We met up with the tour guide at 7AM and proceeded to do a 2 hour overview of the city in the van. It was still really early in the morning and not very crowded when we arrived at our first destination, The Peter and Paul Fortress. We walked around and took some pictures and then went into our real stop here which was the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Not only was this a beautiful church, but also the final resting place of many Russian royals including both Peter the Great and Catherine the Great.
At this point in the day I was REALLY thirsty, unfortunately we didn't have any rubles to buy some water. I asked the tour guide when we would be getting a drink and said I could have my drink out of my lunch box. I said, "No thank you" not wanting to waste my drink before lunch and quite sternly the tour guide said, "Fine then, you will suffer!"...I guess that was just her Soviet upbringing coming out!
After the fortress we boarded the bus again and headed to Catherine's Palace. This was the grandest place I've ever seen. The sheer expanse of it was breathtaking. Granted, I have never been to Versailles, but people were comparing it to that. In fact, it was Catherine's hope that it would rival Versailles in it's scale and grandeur. The highlight of the palace was the "amber room" as we entered Mike said, "Are you getting an overwhelming craving for butterscotch?" and he was right. It looked as though the walls were painted with butterscotch, but in all actuality they were covered in mosaics made completely of different shades of amber. Unfortunately, it was forbidden to take pictures in the Amber Room, but the memory will last a long time.
Finally, it was time for lunch and I could have my bottle of water! We ate boxed lunches of chicken salad crepes and Russian cookies and chocolate bars on the way to the Summer Palace. Surprisingly, the lunch was quite good and we were happy to have something to eat. It had been a long day since we'd started!
What was waiting for us at the Summer Palace was definitely worth the long day! They are known for their fountains here, and they are some of the most spectacular fountains I've seen! They even had fountains that the children could play in! After we'd had our fill of the fountains, we took a hydrafoil back to St. Petersburg. We then, at the request of some people on our tour, visited the Choral Synagogue which is the 2nd largest synagogue in Europe. I wasn't really impressed with it much, but what I did find interesting and a little funny was that George W. Bush had paid it a visit a few years ago, and they pretty much had a shrine up to recognize his visit.
Then it was off for a little shopping and back to the boat...just to have to wake up and do it all over again!
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