Today is an exciting day. Finally, our visit to The Hermitage arrives! But first, we are treated to a canal tour, which normally would be an option but is included to make up for the lost Kizhi Island tour. St. Petersburg is truly a beautiful city, whether by land, canal, or sea.
We are treated to lunch on the 2nd floor in the same elegant surroundings as housed the Russian Folklore show. (Remember those 80+ steps? Well, they haven't gotten shorter, and the ladies room is on the first floor.)
At last we arrive at The Hermitage. We have a wonderful local guide, and she couldn't get over the fact we seem to be in a lucky slot. She says it never happens that her tours aren't surrounded by hundreds of others. We get to linger just a few minutes longer at each spot and pause where normally we'd have to hurry through.
The Hermitage was founded by Catherine the Great in 1764 to house the three million artifacts she collected. It is the largest collection of paintings in the world. Only a small portion of the museum is open to the public.
The Throne of Russian Kings
Michelangelo's The Crouch Boy
Rembrandt's The Prodigal Son
It is said that if one pauses in front of each item for only a minute, it would take over forty years to complete the tour!
Tonight is the Captain's Farewell Dinner, given a couple of days early in order not to rush.
(Paul is recuperating from a 24-hour bug here)
New friends and tablemates - Payette's (L), Tkal's (R)
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