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Location: Blogs Wallis Blog |
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| Posted by: supersi |
Tuesday, June 03, 2008 |
The past two days we have been docked in St. Petersburg, Russia. Yesterday morning we did a tour of the Hermitage museum which includes the Winter Palace. As the curator of the museum says, “The Louvre may be the best museum in the world, but the Hermitage is certainly not 2nd best!” We are definitely not into art but it was neat to see the extensive collections from all of the most renowned artists. Even if you don’t care for paintings, it is worth visiting the Hermitage merely to admire the incredibly beautiful buildings that make up the gallery.
This morning Melody stayed with Arwyn on the ship and I did an organized excursion called Hidden Scenes Walking Tour. “Get off the beaten path with an excursion that visits the inner haunts of this great city, from St. Petersburg Metro to Kuznechny Market.” This sounded perfect for someone who loves walking and getting off the “beaten path” with a camera. I imagined myself wandering down alleys, through markets and churches without another tourist in site. (Unfortunately it couldn’t have been further from the truth.)
As we left the port on the coach, the Russian tour guide handed us headphones and a radio receiver. With these devices he spoke into his headpiece and we were able to hear him from up to 50’ away. “During the Hidden Scenes Walking Tour”, he explained, “we will be like spies infiltrating the lives of the people of St. Petersburg.” Oh how exciting! I hadn’t felt this much of a special agent since I received my British passport in the mail. “I’m practically in Her Majesty’s secret service!”
We started off by visiting the metro. I was really looking forward to this as St. Petersburg’s metro stations are described as underground palaces. The station we entered was indeed quite beautiful. Everything was made of marble. The three-foot-thick steel barrier that could seal off the station as a bomb shelter in the event of nuclear attack was also a nice touch. Everything was in Cyrillic though, and I don’t think I’d want to attempt this adventure without our ex-KGB agent as guide.
We stood on the platform and as our train approached the guide suddenly radioed to the group: “J4 team! Attack! Attack!” The doors opened and the group of 28 (26 of them retirees plus me and the guide) made a full frontal assault on the carriage full of rush hour passengers. Some of the real older ones were holding hands, everyone else holding on to cameras, hats, handbags, backpacks, etc, until half of us were in. When it was clear we wouldn’t all fit in the crowded carriage, the command came over the radio: “Abort! Abort! We take other train further up line and try again!”
We wasted 15 minutes going out of our way just so we could all get on a train going in the direction we wanted. As I stood there in the carriage, with headphones on attached to a radio receiver hanging around my neck, “Tour J4” sticker on my chest, SLR camera in hand, covered in sunscreen, surrounded by people who couldn’t speak a single word in the local language, I realized that we wouldn’t be doing much “infiltrating” on this mission. I had never felt so unlike Jason Bourne in my entire life.
So we took the metro. Whoopee. Then we visited a vegetable market. Whoopee. Then we went for tea. Whoopee again. Then we ended the tour by visiting a tourist shop. So just in case we didn’t blend in as locals after all that trekking off the beaten path, we could pick up some wooden Russian dolls to tuck under our arm. Excellent. When we get back to London the first thing I’m doing is applying for a job at MI5.
Thankfully the tour we did in the afternoon more than made up for the time-wasting around St. Petersburg’s underground. After going back to the ship for lunch and collecting Mel and Arwyn, we did a canal tour of St. Petersburg. It was a beautiful day for it, and we also got to visit the Church of the Spilled Blood. This is the cathedral that is featured in the graphics of the Tetris game if you played it back in the 80’s (90’s?). I’d always wanted to see it since then.
It was pretty amazing to see St. Petersburg. Visa-free travel is at least a decade away, so I guess it will likely be the last time we’re here for a while. Special Agent Super Si of J4 Team signing off… |
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