this content in the original post

We passed the former home of the Kutuzov family, characters we remembered from War and Peace on the BBC recently.

See this content in the original post

and generally savoured the beautiful architecture of the city.

See this content in the original post

Inna was pointing out features here and there but we were happy to sit back and enjoy the scene.  She did name the brutal building just behind here, reminiscent of a similarly brutal building in Westminster with a spookily similar purpose.  Better not say the three letters which spell it out, then.

See this content in the original post

I think this is the Naval Hospital, open to all and not exclusively for Naval Officers.

See this content in the original post

A better view of the Aurora then, in front of the Naval Academy.

See this content in the original post

Oh, and there is the actual cannon which fired the shot, with the Russian “Fortress” flag flying.

See this content in the original post

We’d turned around now and in the gloomy light of a cold – not just chilly – afternoon, we were heading back and not totally sorry about that!

See this content in the original post

Back into the canal system,  Inna pointed out the smallest monument in Leningrad – the little bird on the plinth there.

See this content in the original post

We were soon back at the pier near the church, which we’ll visit tomorrow.

See this content in the original post

Back on the bus then, to return to the ship and past a familiar sign.  Even though we know this says “restaurant” in Russian, is pronounced “restaurant” as we would say it, we still think of it as a pectopah.  Silly.

See this content in the original post

Our way back to the ship took us past the Bronze Horseman, Peter the Great, another real landmark of the city.

See this content in the original post

As you can see, home is very central here.

See this content in the original post

But our day was not over!  We had tickets for a folklore show tonight.

See this content in the original post

It was in the Naval Officers Hall.  Very grand, too!

See this content in the original post

Whilst not the best or possibly the most authentic show we’ve seen, it was colourful and fun.

See this content in the original post

The singers were over-amplified, we thought, though they were very good and those Russian bass voices…well!

See this content in the original post

You’ll guess which tune this action depicted?

See this content in the original post

There was a fun balalaika act with a member of the audience, too.

See this content in the original post

Mostly, however, it was a lot of very fast twirling, jumping, cossack dancing and lively music.  We enjoyed it!

See this content in the original post

But oh my, were we tired when we got back home last night.

See this content in the original post

I’ll just leave it to your imagination how long the queue for passport control was