Church of the Saviour. It was built where emperor Alexander II was mortally wounded on March 1 1881.
56 days ago I left Vancouver for Istanbul, for a month and a half of work, presentations and travel. After spending 10 days in Istanbul, we were off to St. Petersburg for the first of 3 presentations. You might wonder what makes St. Petersburg so significant. It’s not the city itself, but the country. Russia.
When I was a child (somewhere around 12 years old) I was watching an athletics competition in the USSR on tv. It is as I watched this and saw the onion domed buildings in the background that I thought to myself “I want to travel”. That is the first time I consciously thought “I want to travel”. So much to see out there. It was fitting then that what finally brought me to Russia was an Olympic related work project. I was excited about being in Russia. Home of Vladislav Tretiak (if you don’t know who he is, look him up) and various other Russian athletes I have enjoyed watching over the years. I have always had a soft spot for Russian athletes. And I’ve always had a soft spot for Russia. Granted it’s more about the Russia of the Czars…but still.
Anyhow, there I was – in St. Petersburg. And although the majority of my time there was spent in a hotel meeting room working, I did enjoy the 5-minute drive to the exhibition site and the 1 day off I scheduled for myself.
The first thing that struck me was the white nights. Living in Vancouver, we do get daylight until 10pm during the summer. But this just felt different. I would think “it’s only about 4pm, still lots of time to work”, when it was actually 9pm.
10:30pm, in front of our hotel.
11:45pm, in front of our hotel. It never got completely dark and you can see some lighter spots in the sky. Crazy.
I also loved seeing the signs in Russian. It would take a while to get that language down…
Our hotel. Park Inn isn’t exactly a Russian name…but the Pribaltiyskaya part…that’s the part i like.
Once the work was done came my one day to look around. First Stop – Church of the Saviour. Incredible building, although admittedly I still cannot decide if I actually like it or not…
There’s a beautiful garden and park right next to the church which I would have explored if I had more time. But there was so much to see and I only had one day.
Detail of the gate leading into the garden/park.
Second stop – another church close by, where you can go up the 190+ stairs to the roof. Amazing view of what is a very pretty city.
Less daunting on the way down… Although I have to say it was a pretty easy climb. Clearly I was motivated.
Loved seeing the onion domes in the distance. Not on tv, but in real life.
The river that runs through the city is beautiful.
I know. I’m in Russia so of course the signs are in Russian. Duh. But I still just loved looking at them! No idea what they said, but still…
They really do have large boulevards and squares and buildings that are truly impressive in size and architecture.
Looking down from the church roof. You don’t really get a true sense of scale unless you are standing in the square.
I’ve always been fascinated by the large doorways in Europe. This is the entrance to the church. Now you get an idea of the scale of the buildings in the square.
The detail is incredible.
Next we took a canal tour. It was lovely spending some time on the water. Apparently the city was conceived as the Venice of the north. Just one little problem….winter…the canals freeze in the winter. So eventually roads were built over the canals. But a few remain today.
And they celebrate the white nights. Then again, what else are you going to do? Might as well embrace reality.
I saved the best stop for last. You see, as I told anyone who would listen…it was time to go back to my former summer home. It had been way too long since I’d last seen it. My Summer Palace – having been Catherine the Great in a former life. 🙂 What can I say. I am embracing the little old Balinese medicine man Ketut Liyer’s declaration that I am “a Queen”.
Upon arriving I had to smile. You see, the outside of the Summer Palace is the same colour as my bedroom at home. Seems my tastes haven’t changed much over the years.
The gold…all the gold…Stunning.
My ballroom. Nice of me to let others use it for events. A wedding reception was setting up as I walked through. Can’t imagine that’s a cheap rental.
The detail in the Summer Palace is nothing short of incredible. Check out some of the floors.
Each of the rooms has its own ‘personality’. Seems I liked to dine…a lot…
I love this green room. The decor on the walls must have taken ages to finish.
The amount of gold everywhere…seriously…so much gold! Rather decadent of me.
Amazing attention to detail given to every inch of the Palace – and this is not a small Palace!
No doorway is ‘just a doorway’.
And they kept my favourite dress in prime condition, out on display for all to see.
Alexander’s clothing is on display as well. Although I (Catherine) built him his own Palace across the park from mine, he ended up spending most of his time at the Summer Palace – as it reminded him of his childhood. His place of comfort.
And then there’s the back yard – onto the stables.
I can picture the grand entrances of visiting parties – on horseback.
Looking at the shear opulence and decadence of my Summer Palace – it’s no surprise really that there was a revolution. Still, what great taste I had!
From the Summer Palace I headed to the airport to go back to Istanbul. It was a great way to end my day of sightseeing. Thank you Furkan for being my sight-seeing buddy that day and for indulging my visit to the Summer Palace.
PS – I am not certifiably crazy, nor do I actually believe I was Catherine the Great in a previous life. But it made visiting the Summer Palace and writing about it even more fun.
Looking back at the trip now, I know I want to go back to Russia and really spend some time discovering and visiting. Believe me, not all is wonderful (their sense of customer service, or lack thereof, being an example of where they really need to grow) – but it is definitely worth heading back to one day.
lisezfaire 