We are off to eat and drink around the world :)....

[dgbg100106]

That Rasputin story is great! This palace is gorgeous in a totally different way than the other place.

I agree, it was different then the others, this one was "lived in" compared to the others. This was the residence not just a summer or winter palace.

 

[tiggrbaby]

Amazing pics and I just love all the history to go with it! Thanks so much for sharing!

 

[franandaj]

There told us that the beds are so short because it was believed that if you slept while sitting up that you would be in better health.

When we were on the Mayflower II talking to one of the Living Historians (posing as a sailor), we asked the same question. He said something (in an accent) about sleeping flat and the "juices of his stomach" coming up to choke him. Essentially they didn't have a cure for GERD and the unbalanced diets that they ate back then meant that they were constantly experiencing acid reflux.

What beautiful and ornate rooms. When I saw the picture of Rasputin's quarters, it reminded me of the Modern Marvels show where they covered his death. I remembered seeing the room. What an amazing place! I would love to attend a concert in that Hall.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Stunning. Thanks for sharing

 

[dgbg100106]

Amazing pics and I just love all the history to go with it! Thanks so much for sharing!

I have to put all of that in there or I can't remember where I have been...

I think it is a sign of getting older...

 

[dgbg100106]

When we were on the Mayflower II talking to one of the Living Historians (posing as a sailor), we asked the same question. He said something (in an accent) about sleeping flat and the "juices of his stomach" coming up to choke him. Essentially they didn't have a cure for GERD and the unbalanced diets that they ate back then meant that they were constantly experiencing acid reflux.

What beautiful and ornate rooms. When I saw the picture of Rasputin's quarters, it reminded me of the Modern Marvels show where they covered his death. I remembered seeing the room. What an amazing place! I would love to attend a concert in that Hall.

Alison, that makes perfect sense, thanks for sharing that info... So how wonderful was the Mayflower II?

You can buy tickets online to attend a concert there, none were happening while we were there, put they did have a sign up for the nutcracker.

The only problem they mentioned was how small the stage was, but musical concert would be amazing...

 

[dgbg100106]

Stunning. Thanks for sharing

no problem, if I did not document with pictures and some notes, I would never remember where I have been, after multiple days of seeing different countries, it tends to blurr...

 

[dgbg100106]

After we loaded up on the bus for our next stop, we passed this place...

Frommer's Review

This bohemian basement on the foggy banks of Moika Canal, named after one of Dostoyevsky's novels, attracts a fair share of brooding, philosophical types of all nationalities. It bills itself as a vegetarian restaurant, and there is indeed no meat on the menu, but most people come here to warm up with a glass of mulled wine or the complimentary welcome shot of vodka, or to chill out with a book and a cool drink in the back room. The food is homey and satisfying, especially anything with the wild mushrooms that Russians are so expert at preparing, as well as the miniature pies (pirozhki) stuffed with cabbage, apricots, or potatoes. Idiot is a great place to stop while wandering the Moika, since there's nowhere else to eat nearby.

 

[dgbg100106]

After a short ride we arrive at St. Isaac's Cathedral

St. Isaac's Cathedral was originally the city's main church and the largest cathedral in Russia. It was built between 1818 and 1858, by the French-born architect Auguste Montferrand, to be one of the most impressive landmarks of the Russian Imperial capital. One hundred and eighty years later the gilded dome of St. Isaac's still dominates the skyline of St. Petersburg. Although the cathedral is considerably smaller than the newly rebuilt Church of Christ the Savior in Moscow, it boasts much more impressive fades and interiors.

The cathedral's facades are decorated with sculptures and massive granite columns (made of single pieces of red granite), while the interior is adorned with incredibly detailed mosaic icons, paintings and columns made of malachite and lapis lazuli. A large, brightly colored stained glass window of the "Resurrected Christ" takes pride of place inside the main altar. The church, designed to accommodate 14,000 standing worshipers, was closed in the early 1930s and reopened as a museum. Today, church services are held here only on major ecclesiastical occasions.

The cathedral's main dome rises 333 ft and is plated with pure gold. The dome was gilded by a technique similar to spraypainting; the solution used included toxic mercury, the vapors of which caused the deaths of an unknown number of workers. The dome is decorated with twelve statues of angels by Josef Hermann. These angels were likely the first large sculptures produced by the then novel process of electrotyping, which was an alternative to traditional bronze casting of sculptures.

The exterior, which barely hints at the riotously rich interior, is faced with gray and pink stone, and features a total of 112 red granite columns with Corinthian capitals, each hewn and erected as a single block: 48 at ground level, 24 on the rotunda of the uppermost dome, 8 on each of four side domes, and 2 framing each of four windows. The rotunda is encircled by a walkway accessible to tourists. 24 statues gaze down from the roof, and another 24 from the top of the rotunda.

The cathedral's bronze doors are covered in reliefs, patterned after the celebrated doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni in Florence, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti.
Just look at how small these people look standing next to the doors.....

The massive portico columns were raised with the use of enormous wooden frameworks before the walls were erected. The enormous building rests on 10,000 tree trunks that were sunk by an army of serfs into the marshy banks upon which the cathedral is situated.

I am sure by now you guys are crazy looking at buildings, but I love the shapes, and styles, and carvings that can be found in some these most historic buildings.

You just don't see a lot of that here in the USA...

Next we go inside......

 

[dgbg100106]

The interior was originally decorated with scores of paintings by Carlo Brullo and other great Russian masters of the day. When these paintings began to deteriorate due to the cold, damp conditions inside the cathedral, Montferrand ordered them to be painstakingly reproduced as mosaics, a technique introduced in Russia by Mikhail Lomonosov. This work was never completed.

St. Isaac's has several marvelous oak and bronze doors, some weighing as much as 20 tons.

The iconostasis is framed by eight columns of semiprecious stone: six of malachite and two smaller ones of lazurite. The four pediments are also richly sculpted.

A dozen gilded statues of angels, each six metres tall, face each other across the interior of the rotunda. They were constructed using galvanoplastic technology, making them only millimeters thick and very lightweight. St. Isaac's Cathedral represents the first use of this technique in architecture.

The wooden items in the next set of pictures are of models used to illustrate the construction and restoration of this amazing Cathedral.
The church on St Isaac's Square was ordered by Tsar Alexander I, to replace an earlier Rinaldiesque structure, and was the fourth consecutive church standing at this place, these models show all the churches.

St Isaac’s Cathedral is the third tallest cupola construction in the world. It’s cupola served as a model for White House in Washington.

This cathedral took 40 years to build 1818-1858 and is one of the largest cathedrals in the world. It has a magnificet golden dome roof which was made with 220ibs of gold.

 

[dgbg100106]

Internal features such as columns, pilasters, floor, and statue of Montferrand are composed of multicolored granites and marbles gathered from all parts of Russia.

This is the bust of the architect

I thought that this was just beautiful

Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted dove representing the Holy Spirit.

This is the shrine to the Wonderworking Tikhvin Icon of the Theotokos.
(Say that 5 times)

Much of the St. Isaac's iconostasis is adorned with mosaics such as this one of Jesus' last supper with his apostles. Looks like a painting, doesn't it?

The three-tiered Iconostasis of St. Isaac's is decorated with mosaics and this stained glass window of Jesus.

 

[Pinkocto]

I love this kind of stuff, am constantly amazed by the workmanship.

 

[dgbg100106]

I love this kind of stuff, am constantly amazed by the workmanship.

good.... I got some more to share!!!

 

[dgbg100106]

This is the wonderful group of people that we traveled with for the two days in St Petersburg....

On our way back to the ship we passed a nice band playing for us...

Tonight is a specialty dinner for us, you have to pay extra for this and it is so worth the cover charge...

Let me start by saying that David and I are so tired, from running around non stop over the past two days. That we can hardly keep our eyes open.

But we are gonna try.

Antipasti: Selection of cured meats, Parmesan cheese, roasted peppers and Kalamata olives

Calamari Fritto Misto: Golden fried calamari with marinara sauce and lemon garlic aioli.

Casserola e Granchio (Lump Crab) baked with sweet yellow corn, provolne and leeks.

We are sailing out of port at this time and we were seated right next to the window so I snapped this

Next up Tomato soup, very rustic and beautiful.

Italian Tagliare Assortito: (Italian Chop Chop) Soppressata, egg, tomato, celery, corn, radicchio,romaine, cucumber, avocado and Italian dressing

My beautiful husband....

Costoletta di Vitello (Grilled Milk - Fed Veal Chop): Creamy parmesan polenta, spinach and Marsala sauce

Bistecca Toscana "Ribeye": Blackened Angus Ribeye steak, Cajun spiced butter, marinated pepper and baked pecorino "mac & cheese"

Linguini Alfredo: White wine, garlic cream sauce, chicken, crispy pancetta and Italian parsley

The sun was setting as we were eating....

Some nice coffee's to warm us up a bit and let the food settle prior to desert...

Tiramisu

Selection of Gelato and Sorbetto

Tuscan Grille Crème Brûlée - Pop-Rock Berries Gelato.

I cant remember what this was and did not make a note...

fondu and fruit..

Now it is time to walk some to let the food settle and then we are off to bed....

 

[franandaj]

Alison, that makes perfect sense, thanks for sharing that info... So how wonderful was the Mayflower II?

no problem, if I did not document with pictures and some notes, I would never remember where I have been, after multiple days of seeing different countries, it tends to blurr...

^ ^ ^ ^

Our trip to Boston/Cape Cod was in 2002! I know it was enjoyable and educational, but at this point that's about all I remember!

I love the pictures of the beautiful architecture! That meal looks amazing too! I'm sure I could not eat that much!

 

[dgbg100106]

^ ^ ^ ^

Our trip to Boston/Cape Cod was in 2002! I know it was enjoyable and educational, but at this point that's about all I remember!

I love the pictures of the beautiful architecture! That meal looks amazing too! I'm sure I could not eat that much!

We did not eat it all.... But we tried everything...

 

[Pinkocto]

What a nice small group to enjoy all those memories with. I guess I was thinking you had tons of people with you, but that's much nicer.

That meal looks magnificent!

 

[dgbg100106]

What a nice small group to enjoy all those memories with. I guess I was thinking you had tons of people with you, but that's much nicer.

That meal looks magnificent!

I organized this group for a private tour, we did not get bunched in with the ship tours. so it made it much nicer.

It was a busy couple of days but oh the memories will be there a life time..

 

[dgbg100106]

Day 12 - Tallinn, Estonia

Well this day started out similar to the others. We went up the lounge, had breakfast, a couple of Bellini's and back to the cabin. We are so tired and worn out from non stop Russia that we decide to just take it easy....

So around 10 AM we head out of the ship, most everyone is gone and some are already coming back (they must have left at 6AM... Something wrong with those people).

We just decide to walk around a see Estonia for what it was.

From the pier...

as we walk...

This is Fat Margaret...

Fat Margaret Tower guarded the entry gate of the town (in medieval times, the sea came much closer to this point than it does today). The relief above the gate dates from the 16th century, during the Hanseatic times, when Sweden took Estonia from Germany.

Just inside the gate, you’ll feel the economic power of those early German trading days.

Three Sisters...

Three Sisters is a textbook example of a merchant home/warehouse/office from the 15th-century Hanseatic Golden Age. The charmingly carved door near the corner evokes the wealth of Tallinn’s merchant class.

Some Neat houses on Pikk Street:

This street, the medieval merchants’ main drag leading from the harbor up into town, is lined with interesting buildings—many were warehouses complete with cranes on the gables.

In several of the pictures you can see St. Olav’s Church (Oleviste Kirik, a Baptist church today), notable for what was once the tallest spire in Scandinavia. based on other reviews we decided to skip this.

Locals strolling this street are reminded of dark times under Moscow’s rule. The KGB used the tower at St. Olav’s Church to block Finnish TV signals. And the ministry of police (nearby at Pikk 59) was, before 1991, the sinister local headquarters of the KGB. “Creative interrogation methods” were used here. Locals well knew that “from here started the road of suffering,” as Tallinn’s troublemakers were sent to Siberian gulags. The ministry building was called “the tallest building in town” (because “when you’re in the basement, you can already see Siberia”). Notice the bricked-up windows at foot level.

As we were strolling up Pikk street we saw this....

First let me say that my husband LOVES, yes LOVES
marzipan. now I like it too by not anywhere near what he does.

This my friends is a picture of the Marzipan museum.
so we must go inside.

We leave with just one bar... Whew...

 

[dwheatl]

Fun pictures. I'm not a huge marzipan fan, but the museum looked cute. At least you got a little touch of Disney in your report.
I forget - were you on a Costa ship?