ST PETERSBURG – 2 September
We had an overnight here and luckily we chose to attend a Russian Ballet that night as during the day it rained and those who went on sightseeing tours got drenched. In Russia to get ashore you need a visa and you must travel with a recognised travel agency, we were told. Certainly you couldn’t just walk off the ship as in other destinations. Every time you went you had to go through stern immigration officials who stamped your passport after making sure it was your photo!! Anyway we went to the Ballet and enjoyed being in St Petersburg and watching Swan Lake. We think the corps de ballet were students from the School of Ballet although the Principals were certainly older than students. An enjoyable night. The orchestra were really good and it was different having a live orchestra. The next day we did a half day sightseeing tour and saw the usual sights, palaces, churches etc. We saw the ship at the centre of the revolution. We also learned that more Russians died during the Stalin years than in WW2. Lots of the buildings along the river were originally palaces but were confiscated after the revolution. There is no intention to return them we were told. It was also interesting to learn that in St Petersburg everybody lives in apartments and during the Soviet years everyone received a free apartment. Our guide said that even though things were more expensive now, at least they had their freedom. All the bridges over the Neva are raised for a couple of hours each night to enable ships to go through to the lake. It is quite a sight apparently and people line the banks to watch. Not so good if you live on one of the islands and you can’t get home!
We had 2 nights in St Petersburg and the 2nd day started off overcast and then rained. However it did not detract too much other than some of the photos may be rainstained. A pity as St Petersburg was supposed to be one of the highlights and we never got to see it in all its glory. It was the only rain we have had, although the weather generally has been rather iffy to say the least. Not much sun, but as we are told the Northern Summer is over!!
Today we also learned of the earthquake in Christchurch and just when we wanted to view the news there was a power failure and no news available. When the news finally came back on the earthquake was the top story on both BBC and Sky News UK. That and the plane crash that killed 9 people. Who said NZ doesn’t get worldwide coverage. Anyway we were pleased to hear that no one was killed and that none of our friends were hurt but some did have house damage, including our friend Sue who has a house in ChCh which now has a wonky chimney. She should have stayed in France!!