Postcards from Russia!!
Today we got up and saw the Church of the Spilled Blood..this marvelous Russian-style church was built on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated in March 1881..gorgeous and we can see it from our hotel room lite up at night...it isn't the Eiffel Tower, but it is so so beautiful.
No European capital tour would be complete with out at least one cathedral. We went to see St Isaac’s -fourth largest domed cathedral in the world after St Peter’s in Rome, St Paul’s in London and Sta Maria del Fiore in Florence. Cool - in and out in 15 minutes...lovely.
Then the undisputed highlight of the year...a private guided tour of the Hermitage Museum...This was a once in a lifetime thrill...I will write more details later, but here is an overview. We were invited by a friend of ours from London to meet with a friend of theirs who is American and is working at the Hermitage - as it turns out a neigbor from Weston, CT working in St Petersburg..small world. He hooked us up with an amazing private tour of the Tzar's treasury (code for precious jewels and most precious objects and antiquities)...then off to see two Leonardo Da Vinci's, Monets, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso,..on and on and on and on...absolutely amazing and so so approachable and accessable.
The Hermitage started its life as a Palace, but when Catherine the Great's art collection began to overflow her home, she (and subsequent tsars) added on. When the revolution broke out, Lenin declared the Hermitage a state museum, and the priceless art was kept safe..well, until World War II and the German's..
An amazing place, filled with beauty, art, history and pagentry...I could have spent two days, but after 3 hours the girls grumbled something about eating and being tired so we had to move on...but I know I will never forgot what I saw...it was one of the Top 10 favorite ever moments for me...
Here are some of the highlights for you to enjoy....
The Hermitage
Monet's Hayfields - you could touch the paint on the canvas - no glass on it - wide open..
Catherine the Sleigh and then Throne - cool
Da Vinci Madonna - they had two Da Vinci Madonnas..I liked this best, but unlike at the Louvre where its all in glass in the darkest corner of the museum, these are placed next to a window with not fan fare..just art to be enjoyed - from the 1500's...and in front of an ordinary window...approachable.
Church of the Spilled Blood..amazing to see in real life...
When I get home I will try to figure out how to label the picture, but suffice to say - highlight of a lifetime. Of course the girls and Bob are being nice to me, I think they would rather be in Disneyworld...that will come I suppose...this is amazing.
We are off to bed and tommorrow we head outside the city to see the Peteroff Palace...more details.
Some miscellaneous observations:
It is cold here, cars don't get washed, they wear those fur hats, soldiers are everywhere, with guns- there is cavier at breakfast...people speak English but they have their own alphabet that looks different than ours, so we can't read a thing...Megan had to have a set of those nesting wooden dolls, lost the smallest one under a case in the Treasury - couldn't go searching for it...this is terrific...
Goodnight and God Bless America..Love you..
Comments