St. P City Tour, Shopping and “Giselle”

Monday was another good day. We left the hotel around 9:30am and set off with Olga and Valerie on a tour of the city. Of course, the first half hour of conversation was all about the police/money excitement from the night before.

We drove all around the city and Olga recapped the history of Russia for us while pointing out and stopping at all the sights. Correction: Olga TAUGHT me the history of Russia since I don't believe I ever learned it (that's what happens when your High School world history teacher makes you watch videos every day of his 5 year old son wrestling instead of teaching you anything). It's facinating (the history of Russia, not the wrestling...although I did wrestle a stuffed bear outside our hotel, I have the picture to prove it).

SO -- we did our city tour and then hit the shops. We are now loaded up with hand-painted Russian nesting dolls, amber jewelry, and vodka. Amazing how much we all spent in such a short period of time, but I'd say over half my Christmas shopping is done now.

After shopping, we dropped our bags at the hotel then went to see the interior of the Church of the Spilt Blood. It is called this because Tsar Alexander II was murdered on the site the church was built on (someone threw a bomb in his carriage). It's also known as the Church of the Ressurection. The inside of the church is completely covered in mosaics...it is super spectacular. Pretty new too, as the restoration took place in the 70s. But it's even more dazzling inside than it is outside, I can't wait to share the pictures.

Monday night, we went to see the ballet “Giselle” at the Hermitage Theatre, which is part of the Winter Palace where Catherine the Great lived. It was good. Perhaps not the best ballet in the world (the Mariinsky Ballet season does not start until Sept...that's the SERIOUS ballet).  But it was worth seeing just for the venue alone...it is a small, intimate theatre (it was in someone's home, after all) decorated with lovely sculptures of the 9 muses and Venus. The orchestra sits directly in front of the stage (not in a pit), so the whole thing feels a bit more informal and friendly. Not that I am a ballet snob (although Kim is since she has a masters degree in dance history and is a former ballerina), but there were a couple rough patches. The stage is very old and seemingly hollow, so it was never good when the whole cast was jumping around at the same time...a bit thunderous.  And some of the dancers were not exactly light on their feet when dancing solo. But the truly bad mistake was putting ballerinas on a scooter and pushing them across the stage to give the impression of floating (the whole second act takes place in a graveyard with a bunch of dead dancing brides-to-be. Happy, huh?) Everyone laughed...that was not a good move. But really, it was enjoyable and a lovely evening. But I do wonder if there isn't a mint to be made on a ballet done on entirely on scooters. I'm seeing a Broadway or Vegas show at $150 a ticket. Hey, it worked for “Starlight Express,” the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical done completely on roller skates! See, this is why I travel. I get inspiration for a million seriously great new ideas.

After the ballet, we went to a restaurant across from our hotel called DaVinci for a late dinner. More blinis and caviar and then bed. Olga comes at 9:30am each morning for our tours, which is a bit painful for me, so I have to force myself to bed at a reasonable hour....even if it is vacation.