Copyright Jim Bellomo • 2013
Jim & Kathleen go to Europe-2013
289 - 289
Still on day one at Catherine's Palace.
The outbuildings and the grounds.
On a beautiful but HOT day!
Gorgeous skies.
Catherine's pond.
Looking back at the Palace.
Day 2 starts now.
Angie and Yuri picked us up right on time and we headed into the city.
We knew there would be problems with traffic with the White Nights Marathon going on.
We started the day at a local church.
But what a local church.
A little cooler today.
The bell tower (separate from the church)
Big dogs in Russia.
Waiting on the canal while others shop and pay for their tours.
A huge gutter spout, very typical.
St. Isaac Cathedral. We would tour inside later.
More costumed characters.
More St. Isaac's.
A statue directly across the street.
The Church of the Spilled Blood.
The original peasant entrance to the Hermitage.
Runners in the marathon pass us as we enter the Hermitage.
What follows is part of the amazing artwork in the Hermitage.
Our buddy Angela smiles from the top of the stairs.
Angie tells us a great story. She always did.
The building was originally Catherine's Winter Palace.
Kathleen likes the art.
Painted ceilings.
Portraits of Generals
Generals who were dead just got their name on a blank space.
Inlaid floor.
Catherine's throne.
Amazing floor and furnishings.
Check out this mosaic floor.
Just a little chandelier.
Floating gardens on the second floor.
The world famous peacock clock.
An amazing inlaid table.
This is all malachite.
L.C. takes a pic with his iPad.
Angie points the way.
One heck of a door.
Entirely made of Lapis Lazuli.
No piece of this giant piece is bigger than this tiny slab.
Just about every famous sculptor and artist is represented.
The entire room in panorama.
It was cooler outside than in. By this point we are wilting.
Love this face.
Looking out the window to the marathon happening in the square.
What a room!!!
A panorama of the gold room.
An inlayed floor.
Malachite again.
It's everywhere.
Check out the columns...all malachite.
Silhouetted in the Hermitage.
Art in the square.
On the way out.
More costumed characters at the end of the race.
See Bob, it is a race.
Love the uniforms.
The female winners.
A runner getting a rub down.
The finish line.
Lots going on at the end of the race.
The obelisk in the center of the square.
We go to tour the Church of the Spilled Blood
This church is the one you think of when you think of Russian churches.
A truly amazing work of art, inside and out.
Inside it was dark but beautiful.
The communists used it to store vegetables.
It has been completely restored since the fall of the Soviet Union.
An amazing restoration.
This now a museum and tourist attraction.
Inside the dome.
There are no pews since in the Russian Orthodox Church, everyone stands for the entire service.
One of the few pieces of art depicting Jesus as a teenager.
Another amazing floor.
Behind the church is this canal that we sailed down yesterday.
From the other side.
Kathleen found a place to lean while I shot pictures.
I could shoot this church all day looking for a new angle.
More costumes outside the church???
Gates to the grounds.
Across the street from the church. I looked for Rob Reiner but couldn't find him.
The rectory across the street.
Back in the van.
Driving around the city again trying to avoid the marathon.
Wish I could see this band.
Time for lunch.
Our lunchtime restaurant.
Great food.
All included in the tour.
The menu. Ours was fixed.
And started with this undressed salad.
And after a soup I forgot to shoot (that was very good) we had kind of a stroganoff.
A panorama of the restaurant.
Mike in reflection.
Doors? Now those are doors. On St. Isaac's Cathedral.
Detail.
The ceiling of the entry way.
Inside St. Isaac's
Impressive but no Church of the Blood.
Doors. This place has great doors.
The architect..
Scale models of the different churches that have stood in that spot.
This dove is actually very tiny.
After St. Isaac's we took a subway ride.
Even the subway stations were amazing.
This subway station honored the Russian Navy.
The longest escalator I have ever seen.
Lots of ads to read on the way down.
The ride down took a full three minutes and the escalator was faster than US escalators.
Looking back up.
The station downstairs.
The floor.
On the platform.
We were on the Purple Line.
Here comes the train.
In the car. A car came about once a minute. Seriously.
Less than a minute per car.
Going up at the next station.
This station honors sports.
Our last stop, the Peter and Paul Fortress.
All the Russian Czars, as well as other members of the Royal Family are buried inside.
Graves of the Czars.
No throne. Remember, everyone in the Russian church stands up. Even the Czar.
The cross on the top of the Church of Peter and Paul.
We saw this old helicopter taking off doing tourist trips. I am making a cool animated GIF on this.
A BMW for Brian
On our way back to the ship we saw these Communist era apartments.
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