Sunday morning came and we succeeded in sleeping in until a little after 8, when our natural body clocks forced both of us up. We settled into the morning routine in a lazy fashion and made it to breakfast just as they were closing up the Compass Rose restaurant, so we made for the Lido instead, where the glory of pancakes and maple syrup awaited us!
We had deliberately chosen to do a half day, afternoon excursion on our second day in Russia, knowing full well that after our itinerary the day before, we would be exhausted and therefore would have really not enjoyed anything we did on the second day if we'd booked another full day - napping on coaches is all well and good but it doesn't make up for proper rest. So with the morning to laze about the ship and the sun high in the sky with another scorching day lined up, there was only one option..... sunbathing! yep. I haven't spent so much time sun bathing in my whole life - seriously! I hate being inactive normally and whilst I looooooooooove the sun, I'd normally rather be out doing something in it, but it was testimony to how run down I was prior to the holiday that I was up for doing as little as possible when the opportunity arose.
So as we settled down to soak up the rays, read and generally chill we looked back on the first half of the holiday and what the week ahead still had in store. It was weird that on any other cruise we'd be on our way home at that point, having done 5 or 6 manic days of sightseeing with 1 sea day to chill. This time, we felt we were just getting into the swing of things - clearly, two week cruising is the way to go (I just need to find a job where that is going to be possible and then find a secret stash of money to pay for it all....)
The morning past in a leisurely fashion and at midday we rolled ourselves off the sunbeds and headed back to the cabin to wash, change and get ready for our afternoon excursions around some of St Petersburg's most impressive cathedrals. We grabbed a quick lunch, double checked we had all the tickets, passports, cameras and headed back out to do battle with the port authorities at passport control!
It took less time to get through, although they still gave us suspicious looks - I did think for a heartbeat I had Claire's passport and visa verse but no, they just seemed to be wary of anyone coming off a cruise ship lol! Freed into the country once more, we located our coach and took our seats for our three and half hour tour of three of the most significant cathedrals in the city.
We started out at St Isaac's Cathedral, the largest Russian Orthodox Cathedral in the city, which was built between 1818 and 1853 and has a huge dome covered in about 100kg of pure gold. Breathtakingly beautiful, it reminded me in style a bit of St Paul's in London - although I think it could just be the size of dome.... sadly, I don't think the gold would stay on for long if this cathedral was in Britain. The church was ordered by Alexander the 1st to replace the church that was there before and is the 4th cathedral to stand on this spot in St Petersburg!
From here we went across the river to the fortress of St Peter and Paul where the Cathedral inside has a spire which is 400 feet high (yeah, guess why I struggled to get a decent picture of it!) and is topped with by an angel holding a cross. It was built between 1713 and 1732 and is one the most well known sights in St Petersburg and it really was a sight to behold, but first a little shopping stop just outside the fort:
Aaah, I love the name of this shop - it makes me giggle. Anyway, from the shop to the fort and into the Cathedral. It wasn't as visually striking as that of St Isaac's, but it held more gravitas as it is the final resting place of almost all the Tsar's of Russia and is said to also house the remains of Tsar Nicholas II and his family in St Catherine's chapel. The bones were interred in July 1998 after the 'discovery' of the family's final resting place and genetic testing determined that what remained of the skeletons was indeed that of the royal family who were murdered.
Our final stop of the afternoon was the Cathedral which replaced St Peter and Paul as the primary Orthodox Church of St Petersburg; the Kazan Cathedral. As it is a site of worship and not a museum, unlike the previous two, we were restricted on taking photo's inside; which was fair enough. A mammoth building, it is a tribute to early 19th-century Russian architecture. Based on the Basilica in Rome, although there was some argument within the orthodox church about building a cathedral based on a catholic place of worship - got to love how religious denominations of the same faith argue over something as simple as bricks and mortar! Anyway, you'll have to take me word for it that the Cathedral is stunning - like everything else we'd seen in Russia there was gold and decoration as far as the eye could see. How anyway can stay focused through a service in one of their churches or cathedrals is beyond me, my mind would be wandering within seconds and I'd spend more time staring at the ceiling then paying attention to a voice droning from the front (though I'll own to doing that most sunday's anyway - naughty me!)
By the time we'd finished at the cathedrals and battled the ever rising temperatures, we psyched ourselves up to face the port authorities one last time. After 5 rounds with them, I was ready to deal with anything they could throw at us; slow service, evil glares, suspicious double checking of the passport! but what we got was a passing glance at the passports and the distinct impression that they didn't care now that we were leaving the country! lol!
Back on ship we headed for a cup of tea and checked the daily newsletter for that evenings entertainment. Tonight was due to have a deck party as we sailed away from Russia and on to Helsinki but first, dinner and the show; Concerto Goes Pop. Our evening prep followed in the usual fashion and although it was the only night I didn't wear a dress - shocking, I know! the wardrobe choices were, as always strategic so we didn't clash. Whilst I was going to be fairly covered up in dress trousers and a top, Claire was taking the opposite route and wearing one of her shortest dresses in the collection! lol!
Dinner was beautiful, but I can't recall the conversation being anything special and before too long we were up in the show lounge ready to listen to the team perform a little bit of everything from pop to film classics and everything in between. With Rob still out with an injury and the team two other members short - having flown home that day for different reasons, it was incredible that the stage didn't seem empty or that anything was out of place. Hats off for the hard work that they had put in to re-arrange the show and cover all the parts. The show over, we made our usual route upstairs and were just ordering in a round of drinks when Lauren informed Richard that it was raining outside - the deck party, it appeared, was not going to happen. Well, not on deck anyway.
With the decision made to move the deck party in to High Spirits, the evening went on as planned and we sat listening to the band and laughing at the game show, Name that tune. We were both officially useless at it! The game show finished and Claire volunteered to go and get whisky from the cabin whilst I kept the seats. When she returned it was with bizarre news. Apparently there had been a letter put in the cabin apologising for the ballet and the port authorities the night before. It turned out that the excursions team had been lied to and the ballet was never due to be Swan Lake, but Sleeping Beauty all along and by the time the company had realised the mistake - an hour before we were due to leave for the performance, they decided to concoct their own fairy story and spin us a tale rather then own up to their mistake. Due credit to the excursions team, they felt it only right to tell us the truth, once they knew it and part of the cost had been reimbursed to our account. Blimey. My opinion of the ballet company sank a little lower. Oh well.
11:30 rolled round soon enough and the entertainment's team were ready to go with the indoor 'deck' party, and ladies and gentlemen - 'I know, it's only rock and roll, but I like it!' Thirty minutes of classic rock and roll anthems, and yes, we danced! Brilliant!
Hot and tired, we escaped out on to the deck to cool down and claim a seat under the canopy which we hoped would be dry. The rain had stopped but there was water all over the deck and it was fairly lethal underfoot. We claimed the first table on the right as we stepped out and I quickly discarded my shoes and curled up on the seat to save my trousers for soaking up the standing water! We settled into the chairs and looked out over the sea, which was properly dark for the first time since we'd headed this far north and watched the most incredible lightening show. We had calm seas, no rain, no thunder, but bolts of lightening crackling across the sky, lighting the sea up with a surreal sort of silver light. Breath-taking!
Alistair joined us and was one of the few that braved the deck with us, although he did have to dry a chair off, as the two on the opposing side of the table we had claimed were open to the elements and had been drenched when the rain hit. Oops! well, we were dry at least. hehe :) We passed an hour or so in our usual fashion and asked him if he wanted to join us again for dinner in the upcoming week, which he said he would. I can't recall exactly what we discussed that night other than one of the show teams' replacements arriving the next day in Helsinki and I have a funny feeling we talked religion too - well, with all those cathedrals we'd seen, it was a fairly natural progression of topic. But whatever we talked about, the end of our day past in comfortable companionship and we parted company fairly early (well about 1am-ish) as we had a moderately early start the next day and were in need of sleep!
Russia had been much like a fairy-tale, although probably one written by the Brothers Grimm. For the most part, it had been magical, mesmerising and unforgettable; but there was a sour note that left a bitter taste about it all too. Nevertheless, St Petersburg has me hooked and I will go back one day - until then, dasvidania!
