More St Petersburg

Don’t know if I mentioned it but at the airport on arrival I bought for $A12 a one month unlimited data SIM card which gives me internet at all times which is very handy when touring.

Anyway we get going at around 09:15 on Friday heading down to the ferry point (read hydrofoil) to Petershof Palace. This is the is a series of palaces and gardens laid out on the orders of Peter the Great. These Palaces and gardens are sometimes referred as the "Russian Versailles".

There are magnificent gardens, gold domed spires on the main buildings and chapel with the most beautiful array of fountains and lakes. We walk around and decide against going inside the palace especially with the two kids and I have after all been in many palaces before including Versailles.

We have some refreshments including a caviar blinis for me which Justin tops by sending me a picture of him having Churros with Aden and Josh but I get him back later when I send him a picture of Cinnabon – score one for DS.
On the hydrofoil back to the hotel with the kids who grab some corn sticks at the jetty.

We chill at the hotel for a while and I actually fall asleep for an hour before I go to the Westfield down the road and meet Ally, Nye and the kids. I have arranged that they should go out with Alex for dinner and I would look after the kids, something which Ally is very nervous about. Anyway Nye and Ally slip away without incident and we have dinner at TGIF because it is easier than other options. Jules and I play a game where if he misbehaves he goes back into the stroller and after establishing the rules he sits on the chair for thirty minutes - unheard of!! Went to playland for a short while which of course was very popular and back to the hotel where the fun and games begin. Jules decides to cry, well scream would be a better description, for an hour while I try to get him to sleep but I wasn’t in the least bit concerned as there is not one tear in his eye – just a battle of wills.

Anyway Nye Ally and Alex come back after about 3.5 hours and 10 minutes after Jules has finally succumbed to sleep. I head off for bed while Nye Alex and Auryn go for desert and some nightcaps. Things stay open here VERY late. The restaurant we went to the night before closes at 06:00!!!

A good night’s sleep for a change and I wake at 08:00, catch up on emails, chats and the like and my blog writing while everybody else is asleep.

Next morning Alex and I go one stop on the Metro to a cake shop where we have coffee and cake. Interestingly St Petersburg sits on a bog and the stations are so deeply buried that the escalator going down makes London’s Underground look like shallow. No photos due to terrorism. The stations are quite grand although the one we started on was new(ish) wide, well maintained and quite impressive. Trains run every 3 minutes which is kind of cool.  Oh and BTW the cake was excellent (ok the cakes were).

Alex goes off to visit his grandfather who is much better, I walk back to the hotel and then Nye, Ally, kids and I go to the Peter Paul Fortress. Arm up in the air and a seaman who speaks good English pulls over and takes us there for RUB300 (see below). The fortress has a number of elements including the Burial Cathedral of the Czars, a prison which only ever housed political prisoners.
Unfortunately the weather is lousy and I only get to see the Cathedral while Nye/Ally visit the prison and space museum. While standing under shelter a tour guide latched on to us and told us so much about the history of the place it was amazing. Although we did tip her she wasn’t looking for money she was, I suspect, between jobs and was a passionate St Petersburger who wanted to draw us into the beauty of the place.

To get to the hotel I hail a taxi asking how much he says meter. A taxi with a meter how bad can that be? BAD the meter ticked so fast I thought it would take off. RUB900 later and lots of choice words between us with his English skills vanishing in a twinkling I get back to the hotel where I relax for a while before our planned dinner at 21:00.

We finally get going at 21:30 and when we find that Ally and the kids have decided not to come along we change our plan and go to Palkin Restaurant, the number one of 715 rated restaurants on Tripadvisor.

Alex knows I enjoy the occasional fine dining and had planned to go here all along especially as he hadn’t ever been. The Palkin Restaurant, founded by the merchant Anisim Palkin in 1785, was a favourite place of such outstanding persons as Tchaikovsky, Dostoevsky and many others.

Well this ended up making it into my top 10 list of dining experiences on every count. The room was grand without being opulent, the service was outstanding without being officious and the food was sensational. Amazingly the Maître Di was just 23 years old and was awesome at his job. My meal comprised Foie Gras with figs and foam, Crayfish Bisque, Chateaubriand and berries flambéed with Ice Cream made at the table – and of course Amuse Bouche and mid-course sorbet. I should explain that the berries were flambéed at the table, raspberries frozen in nitrogen to break them into pebbles to sit atop the ice cream and wearing goggles and gloves the Maître Di took a mixture of cream etc put it in a bowl with liquid nitrogen to make the ice cream freshly. Towards the end of the meal the pianist stopped playing and they put on a selection which could have been a playlist of my favourites from my iPod. $A150 a head including a sizeable tip and lots of wine and vodka.

We walk home to the hotel where Nye and Alex decide on a nightcap while bed beckons me – it is 01:00 after all.


St Isaacs

Petershof

Talk Soon
Love to all
David