Above: The Hermitage
Above: Church on Spilled Blood
St. Nicholas’ Church
Above: Grand Palace and Summer Gardens
Above: A Russian Folk Show
I spent my day in Russia. Holy Smokes. The big disappointment was this: I couldn’t see Sarah Palin’s house from Russia. But apparently, she can see Russia from her house. Okay…. we got the bad news out of the way.
Now for the good. Which was everything.
Words cannot justly describe this adventure. Photographs certainly don’t do it justice. We experienced so very much today. This is something I will never forget.
It is funny. I say that now. BUT.
We started out at 6 a.m. this morning. I am not sure what time we made it through Immigration. ( You see. The Immigration Officer looks at you… then at your passport… looks at you… then at your passport… and this goes on and on and on.)
Anyway…. Wouldn’t you know it? It is nearly 10 p.m. and we are just now….. getting back to our cabin on the boat.
We started out touring the city of St. Petersburg. We visited an amazing Russian Orthodox Church. St. Nicholas’. They were singing mass… somewhere in the church. Goose-bumpy, I’ll tell you.
From there… We went to the Hermitage. Oh my goodness gracious. Incredible. If you spent one minute… with each painting there (more than 3 million) … it would take you nine years to get through the museum. Zhat is vhat Helen zaid. We ate the pies for lunch. Meat pies, cabbage pies, chicken pies, and mushroom pies.
The Great Palace was next, and the summer gardens, in Peterhoff. We had to wear purple museum booties on our feet. Peter the Great would have wanted it that way.
And then. Dinner. We can’t tell you where we ate. Highly secretive. But. Yuri was our waiter. We wanted to take Yuri home with us. From Beef Stroganoff to Cabbage Rolls to Potato Pancakes. Dumplings. More. Burp. And what dinner would be complete without breaking at least one Russian Law? So…. we managed to slip that one in.
Tonight a local show. Their were dancers, and a military band, and singers. I couldn’t understand a word they were saying. It was all Russian to me.
So the truth of it is this. I can’t begin to express the enormity of this day. I am constantly amazed by the life on this planet. Yet. When you have the opportunity to visit a place, and a time.. that you never could have imagined existed ….. like this. Well. It knocks your booties right off your museum feet.
Finally… the Russian Word for the day IS……. Buedtzehrohf. Pronounced “Boots Are Off”. It is what you are supposed to say when someone sneezes. Mary thought it might mean “God Bless You”…. but I think it means… “Hey, you have snot on your face.”
Enough. As Mary & I began revisiting the day in our conversation… here back on the boat…. it all started to blur together. Information overload. I just never want to forget this. It was a truly magnificent, and magical day.
“I can believe anything provided it is incredible.” – Oscar Wilde