Sorry. I can’t explain what happened to the previous pictures. I was up and about early because it’s a long ride out to Peterhof, or Petergof. That’s the way the Russian languages transcribes the “h”sound in Russian, like a “g”. So you you see it written both ways when it’s written in English.
I was just going to stop in the bakery next door for a pastry and a cup of tea to go, but they didn’t open until 9 and it was 20 of. So I ended up sitting down for a bowl of oatmeal and a croissant at another place. Food is starting to taste good again.
I then took the subway to the stop with the bus connections to Peterhof Palace. I caught the minibus going out and it was packed with people. And it doesn’t stop often. One nice lady let me know that I should pay when I get off.
This was a neat ride. Surprising to me was that, on both sides of this major, four-Lane highway, therewas green space almost the entire way out. Sometimes it’s was a couple of hundred feet deep with only occasional stores and several of what were probable mansions earlier. There were bike paths and walking paths and people were using them.
The bus stopped right in front of Peterhof and I walked through the very, very large courtyard garden to get to the ticket counter. There were at least 10 ticket windows with lines at each of them. I think I had to wait about a quarter of an hour and people buying tickets were required to show passports. I never encountered that before!
I didn’t buy tickets to any of the museums, just the lower garden. It is gigantic and beautiful. But the weather was cool and it sprinkled on and off. I walked around and took pictures for about two hours then went back out on the Main Street to catch a bus back. This time I caught the regular bus which made all the regular stops. No zippy ride this time. And there was a couple on the bus with it’s cat in a cat carrier. That poor thing protested the entire way! But the children were entertained.
I got to the subway stop and took my train to my place. I went into the bakery right next door first and got a pastry and tea, then came in, rested up and checked out some opening times of things. I took off again and tried the Ermitage. The lines were enormous. Nope, ain’t going there today. But there was a bike race starting right on the square in front of it so I watched that for awhile then walked over to St. Isaaac’s Cathedral. (I happened to pass an Indian restaurant which I kept in mind for today.) The lines were enormous. Nope, ain’t going there.
So I walked down to a section called New Holland to see what it looked like. It took me out of the main tourist area. The architecture there was still stunning but considerably run down. It would be a shame if this old buildings couldn’t be preserved but I know it takes a lot of money and resources. The beautiful buildings are my favorite thing about the city.
So I come back home and figure out a new plan of action. I will get up early, stand in line for a big museum in the morning and hit a lesser known museum off the beaten path in the afternoon. Now that I’ve got everything figured out, I head out to a cafeteria near the subway station for a good, cheap supper. Tomorrow it’s supposed to snow. I’m glad I went to Peterhof today.
No comments:
Post a Comment