2014 - day 35 (St Petersburg)

Everyone says you MUST see the Peterof  and Pushkin when in St Petersburg and the hotel concierge suggested the best way to do it (they are about an hour's drive out of town) was to hire a driver and guide for ourselves (not as expensive as it sounds and price includes entry etc) so we had arranged that for today, our final day in St Petersburg.

So at 9.30 this morning we joined Dimitri the driver (and nice BMW) and Katherine (Ekaterina) our guide and set off!

First stop (50 mins) was Pushkin which was Catherine the Great's palace. There is a danger of course that you can get "palaced out" but these palaces are just beautiful and have extraordinary gardens, lakes, fountains etc  -   both were extensively damaged in WWll but huge amounts of the interiors were removed and hidden in a vault in St Petersburg and both palaces have been fully restored. The statues in the gardens were simply buried in the grounds (it all had to be done in about 48 hours) but unfortunately the fellow in charge was killed and his plan of buriel locations lost so they are still digging up statues!! Apparently there are now only two still undiscovered.

Katherine our guide was fantastic  and had an extraordinary knowledge of every aspect of the palaces and their grounds so it was great having her. The palaces were both beautifully set out with table settings, furniture etc all the genine article. Photos are the only way to demonstrate the incredible art-work and design. Gold everywhere of course but in a strange way, quite tasteful.

Also had our own private performance by a male quartet in one of the garden buildings (only because we had beaten the crowds) - beautiful sound and acoustics. Bought their CD!

Another 45 min trip to Peterhof which, as the name implies, was the (Summer) palace of Peter the Great who actually established St Petersburg from what was previously just swampland. Well, you've never seen fountains until you've been here - they are everywhere and mostly with figures covered in gold. The huge grounds have fountains scattered throughout. Incredibly, they are all gravity driven from nearby hills -even more extraordinary as some reach the same height although they descend down a slope - no pumps are used and the pipes are all made of pine with most of them still the originals from the 1700's. Remarkable feat of engineering. And an amazing bit of luck - today was the last day the fountains were to operate - tomorrow they start covering them all up for the winter!!!

Again, the interiors of this palace are just extraordinary with massive ballrooms, dining halls, theatres etc. Incredible.

Long day but one of the most enjoyable and eye-opening.  Think now we've seen the best of European Palaces - don't know of any that are reputed to surpass these two. Great way to finish our time in St Petersburg. Finished off tonight with another beautiful Beef Stroganoff!!  Good way to farewell Russia!

Trivia: Catherine the Great married Alexander, they had a son (later known as Crazy Paul) and then she poisoned  Alex. She was actually Prussian but became probably the greatest of the Tsars after Peter ----- and actually had trouble speaking Russian.

Cap report: All good.