It's 11 p.m. in St. Petersburg and it's still daylight. That gives you an idea of how far north we are.
It was a terrific, full day, dimmed only by the rain that was falling spordically. After breakfast we headed to the State Hermitage Museum, a massive place housed in palaces built for the Tsars when the government was in St. Petersburg. The collection of paintings and other objects is extensive: according to one observation, if you were to spend one minute looking at each item, you would need 11 years to see them all. Needless to say, we were on an express viewing, following our guide through 5 buildings, seeing the highlights.
When we had an hour of free time, Jan and I went to the Impressionists section: there are literally rooms of Picasos, Van Goghs, Manets, among others. What a feast!
This afternoon we were entertained aboard ship by an Argentine-born tenor and his Russian wife who accompanied him on the piano. They treated us to some well-known (to them) Russian songs, the translations suggesting the beauty of Russian landscape and the passionate nature of Russian love.
After another delicious dinner, it was back to the Hermitage area where we took in a full production of the "Swan Lake" ballet in the personal theatre of Catherine the Great. It was a good performance, definitely a cultural exposure, with a 30 member live orchestra.
We are definitely getting a good feel for Russian culture and heritage. Tomorrow it's more sight-seeing, starting with the Tsar's Village in the town of Pushkin.
More to come...
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