Around the World in (Approximately) 80 Days: Day 40: St. Petersburg and the Hermitage Museum

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

The advantage of a night train is you sleep on the train and arrive at your destination with the whole day ahead of you. The train from Moscow to St. Petersburg traveled from 10:50 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. -- probably too early to arrive at my hostel (check-in is usually 2:00, but most hostels will let you drop your bags at least), so it didn't matter that I was disoriented and walked the wrong direction out of the train station in the morning dark.

Once I realized my mistake, I found a warm, cozy coffee shop, ordered oatmeal and lemon ginger tea, and took a breather. With the help of wifi and the friendly baristas, I got my bearings. Now I was an hour walk away instead of 20 minutes, so they suggested a bus, which was cheap and easy. There is a wonderful subway system in St. Petersburg, but I would have had to change trains. Besides, I enjoyed the view from the bus.

I was greeted at Baby Lemonade Hostel by a very sweet Siberian woman named Tanya who showed me around, gave me a city map, pointed out how close all the main attractions are, and let me stash my bags until my bed was prepared. I felt right at home in the Sixties decor with Monkees and Beatles music playing, so I curled up on a comfy couch and pulled out my laptop. Before noon I headed out on foot, destination one of the largest collections of art in the world, the Hermitage Museum, established 1764 by Catherine I.

My Korean friend who I met at Lake Baikal had already booked a bed at the Baby Lemonade Hostel in St. Petersburg, so I did the same -- easy to find and in the most perfect location.

I loved the 1960s decor and music. Having grown up in this awesome era, I felt right at home.

Each room was named for a famous singer from the Sixties.

My Russian roommates. We were joined by a Swedish woman the next day. Just four in a room with private bathroom.

I set out on foot for the Hermitage Museum, the number one attraction in St. Petersburg. It had snowed the night before, which was exciting for this California girl.

That's the Russian Museum in the foreground and St. Basil's Cathedral in back, just steps from my hostel. Score!

The exquisite Spas Na Krovi or Savior on Spilled Blood Cathedral reminded me of the St. Basil's at Red Square in Russia. It marks the spot where Alexander II was fatally wounded in an assassination attempt.

I was so tempted to get an Obama nesting doll. Some of them had the last four presidents, and some had just the Democrats. I guess the G. Bush doll has only Republicans inside. I should have asked for a discount since very shortly there will be a new U.S. president elected.

More people in costumes looking to make tips for posing for pictures.

Not all of the Russian art is in galleries and museums.

The canals of St. Petersburg are reminiscent of Amsterdam.

The Winter Palace as it looked in the past. I ended up in the wrong museum, called Winter Palace of Peter I. It was interesting, but very small compared to the Hermitage Museum a few buildings away.

Peter the Great's widow Catherine I commissioned an artist to create this wax image of her husband after he died so that the people would never forget what he looked like.

This illustration from Wikipedia shows the entire Hermitage Museum complex. From left to right: The Hermitage Theater, The Old Hermitage, Small Hermitage and the "New" Hermitage, which is where the main collection is. No wonder I got confused.

I was given directions to go around the back and around the corner to find the real Winter Palace Hermitage Museum.

I thought I found the entrance, but this was just for tour groups.

Finally, I found the right place and bought a ticket from a vending machine.

It's required to check your coat. Only problem is most of the coat rooms were full. This one holds 3700 coats and was full. So I was directed to the school group coat room that holds 1700 coats. Finally, success. Ready to enter the Hermitage Museum, just two hours before closing.

The Hermitage Museum has over 3 millions works of art and world culture artifacts. If you spent just 3 seconds looking at each piece, you couldn't see them all in 100 days!! Here's part of the Egyptian collection.

Anubis, on the left, is my favorite ancient Egyptian god.

The ceilings, flooring, walls, lighting, everything was beautiful in the Hermitage Museum.

Several rooms were devoted to Greek and Roman statues.

The Winter Palace is two stories with an elaborate staircase.

The view from the Winter Palace across the Neva River. It's easy to see why Peter the Great and his wife Catherine the Great enjoyed living there.

It was dark by the time the museum closed at 6:00 p.m.

Palace Square outside the Winter Palace was home to the Tsars and witness to many historic events like Bloody Sunday of 1905 and the October Revolution in 1917.