2013 Baltic Cruise
– Part 8 - St Petersburg – Day 2
Days 10 - 16th May 2013
My excursion was only due to
leave the ship at 8am – so had plenty of time to have a good breakfast and
relax before the canal cruise and the visit to the Peter & Paul Fortress.
I knew there were three cruise
ships due into St Petersburg that morning and so hoped they would dock before I
left – my wish came true – I was in Cruise ship heaven – the MSC Musica docked first followed by the
Costa Pacifica and finally the Empress.
Now there were six cruise ships
in the harbour and wondered if the harbour would cope with all these
passengers.
They coped exceptionally well –
no problems going through passport control – actually there were no queues at
all – the only hold up was in the city centre - traffic jams on both days. This
did delay us somewhat – but it was perfect for pic taking.
Our canal cruise was cut short by
15 minutes because of our delay in getting there on time and were then off to
the Peter & Paul Fortress.
Passed the Cathedral of the Spilt Blood on our way to the Peter & Paul Fortress & Cathedral.
The cathedral is being restored
on the outside but inside it is in perfect condition – the Romanov Tsars are
buries here from Peter the great to the last Tsar Nicholas the Second with his
family and servants who were all shot during the revolution in 1917.
Two of the children’s bones have
not been found as yet – who knows? Maybe they were helped to escape by
sympathisers - that’s one for all the conspiracy theorists out there.
Apparently according to our tour guide
the DNA test have not been recognised by the Russian Orthodox Church - so when
they do a church mass the doors to the room is closed.
There is a lot of restoration
going on in St Petersburg – there are just so many palaces that are in need of
some TLC – but it would appear that they are doing the best that they can.
I will most definitely being
going back one day soon – I missed so much this time round – there are only a
certain amount of excursions to do in the two days that were in St Petersburg –
it’s all so rushed - which is such a
pity.
1st to depart St Petersburg
was the cruise ship P & O Arcadia
2nd to depart St
Petersburg was the cruise ship Thompson Spirit
3rd to depart St Petersburg
was the cruise ship MSC Musica
Finally it was our turn to leave
St Petersburg
Part 2 of departure from St Petersburg coming soon.
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