As the bus approaches Peterhof, Nina S. informs me to be on the
lookout for an incredibly beautiful church that is coming up on the
left. When she said beautiful, I didn’t think she meant that it would be
an exact clone of the Church of the Resurrection in St. Petersburg. We
were allowed to pay 20 rubles each and climb the stairs to the top of
this church. There wasn’t a whole lot to see, but it was an interesting
church just the same. Outside, there was an older woman with a cup out
for donations. I put 10 rubles into her cup as a goodwill gesture.
At the grounds of Peterhof, we purchased our entry tickets, and
decided to grab a bite before going in. Nina S. & I each had a hamburger
(not a western-type hamburger, but a hamburger with a slice of ham, and
funky Russian ketchup). Having spent 4 or 5 hours the previous day at
the Hermitage, we decided to forego actually going inside Peterhof, and
instead opted for viewing the magical-like water fountains, and walking
the beautiful park-like grounds. We strolled the grounds all the way to
the small hill that overlooks the beach, and walked down to the
hydrofoil ticket window to inquire about the price, check the schedule,
and purchase return trip tickets if necessary. I read somewhere that
it’s advisable to purchase tickets in advance. Today however, the last
boat leaves at 5:00pm for whatever reason, and it’s already 3:30pm, and
we’ve only just explored half of this place. We decided to forget the
return by boat, and would catch the bus on the main street instead
later. Feeling a bit hungry again, and in need of using the facilities,
we come across a small restaurant cafe that has some rather tempting
looking desserts on display. One of them is quite large, and Nina S. & I
agree to split it, and she has tea & I a Heineken. On our way out of the
park, we come across a group of souvenir vendors and I proceed to
purchase a couple of Russian lacquer boxes, and a Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s
Matryoshka doll. I particularly enjoyed haggling a lower price in
Russian with the vendor. We make our way out to the street to await the
city bus which arrives in just about 2 minutes. There’s only a small
crowd of people awaiting the rear door to open, but when it does, we
experience pushing & shoving as if they’re attempting to exit the
sinking Titanic. I remember distinctly hearing a thick accent behind me
saying “poosh”. In my opinion, there was really no need to create such
havoc getting aboard the bus. One lady began giving the fellas behind us
a piece of her mind about the seemingly needless pushing. It was no big
deal I thought, but just an observation.
---To be continued ---
