I think everyone smokes in Russia and there is no such thing
as no smoking areas, either.
We joined a tour for the Hermitage this morning, which was a
2-hour tour. There is no way anyone can
appreciate the actual size of this museum and collection, until you see it for
yourself. There are rooms dedicated to different stones, such as
malachite and lapis lazuli, with tables and vases carved from the stones. This does not even begin to describe the long
halls dedicated to Italian artists, French artists, tapestries, etc. There was even a hall copied from a unique
hall at the Vatican, with the Pope’s permission. The only problem with the tour was the
hoardes of people in the Hermitage !
After the Hermitage, we had 3 hours on our own to explore
the city. Craig and I immediately looked
for a place to eat a Russian lunch, and found one nearby. We had cold beetroot Borsch, which even Craig
enjoyed …. and he doesn’t even like beets !
Then we had Pelmini, a light boiled dumpling filled with meat and served
with sour cream. Looked exactly like a
tortellini, just a little bit bigger.
Did some shopping after lunch. As
with any of the places we have visited, there is a wide range of prices for
items. We passed up the hand-painted
lacquered boxes that started at $150 for the smallest size of approximately 2
inches x 2 inches !
Headed back to the ship about 4 PM, for a nice relaxing evening. Another very busy day tomorrow with another
tour. Did I say that we HATE tours?
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