Dear Sailor:
Helsinki is a place, not a thing. I’ll tell you all about it when I get
home. Yes Sailor, I WILL come home. I promise.
Sailor, today I am glad I’m not a dog. Nothing against dogs, I love you, but if I
were a dog I’d have four sore, tired, swollen, achy feet instead of just
two. If I were to say my dogs are
barking, I would in no way be referring to you. Not a derogatory remark, don’t take it
personally. In Europe people walk, if
this were Disney World there would be a monorail and a couple of trams.
Today I toured the Catherine and Peterhof palaces and
gardens. After the Catherine Palace I
thought I had seen the very most elaborate palace of all time. Then we went to the Peterhof Palace … I
wouldn’t have believed you could outdo the Catherine Palace, but I’ve seen it now
with my own two eyes. You should not
miss either one, both were summer palaces of the Tsars, or Czars or however you
want to spell it. Tomorrow I go to the
Hermitage, part of which was once the winter palace. There is so much gold leaf that I have a new
name for this tour – The Gilt Trip.
All kidding aside, the work that has been done here is
astounding. Even more astounding than
the original work, to me, is the reconstruction that has been accomplished
since WWII. There are photos of the
palaces after the war (I should say the shells of the palaces) and when you
juxtapose those with the way they look today, the comparison is
staggering. I will try to put side by
side photos up another day, am running
low on internet minutes … so no searching on line for post-war photos at the
moment. The re-creation of these world heritage sites is breathtaking. On the one hand I can understand that the
people would revolt against such extreme lavishness, so the Tsarist regime had
to be overcome, on the other hand I can appreciate the beauty that remains now
for all of us to enjoy.
One of the very cool things about being here in St.
Petersburg this time of year are the “white nights”. It’s 9:00 PM now and still broad
daylight. The guide told us that from
the end of May until the middle of July the sun doesn’t really go down, it’s
bright enough to read all night long if the weather is clear - that’s why they
call them “white nights”. My Florida
magic is working and today was another clear and perfect day, weather
wise. If I could bottle this weather and
sell it I would be buying one of the summer palaces. Of course I would then magnanimously open the
doors wide to all of my clients, but that would not be a problem; they could
all take me up on my offer and there would still be rooms available.
It would take me a week just to begin to describe the
manicured gardens and majestic fountains – in addition to the majestic
buildings. I believe there are over a
thousand fountains in the gardens just at Peterhof palace. Then there are the lush meadows, artificial
lakes, miles of pathways, bronze statues … it’s a tribute to imagination and
beauty. It’s also a LOT walking. You will be bursting with pride to hear that
yes, I did my 45 minutes in the gym, even after all that walking. My feet are
not bursting with pride, they are just plain bursting.
Oh, and don’t let me forget to tell you about lunch. Here’s a photo of where we ate.
I’m even sending a photo of the ladies room,
not something I’d normally do, but the guide TOLD us to take photos! I tried borscht, and it’s not bad – beet soup
– but it’s not going to replace Chicken Noodle-O’s for me.
One more thing I learned today was how to say thank you,
“spasiva”. Sounds like “spa” – where you
go to relax and be treated, “sea”- near the ocean and “va” – while drinking
vodka. Just another day at the beach!
Getting close to 10 PM, sun is still up! What a magnificent trip this is.
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