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| Our new found friends |
So far we have met some wonderful people on this cruise. I guess in a way they are kindred spirits. Like us, we don't let age be a barrier to us or our activities. This tour has a lot of Aussies and Brits so it is always interesting talking about where we come from and so on. One couple we met are two ladies travelling together, Robyn and Carol. They are a bundle of fun and always up for a good laugh.
A few more ships have arrived and a phenominal amount of busses were parked ready to take tourists to local attractions. It was a job to get the bus out and on the road as everyone was leaving at once. Out on the road it didn't take long to get onto a freeway and get some speed up. The road system is amazing with flyovers, underpasses and turnpikes, and in some cases all together. The freeways are 3 lanes in each direction, and given the population is around 5 million, traffic flows pretty well mostly.
In no time we were at Peterhof Palace. As usual opulence abounds and this place has a focus on water features. The fountains work on gravity with water from 40 km away. Through a system of sluices and reducing pipes, the water is directed to the fountains. Because of the distance, pressure builds up and the fountains operate. As with a lot of places in Europe and the Eastern block, building and fountains were damaged during WW2. There are 150 fountains and around 1 million cubic metres of water redirected through the estate daily.
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| The Sun Fountain |
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| Fountain with original Palace in background |
The original palace here is a lot smaller than all the others we have seen. It is very comfortable and overlooks the Gulf of Finland. You can see why this would have been a popular location for Peter the Great to come and unwind after a hard day of war and pillage. He was agoraphobic so the smaller buildings were more suited to him.
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| View toward the second summer palace |
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| Man with the golden .....? |
Returning to the bus we pass through the main cascade. At the time we were there they were preparing for the closing of the fountain festival so there was a lot of scaffold and workmen on site.
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| Vlad our Guide with me |
We returned to the ship for lunch and bid farewell to our guide Vlad. We now had the afternoon free to do what we wanted. Our plan was to visit the artilliary museum and if time permitted the Faberge Museum. When we checked the opening times we found the artilliary museum would be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Just our luck! I guess it was going to be Faberge then.
This museum is not like the rest. It was less crowded and aside from a group of French tourists getting in the road, it was relatively easy going. Seeing all this artwork by Carl Faberge, as well as the Romanoff collection was awe inspiring. Of particular interest was the order of St George Faberge egg.
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| Order of St George Egg |
We also saw some engraved cigarette cases and remembered we found some cleaning up the house after Ann's father passed away. We will have to check them now on the off chance. Overall there was a lot of interesting art works in the museum and its worth a look
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| Display in Faberge Museum |
After the Museum we returned to the ship to get ready to sail off. We had an emergency drill and official greeting by the Captain and set sail. Then it was off for another excellent meal followed by a concert in the President's Lounge.
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