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As we approached St. Petersburg I was full of enthusiasm to see this magnificent city. However, at about five in the morning it would have been better to sleep in a bit longer.

It would be busy in port today; but at least we did not have to dock in the freight harbor like these mega cruise ships had to do. Strangely enough, we continued up the channel, then turned to dock along Vasilyevsky Island right where the Neva River flows into the Gulf of Finland. There was a small Italian ship behind us and the Sea Cloud was moored along the same dock next to that. It was close to down-town; but that did not matter, because we had signed up for a private tour with Alla Tours and were not about to walk into St. Petersburg on our own.

We were entertained while waiting to go through the Russian passport control. That took forever; our first Russian bureaucratic experience this year. We made a major mistake: we should have disembarked and met our guide right away, at eight or so. Instead we heeded the warning by the Oceania announcement that we had to follow the ship tours. We would depart at 9:00 am, we were told. It was 10:00 when we did.

		Some time earlier I had made contact (through the Cruise Critic web site) with Lynn and her husband Jim. They were interested also in doing the tour with a private company and this was a good way to reduce the per person cost. However, we also agreed that six of us, with the guide, would be enough. We still wanted to have some privacy and be able to communicate with the guide on a one to one basis. This turned out to be an ideal situation.

		Our guide for the next three days was Irena. She works for Alla as an independent contractor and teaches English during the rest of the year. In order to be a guide, she had to study the history and details of all the places we were to visit. She must have passed with flying colors, because she could not only answer our questions without hesitation, but rattled off more names and places than I will ever remember. There was only one time when Sharon had to explain something to her. And that had to do with the English names of flowers at a local farmers market we went to visit. Today's itinerary included the Cottage Palace of Empress Alexandra, the fountain park of Peterhof, Monplaisire Palace, and back in town, the Yusopov' Palace. It was going to be a full day.

Our driver, Oleg, has his own small van. It is bright yellow and always easy to spot when we came back. The van holds eight people, so with the six of us, we had plenty of room and always cold, bottled water. Oleg loves his van and made sure that he was very cautious when crossing tracks and other obstacles on the road. We were supposed to have taken the hydrofoil boat to Peterhof, but the Russian navy was in town and there were restrictions about commercial vessels on the river. Numerous navy ships, sailors and spectators lined the shore. So we drove.

As we drove across the Leytenanta Smidta Bridge we could see a cruise ship moored next to a destroyer, and fancy cast-iron art works of the railing. Hopefully we would see more of the art and less of the war ships.

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When we arrived at the park, Irena led the way to the cottage of Empress Alexandra.

Note: for most of us the history of the Russian Tsars and Empresses is new and can be quite confusing. There are many names and historic events that may not always be clear as you travel with a guide. But it is good to have some knowledge about the important people, So, I have summarised the names of the tsars from the time of the first Romanov family starting in 1613.
If you care to have a look, ok, but come back here afterwards. Russian Rulers -- A brief summary

		Empress Alexandra was the wife of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia. That ended with the revolution in 1917 when she was killed along with her husband and children. Alexandra was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England and, like her, did not enjoy being in the limelight with all the court's formal appearances. She was shy, hated public display and the rigor of the aristocratic society. Her only appearances occurred when they were absolutely necessary. Alexandra preferred to retreat to the sidelines: her cottage was her retreat.

The cottage was simple, small by comparison with what we would see later; yet it had a cozy atmosphere, a homey style and peaceful ambience. The gilded, ornate clock, shown below, was in the shape of a church with an endless passage inside. Yet, there was room for many guests at dinner time.

The gardens were also nice and we could appreciate that this was a favorite place to spend some quiet times. The added wing to the left and ivy-covered porch were disappointing to see and did not fit well with the original design. But the view across the park and the Gulf of Finland in the distance made up for that.

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		We continued on to Peterhof and noticed this Russian Orthodox church along the way. It looked a bit forlorn and needed some attention. But isn't that typical of church yards we know of in the US? How many churches do we typically see that are this ornate? Because we had such a late start, it was decided that we would stop for lunch before entering the gardens and the fountains of Peterhof. There is a small cafe here, but we had brought sandwiches and some fruit (compliments of the ship). Irena made the arrangement with the cafe so that we could eat our lunch there as long as we bought some wine and beer. That saved us some time for the big show in the afternoon.

There are more than 140 fountains and statues in the park. The main one has Samson fighting the lion, a representation of Peter battling and conquering the Swedes. Where ever we went, there were fountains, people and nice gardens. We made our way to the water front, the Baltic, or actually, the Gulf of Finland, and Monplaisier Palace, the rather modest retreat for Peter and his guests.

Irena got us inside quickly, bypassing others waiting to enter. This would happen every day and we never found out her secret. When asked, she just smiled.
Montplaisier was Peter's pleasure place, but yet it was decorated with simple scenes reminiscent of his stay in Holland in the late 18th century where he studied many technical details about shipbuilding. He was intriqued with that country and actually used the Dutch (more properly, Netherlands) way of naming his new city "Sint Pietersburg" (pronounced the hard way, as he insisted to his guests).
There is one room decorated with an Chinese motif. Irena would sometimes close her eyes when talking and remembering all the details we would hear coming from her lips.

To the side of this building is a trick fountain, a great place for kids to have some fun on a warm day like we had here. Normally it looks like a bunch of rocks as you walk across, but step on the wrong one and you get squirted but good. Our stroll through the park continued, but unfortunately Jim, one of our six-some, had a bad back and was unable to continue. A rick-shaw helped him get back to the bus. He was alright, but we all felt bad and wished him good luck. He decided not join us for the next two days.

All these statues and fountains are covered in gold leaf !!!

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Yusupov's Palace, our next stop in St. Petersburg

The Yusupovs were a rich family who descended from the Khans back in the 10th century. With political influences and business dealings such as porcelain factories in Moscow, they accumulated a fortune and acquired art treasures from around the world. Their palace, along the Moika River in St. Petersburg, now serves as a museum. This was also the site where the tragic murder of Rasputin took place, a shocking event that some claim helped trigger the Russian Revolution the following year. In the basement we were led to a display of photos and a re-enactment of that 1916 event.

Our bed on the Regatta may not have been as elegant as the canopy above, but it sure felt good to retire after a marvelous dinner with our friends and comparing notes of the day's happening. The following morning would be our second day in St. Petersburg.

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