ArticlesReader.com Menu

Newest Articles
Most Viewed Articles
ArticlesReader.com RSS
Submit Article
Login
Signup

Search the articles

Articles Main Categories

Advice
Animals
Automobiles
Business
Career
Communications
Computer Programming
Computers
Entertainment
Environment
Family
Fashion
Finance
Food
Health & Medical
Home & Garden
Humor
Internet Business
Internet Marketing
Legal
Leisure & Recreation
Marketing
Other
Politics
Reference & Education
Religion
Self Improvement
Sports
Technology & Science
Travel
Writing

Subscribe

Receive alert message from us when new articles submitted to our site for free.

Syndicate

Related Products

Home::Destinations

A Day at the Summer Palace of Peter the Great

Author : Nomad Rick

For elegance and old world feel, St. Petersburg is by far the best Russian city. If you go, a visit to Peterhof, the summer palace of Peter the Great is a must.

Peterhof

As Tanya and I left St. Petersburg for Peterhof, I was in a foul mood. A pickpocket had cut through the bottom of my backpack and swiped my camera. The ferry taking us was packed and the adorable child on my right had just spilled his ice cream down my leg. Why, I oughta. My mood was soon to change.

Apparently, sensing my volatile mood, Tanya hadnt said a word on the 20 minute ferry ride. As we exited onto a long pier at Peterhof, she grabbed my hand and more or less tugged me down to what looked like an ancient French road. This was, in fact, the Grand Canal leading to Peterhof.

The Grand Canal is a water way with two paths cutting up the side of it towards Peterhof. The canal cuts through a forested area with trees nearly forming a roof over the canal. The atmosphere is very serene, particularly since I noticed the ice cream tike on the opposite path of the canal. Walking no more than a mile, one comes upon Peterhof and the Great Cascade.

The Great Cascade is aptly named. It is a collection of fountains and statutes sitting on tiered marble levels rising to the front of the palace. After living in Russia for eight months, I was use to seeing drab, grey five story buildings. The burst of gold, white and black colors was amazing and made me wonder what Russia must have looked like before communism.

After gaping at the Great Cascade for nearly an hour, it was time to take the tourist tour of the palace. We dutifully stood in line and made small talk with two German couples behind us. Compared to the general state of decay in most of Russia, we couldnt get over the fact the palace seemed to be in such good shape.

As the tour got underway, I kept getting the feeling there was something off about the palace. For a place built in 1715, Peter the Great sure seemed to know a lot about electricity. In particular, he seemed to have planned well ahead by creating some type of internal piping structure for the future electrical wires. Well, he was Great and perhaps the powers that be had done a little remodeling over the years.

Alas, one of our German friends was puzzling over the same thing. As we stood on the second floor of the palace, Jan asked our guide about the anomaly. He asked it in front of our group of about 20 people or which 75 percent were Russian. He asked in a heavy German accent.

Our guide dutifully replied the Germans had bombed Peterhof during World War II. Peterhof had been completely destroyed. The palace had subsequently been rebuilt, which explained its modern feel.

There was one of those pregnant pauses, which occur in such situations. Jan turned completely red. Taking pity on him, the tour guide immediately launched into an aggressive discussion of a particular picture on the wall while we dutifully paid attention and asked inane questions.

Oddly, the fact Peterhof is a modern structure doesnt really detract from the experience. The palace and surrounding structures simply feel like a real palace. With many palaces through Europe, you get the feeling Disney was somehow involved in the construction.

At Peterhof, there is a definite feeling of elegance, but elegance mixed with a practicality required by day-to-day living. In short, you can definitely image Peter the Great living there in the summer.

Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Rick Chapo is with www.nomadjournals.com - makers of travel journals. Writing journals are the perfect travel accessories. Visit www.nomadjournaltrips.com to read more travel articles and travelogues.

Spam emails More free articles

More related feeds

A Day at the Summer Palace of Peter the Great
For elegance and old world feel, St. Petersburg is by far the best Russian city. If you go, a visit.

St Petersburg Grandeur - St. Petersburg, North-West Russia ...
Peterhof is a really spectacular place, with a series of palaces and gardens laid out by Peter the Great to challenge the mighty Versailles. We queued for a while to get in and then had lunch in a restaurant there before spending the ...

An Olympic Adventure…
The lady informed us that only 5 post offices around the city were open that day. So the next stop in our expedition was the Summer Palace Post Office. It was teeming with enthusiasts. There were long lines for everything, ...

Sunny Day Sets Fire - Summer Palace
I'm avoiding the second listen, not just because I had to share this momentous occasion immediately, but also because I don't want to ruin the image. Is it really a great album or am I imagining things. ...

A Day at the Summer Palace of Peter the Great
If you go, a meet to Peterhof, the season hall of saint the Great is a must. Peterhof. As Tanya and I mitt St. siege for Peterhof, I was in a dishonor mood. A stealer had revilement finished th...

BEIJING HOLDS ITS BREATH
The smog obscured my view of the city from the heights of the Summer Palace, and the polluted air left my hair straw-like and gritty by the end of each day. But I didn't notice any respiratory side-effects until I had to make a quick ...

Peter the Great's Summer Palace
Since the sun doesn't set until around 3:00 am they went on a midnight tour after work! They were beat the next day. These shots are from Peter The Greats Palace - Coby said the grounds alone took all their time so they didn't even make ...

Pope Benedict Quiet On Holy See Olympic Medal Drought but Does ...
Then, he also greeted individuals and groups in the Swiss Hall of the Apostolic Palace. Here is a translation of his words. Dear brothers and sisters! Every day the Church offers for our consideration one or more saints and blessed ones ...

From Russia with Love - St Petersburg
Next we went on a boat out to the summer palace. Absolutely brilliant! I wish I was Russian royalty (not the murdered ones). It would be amazing to live in a place like that. It was pretty expensive to get into the gardens for a start, ...

St. Petersburg--the 2-Day Sprint
Day 2: Morning Peterhof. This is Peter the Great's summer palace, located on the Gulf of Finland. You can get there by train, car or Hydrofoil (boat). We strongly suggest the Hydrofoil; we have never tried any other way. ...

A Day at the Summer Palace of Peter the Great

Related articles