Day 32 St Petersburg
After a welcome sleep we got on to the coach and were all taken to the Hermitage museum, it is a bit like the Louvre in France only it is busy! It was completely nuts inside stiflingly hot nothing to drink and a whistle stop tour. The art they have a so impressive I would have been happy to take taken three days but with the number of visitors two hours were more than I could stand. So we were offered an extended tour or a self guided tour of the modern art museum. We opted for the latter which was not our original plan, but we just could not stand the crowds.
The modern art museum was a dark contrast. There were few visitors but we had to dispose of all drink before entry only to be met by a cafe selling water and drinks n the inside. However this was in a lobby area and once you left the lobby area there was no access to any food or drink and you could not access the lobby area and your tickets were single entry, it is absolutely nuts.
The exhibition is huge and fantastic but it is all stolen art. 95% of the art was stolen from two families during the Russian revolution. These two families had a sort of impressionism arms race and they collected works whilst traditional galleries dismissed the impressionist movement. Some of the works of art were taken to the UK for a tour and the Russians tried to offer one of the families £5000 to relinquish their claim, they refused but I cannot find out if they tried to have the art seized. The value of the art will exceed £1bn.
There is a Rodin exhibition and again these were stolen from one family. I felt very uncomfortable in this gallery allowing the Russians to benefit from these works.
We returned tot he yacht to find another wedding taking place. It did not bother us as our boat seems pretty sounds proof but many people were looking at a second sleepless night.
The marina where we are staying is on a river where no rules either apply or are enforced so many speed-boats and jet skis travel at up to 40knts amongst swimmers and small children in Oppis, it is a very bad situation and noisy.
Lastly I was a bit confused by the currency and drew out 1,000 Roubles only to find that it was £12 and we did not have enough cash for a taxi back. There are no cash machines on the streets all cash machine are inside banks and so we went to a hotel to order a taxi that accepts card payments. A 30 minute taxi ride here costs about £3.
The modern art museum was a dark contrast. There were few visitors but we had to dispose of all drink before entry only to be met by a cafe selling water and drinks n the inside. However this was in a lobby area and once you left the lobby area there was no access to any food or drink and you could not access the lobby area and your tickets were single entry, it is absolutely nuts.
The exhibition is huge and fantastic but it is all stolen art. 95% of the art was stolen from two families during the Russian revolution. These two families had a sort of impressionism arms race and they collected works whilst traditional galleries dismissed the impressionist movement. Some of the works of art were taken to the UK for a tour and the Russians tried to offer one of the families £5000 to relinquish their claim, they refused but I cannot find out if they tried to have the art seized. The value of the art will exceed £1bn.
There is a Rodin exhibition and again these were stolen from one family. I felt very uncomfortable in this gallery allowing the Russians to benefit from these works.
We returned tot he yacht to find another wedding taking place. It did not bother us as our boat seems pretty sounds proof but many people were looking at a second sleepless night.
The marina where we are staying is on a river where no rules either apply or are enforced so many speed-boats and jet skis travel at up to 40knts amongst swimmers and small children in Oppis, it is a very bad situation and noisy.
Lastly I was a bit confused by the currency and drew out 1,000 Roubles only to find that it was £12 and we did not have enough cash for a taxi back. There are no cash machines on the streets all cash machine are inside banks and so we went to a hotel to order a taxi that accepts card payments. A 30 minute taxi ride here costs about £3.
-
Hermitage -
Rear of Hermitage -
Us -
Typical St petersburg skyline -
Skyline -
Linda -
End of day pick me up.