We dock at 7 o clock sharp.

Fortunately, our tour operator (Petersburg up close) had chosen a very favorable start time for our excursion: 10 o’clock.

Most of the passengers had already disembarked and we were able to pass the gruff immigration without waiting.

We were then welcomed by the organizing manager, who divided us into groups and presented us with our tour guides. The group size was a pleasant 8 persons, the coach air-conditioned and with a lot of space for legs and bags.

First, we took a boat tour of the Neva, which is only 74 km long but still the richest river in the North.

We are informed that we are (again) in the Venice of the north (which was already the case in Copenhagen and Stockholm). From the Neva we can admire the Ermitage, the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Winter Palace of the Tsar. We learn about the history and feds of the Romanovs, about the brutality and mercilessness of the Bolsheviks, about the oh-so-intelligent ruler Putin (??). About the beautiful, intelligent female rulers of Russia (Katharina / Elisabeth) and their children.

We get to know the Nevsky Prospect, learn that this almost 5 km long boulevard originally planned as a connecting road between Moscow and Novgorod, today counts as one of the biggest attractions in St. Petersburg. We see the Singer building (sewing machines), hear that the street was named „October 25th Street“ during the October Revolution. It is really impressive.

We also see St. Isaac’s Cathedral, the 2nd tallest building in St. Petersburg. Exciting fun-fact: the gilding of the dome was ensured by making an Au / Hg amalgam. This church holds 10,000 people … that’s hard to imagine!

We learn that this huge equestrian statue rests on only 2 points (hooves) and is dedicated to Nicholas I.

In spite of all the traffic, the place exudes restfullness.

Meanwhile, we are on the road for a few hours and the impressions begin to rob our energy. We are grateful that our tour guide announces our lunch break.

We luncheon in a café outside of the city and eat hearty and sweet dumplings (Piroggen). Very delicious.

Then we are off to Pushkin where we let us push through Catherine’s Palace.

Here we see the (quite) impressive amber room and are literally overwhelmed by the golden splendor of the suite. It comes as a shock as we realize that (given we are Germans) we are yet again burdened with a great debt of culpability when we see the pictures of the palace completely destroyed by the Nazis.

We continue to walk through the beautiful park and are then happy to be able to get back to the ship – exhausted, impressed and of course hungry again.

It takes a long time: Although only 4 people are in front of us at the passport control, we need 20 minutes.

We look forward to having dinner at La Palmeraie.