Peterhof Palace and Canals

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

We had an early start this morning, as the buses left for the optional Peterhof Palace tour at 8:00.  This is known as “Versailles by the Sea,” and we toured the inside of the Grand Palace first.  Photos are not allowed inside so we bought postcards and again we had to wear booties to protect the floors.  The rooms were smaller in this palace than those in the Winter and Summer Palaces and seemed a little more intimate.  There are many rooms, as the length of the palace is about 900 feet.  This palace was also badly damaged by the Nazis and restoration is ongoing.  After the inside tour we visited the elaborate Grand Cascade, which can be seen from the terrace in front of the palace.  It has three waterfalls, 64 fountains and 37 statues.  The water from the fountains flows into a canal that empties into the Gulf of Finland.  At 11:00, a Russian composition by Tchaikovsky plays while the fountains are turned on in sequence.  There were beautiful gardens on the other side of the palace and we took many pictures there.  There are other old palaces in this prosperous area where many new, large single-family homes are being built.  We got back to the ship for lunch about 1:00, and left at 2:30 for our canal boat cruise in the city.  Traffic on the streets was very heavy and it took almost an hour to get to the boat.  We saw many of the same sights that we had seen by bus and on foot, but it was such a beautiful day that we enjoyed seeing the city center of St. Petersburg again, this time from the canals.  We went under many bridges and waved to the people on them and on the streets overlooking the canals.  The city is often called the “Venice of the North” because of the many canals that were created by Peter the Great.  On the bus ride back to the ship we passed the cemetery where many famous Russians are buried, including composers Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov and the writer Fyodor Dostoevsky.  We got back to the ship a little after 6:00 and started packing for our departure tomorrow.  After a farewell dinner, we finished our packing and turned the lights out around 9:00.

Photos

The weather could not have been more perfect today.  The skies were bright blue with temperatures in the low 70s for our last day of sightseeing in St. Petersburg.

© JAY DEITCH 2020