For The Love of Travel

What a day to visit the Lower Gardens of the Peterhof Palace estate – sunshine and 20 degrees. Took the 30 min hydrofoil from Lion Pier straight to the gardens.

The fountains were sparkling brilliantly and hundreds of people were perambulating.

Dinner @ The Repa. The restaurant’s interior was created by Russian designer Alena Akhmadullina. The concrete walls are adorned with murals inspired by the work of artist Andrey Remnev, and works of modern art are on display throughout the space.

The furniture design also reflects this style: simple items sit beside complex, whimsical pieces, and elements of the wall art are repeated in the embroidery on the chairs. Historic autographs of brilliant figures from the arts world, such as Maya Plisetskaya, Placido Domingo, Diana Vishneva, and Mihail Chemiakin have been preserved on the walls.

With a focus on produce and provenance, the restaurant’s short menu features interesting ingredients from different regions of Russia and other Eurasian countries. 

Rainy and grey day – perfect for visiting the Hermitage museum.  Founded in 1764 when Catherine the Great acquired an impressive collection of paintings from a Berlin merchant. A collection of over 3 million items, including the largest collection of paintings in the world.

Decided to concentrate on the 3rd floor of the General Staff Building (Rossi wing). French salon painting was rather grand, featuring elegant woman with alabaster skin posing coquettishly  – Francis Xavier Winterhalter’s 1958 portrait of Sofia Naryshkina stood out, particularly as a result of the elaborate frame; as did Joseph Desire Court’s 1840 portrait of  demur and wistful looking Princess Ekaterina Scherbatov.

Picasso, Matisse, Gaugin, Renoir, Latour and Van Gogh all were represented. I particularly liked Van Gogh’s, “Thatched Cottages”, and “Bush”. And Renoir’s, “Roses and Jasmine”.

I discovered some new artists – Rockwell Kent from the USA – his “Seal Hunter:North Greenland” was captivating.

Loved Bernard Buffet’s,  “St Petersburg: The Hermitage, Winter Palace”.

A small gallery of Kandinsky’s works, including “Winter Landscape”, was the last hurrah!

Delicious lunch @ Koryushka restaurant, contemporary chic with European and Russian cuisine served on a beach front terrace, with views over the Neva river. Very special!

One of the few days in June that the Grand Peterhof Palace is open, is this evening between 18:00 and 20:00. So, purchased a ticket. A long wait in a queue behind different nationalities’ tour groups…..

The Palace complex is a series of palaces and gardens  commissioned by Peter the Great as a direct response to the Palace of Versailles by Louis 14th of France.  Majestic and elegant, it stretches for 300 metres. Architect Rastrelli was involved in this design as the centrepiece  of the “Russian Versailles”, (as well as the Winter Palace in the Hermitage).