петергоф

Translation: Peterhof. As in, Peterhof Palace. As in, where I spent my Saturday afternoon.

It is a palace of fountains, home to spacious grounds that include over 100 miraculous gold-leafed fountains, beautiful greenery, and the coast of the Baltic Sea. This palace was built for (and designed in part by) Peter the Great, who is actually a very interesting historical figure. I don't know too much of the history, but I'll include some Wikipedia links for those of you who'd like to read up on the man and the palace.

Blessed once again with a sunny day, we spent the day walking the palace grounds. It was serene, spectacular, incredible - ah, heck. There aren't words for what it was like. I spent the day in a kind of haze; in that place, it was easy to think that I must be a princess: the stage was perfectly set. I imagine that if Jane Austen had seen Peterhof, she would have wept. It is so much more fantastic than all of the lovely manors in all her books. This Satuday, for me, was a charmed day; the air itself seemed misted with magic.

Knowing all that, it almost pains me to put these pictures up. There is simply no way to capture the beauty of such a place in pictures - especially when I'm taking all my photos with my phone. However, I know that I must do what little I can to give you a taste of my time here. So here are your pictures; just let your imagination run wild when you see them, creating a world of splendor and majesty. You won't be far off.

This requires explanation. It's a photograph of the wreckage of Peterhof Palace.
I believe this is from the destruction of WWII. It was a devastating loss to the Russian people.
They treasure their history more than most.

This is another photograph from just after WWII. The Russians all came together
to restore their historical buildings that had been so badly damaged.
Without their efforts, this palace would have been lost forever.

These are a couple girls from my group (Allison, Leslie) and our beloved
Cultural Guide, Sveta. She's the Russian on the right.

This path through the woods was my favorite part.
St. Petersburg is a big city, and I've missed nature - especially trees.
They smell a lot better than all that smoke.

This was Peter the Great's favorite fountain. It's called Pyramid.

This band was playing some really awesome classical music.
(Sam, is one of those a marimba? I thought of you the whole time,
because I just couldn't remember what these things are called.)

And . . . the obligatory picture of me being alive.
"Hi, Mom!"

So, the moral of the story is that you all have to travel the world - that's the only way you're ever going to know what it's like. However, for those of you unable to get out and see it for yourselves, I will continue my pitiful attempts at sharing my experience. There's too much to tell, but I'll tell what I can.

From St. Petersburg,

Jessica Grosland