We met with our guide again to go drive about an hour out to Peterhof. This was Peter the Great’s summer palace (because one couldn’t have just one palace back then).
This is a picture of the outside of Peterhof. Peter the Great traveled frequently. The buildings he built (palaces, etc.) were heavily influenced by his travels. Because of this, much of St. Petersburg looks similar to Paris & other European cities.
Peter actually liked smaller houses like the one in this picture, but his wife and daughter liked much larger ones. When a palace was to be built, Peter usually lost out to them on what the size of it would be.
Some of the gardens in Peterhof.Some inside pictures of Peterhof.
The two of us at Peterhof.
This is the building where the G8 Summit took place. It is actually about an hour outside of St. Petersburg. And this is why we had to scramble to change our itinerary for the cruise. And it was one whole hour outside of St. Petersburg.
The government building built & used during Soviet times. That’s a statue of Lenin out in front. I guess that this was the statue that Fremont rejected.
This is typical of Soviet-era housing. They used one floor plan for all of the housing they built. Today, most the people of St. Petersburg still prefer to live in this apartment-style housing instead of single-family homes for most of the year. Many have small summer houses outside of the city.
The weather changed frequently. Here’s what the city looked like once we had returned from Peterhof.
The city. We liked to play the "name the store" game by trying to decipher the Cyrillic names.
When subways were put into the city, Stalin wanted them to be “palaces for the people.” They are very ornate both inside and out.
Oh yeah... and they are not to be confused with...
And while we are at it, here is one more taste from home.
