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page 2 The Great 30th Birthday Trip...I felt worse the next morning so I made a visit to the ship infirmary and dosed up with Sudafed. Lena and Alexander met us at 9:00 and took us to a local food market. All the produce you can imagine, along with a gruesome display of assorted carcasses filled the cavernous simple building. Every stall was staffed by Russians waving samples. We tried cherries, figs, and several varities of thick rich delicious honey, but had to learn to say "Nyet Spaceba" (No thank you) to the multitude of offers.
We drove to Church of the Resurrection next - definitely something I was looking forward to. Absolutely magnificent. Not only the eye-popping exterior, but the unbelievable mosaic interior. I could have wandered around slack-jawed all day, just gaping at the exotic beauty, but we still had a lot to do on our last day in Russia. A quick lunch stop for some interesting traditional Russian salads including a tasty carrot, garlic and walnut dish, and it was on to the Hermitage. 
What can be said about this behemoth of a treasure trove? We lucked into Museum Day, and got in with no admission charge, and were treated to a whirlwind tour of centuries worth of history and art by Lena. Alexander met us outside the museum, and next drove us to see the Arch commemorating the Russian's defeat of Napoleon - intriguing to me due the irony of wrapping up our trip in Paris, which of course features the massive Arc De Triomphe, honoring Napoleon. I wanted to experience the St Petersburg Metro, so we took the line nearby the arch, stopping in the subterranean shopping center to buy some conditioner. Not quite like popping into Walgreen's at home and grabbing a bottle of Herbal Essence. Through Lena, I had to tell the shopkeeper what type of hair I have, and what I am looking for in a conditioner. She then selected for me and removed a bottle from behind the glass case. The Metro was amazingly deep, and beautiful chandeliers hung from the ceiling. For the three of us, the cost was 24 roubles - less than a dollar. Mosaics of the hammer and sickle adorned the walls. Although we have traveled on public transportation in many countries, Brian and I agreed there was no way we could have managed this Metro without help. Alexander was of course waiting for us at the next Metro stop, and it was time for our Russian journey to end. It was definitely with regret and a little sadness that we made the drive back to the port. Russia was intriguing, mysterious, exotic, and a land of contradictions. Meticulously restored grand buildings were surrounded by grimy and a little creepy barbed wire- topped tenements. It will take a long time for this visit to really sink in and absorb. It will need examining from afar.
Movie of our photos | Photo Album | Thoughts on the ship to page 3 >> |
We drove a bit through the city next, with a
couple "photo stops" before a stop at Peter and Paul's Fortress
where we visited a majestic cathedral housing the tombs of many of
Russia's czars. This included the last Romanovs, the entire family
gunned down in 1917 at the Bolshevik Revolution. 
