St Petersburg--second day

We boarded this hydrofoil in front of the Hermitage. We traveled in the Bay of Finland to Peterhof, the summer palace of Peter, the Great. It was windy and gray but not cold. This route took us by some docks and other shoreline industries.




Peggy, Mila, Ellen, and Jan--the main part of the summer palace, with some of its many fountains, is visible in the background. Through a series of storage ponds and gravity, the fountains all work without pumps. Quite impressive.




There are all variety of fountains. This one recalls the sun with discs mounted at its top. The water causes this part to rotate creating a lovely swirling effect on the spouting water. Other fountains are for amusement allowing practical jokes. One is in the form of a giant mushroom with water sprinkling down from the edges. There are 176 fountains on the grounds!





The gardens are beautiful and plentiful. This greenhouse, the Orangery, is where plants are cultivated and stored during the winter. Catherine was interested in exotic plants (e.g., cabbage was an exotic at the time) and new plants were sought for her enjoyment.

After lunch at a cafe at Peterhof, we returned to St Petersburg to Moika Palace, the residence of Prince Felix Yusupov. A room in the basement is staged with wax figures to dramatize the murder of Rasputin there.

Ellen and Jan returned to the theater in the Hermitage for this evening's performance of Swan Lake by the Mariinsky Ballet. Bob and I took long naps since the jet lag finally caught up with us. After the ballet and the naps, we met for dinner at the Hermitage Restaurant. It was a perfect night for us to walk back to our hotel which is opposite St Isaac's Cathedral.

It was a full day. Ellen was wearing a pedometer and reported that she--and we!--had logged over 13,000 steps today. With the good Russian food we are enjoying, we need to keep up this level of exercise!