St. Petersburg, Russia – June 2016

We’ve always heard how beautiful St. Petersburg is, and were looking forward to a three-day visit. We were joined by our good friends Neil and Anjali from New York on their last big trip before starting a family. It was great to spend time with them, but the weather was horrible until the day we left. I’ve always thought my impression of a city is heavily influenced by the weather, so I’m not sure what I would say about the city if it had been sunny. For sure, it has numerous beautiful churches, palaces and museums – but otherwise the architecture seems boxy and simple. What stands out are the exteriors and domes of the historic sites and the spectacular condition of their interiors. The formation of the city and the efforts made to safeguard the art and buildings during WWII (“The Great Patriotic War”) are also fascinating.

Tsar Peter the Great founded the city in the early 1700s in an attempt to “Westernize” Russia. After visiting the great European cities, he selected the St. Petersburg area to make a new start and moved the capital there from Moscow. For 200 years, it developed as the cultural center of Russia, with museums, the arts, and beautiful private and government palaces becoming the norm long after Peter died.

Fortunately, the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 was more centered in the Moscow area and much of St. Petersburg’s beauty was preserved. WWII was a different matter. The Nazis besieged the city for almost three years. An estimated 1 million of the 3 million residents died of starvation or froze to death since supplies could not reach the city. The story of efforts to preserve the art and buildings of the town despite those hardships is amazing. If you go, take the time to understand what the museum workers and residents did to preserve their heritage.

Our guides joked that Russians are stereotypically grouchy. They told us we’d rarely see a smile. Other than wedding couples doing their traditional “walk” after getting married, there did seem to be a lot of stern looks. Maybe it was the weather.

In addition to having excellent guides and tours of the most famous sites, we were privileged to experience a private tour and symphony concert in the Hermitage Museum. The next night we had a typical Russian dinner and local entertainment (and lots of vodka). The final night was the highlight – a private ballet performance and a “Cirque de Sole”-acrobat show at a formal dinner at Yusupov’s palace. The performers joined us for dinner, but I don’t think they ate anything; they’re all bone and muscle! The talent level was stunning; I put a few clips in the video below.