Princess Maria en route to Helsinki - Wednesday, 28 September

Geoff
Reaching St. Petersburg around 8am, we left the ship to go through a rather stern passport control and then take the last two available seats on a provided minibus into the middle of the city, St. Isaac's Cathedral to be precise. It came as something of a shock to the senses to be in such a busy, noisy city. Helsinki is calm and quiet as a village by comparison. Once we got our bearings, we headed for the Hermitage, possibly the principal unmissable attraction of the city. Passing the statue of Peter the Great, we made a rather haphazard way to the Hermitage.

Apparently, the director of the Hermitage once said, “I can’t say that the Hermitage is the number one museum in the world, but it’s certainly not number two.” With over three million works of art and treasures, it is amazing. I read that it would take eleven years to view all the exhibits and that much as can be seen in the museum, there are twenty times more in the vaults. We had about three hours, once we had found the correct entrance (we first started queuing at the entrance for organised groups), then negotiated the queue to get in and then the queue for tickets. The entrance fee of about £7 was very reasonable.

We had a note of the must sees so plotted a route around the many rooms. These were the Peacock Clock, a remarkable golden peacock. A revolving dial in a toadstool tells the time and, as it strikes the hour, the automaton peacock spreads its wings and toadstools, an owl and a cock come to life. In fact, this performance only takes place once a week but it is shown happening on an adjacent screen.

Next was the Great Church, a dazzling sight of gold, recently restored and then the room containing a good number of works by Rembrandt. Not having done much research, we failed to find the Italian rooms featuring Da Vinci, Canaletto, Michaelangelo and Raphael.

After this, we walked across the Palace Square to the General Staff Building where we first of all found a café to have a reviving coffee and pastry. We then went into the gallery housing many works of art. The building itself was quite a shock. From the outside, it was a long period structure built on a curve. Inside, was a completely ultra-modern building. Our main purpose was to view the works by Monet and but there were also rooms featuring Gaugin, Van Gogh, Degas, Matisse, Picasso and many others. It was all quite overwhelming.

The Nevsky Prospekt is probably the most well known thoroughfare in St. Petersburg and we cut through and walked along it for a little way, if only to get a flavour of it. We next walked alongside a canal to see the Church of the Saviour on the Spilt Blood, so named because it was built on the spot where Tsar Alexander II was murdered in 1881. Its distinctive coloured onion domes and mosaic facade make it a popular sight but, unfortunately, it was closed today.

Time was beginning to close in. There were three hourly minibuses back to the ship and we were warned not to risk relying on the last one in case there was no room on it. Therefore, we boarded the last but one but one. Here, we started chatting with Camilla, a Swede who lives in Stockholm, who was travelling for a few days before going back to work. She was easy company and we put the world to rights.

This evening we ate Italian on board as the ship started to make its return journey to Helsinki.

Amanda

The day started in a downbeat manner. The disembarkation process was slow, but not too bad, the officials at passport control severe and a bit intimidating. We were lucky to get the last two places on the shuttle mini-bus. The driver was scary, the area around the ferry terminal was not the prettiest, and the 30 minute drive weaving through rush hour traffic without seat belts not the most relaxing, but we were delivered safely to the centre, just by St Isaac's Cathedral (closed on Wednesdays!). It took us a while to get our bearings, but we set off in the direction of the Hermitage Museum, although it was only 9.45 and it didn't open until 10.30.

Far too much has been written about the wonder of St Petersburg for me to try and do it justice describing it here. But I will say that the only word to sum up my first impression is 'overwhelming', Noise, crowds, busyness, sheer size of everything. When we finally found the correct entrance to the

Hermitage the queues were building up. We queued to get inside, only to join a slow-moving queue for tickets, and then another to go through security! Here I was pretty miffed when Geoff's bag with a bottle of tap water from the cabin inside it passed through ok, and my paid for and unopened bottle of mineral water was confiscated! I was so taken by surprise that I didn't even think to drink some before I gave it up.

By this time it was getting on for 11.30. We found a quiet corner to hide in and make use of 15 minutes free wifi, and then, having regained my equilibrium somewhat, we braved the masses and made our way up the marble staircase. Apparently it would take 11 years to see all the exhibits, and we only had a couple of hours, so we agreed that we would seek out Lonely Planet's "don't miss" list , and just do our best to absorb the other staggering rooms as we passed through them on our way. So we made our way to the dazzling Church via the equally dazzling Peacock Clock and the Rembrandts. I had forgotten that his "Return of the Prodigal Son" was here. A definite highlight! Henri Nouwen's book inspired by the painting is one I love and return to. I was touched when Geoff later surprised me by appearing from one of the museum shops having purchased a postcard of it for me.

We wanted to see the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Collection, which has recently been moved to the General Staff Building on the other side of Palace Square. What a contrast. Inside, the building has been transformed into a stunning, ultra-modern gallery, with huge neutral spaces and rooms - and it was almost empty of people, quiet and calm. First, we had a much needed coffee break in the gallery cafe. The excellent coffee and a very tasty but filling Apricot Danish each, plus a bottle of water to replace my lost one, total cost less than £6, were enough to keep us going until we returned to the ship The rest of the day was spent walking, taking in the main street, Nevsky Prospekt, the Church on the Spilled Blood - again closed on Wednesdays but extraordinary from the outside - canals, squares and parks, back to where we had started six hours earlier, to pick up the shuttle bus back to the ship.

A grey day had not managed to spoil the colours and magnificence of the city. In the minibus and later over coffee back on board we enjoyed chatting to a teacher from Stockholm. She had done the trip that utilises the full 72 hours visa free.

A simple supper in the Italian Restaurant proved just what was needed,, and we then spent our remaining roubles in the Duty Free shop. The ship really feels quite empty tonight, and I am hoping for as calm and quiet a crossing as last night's.