This is the other place that we went last week - Peterhof, the summer palace. We took a hydrofoil up the river to it. A hydrofoil is a boat with big skis underneath it that it can lift up on to and go really fast.
The summer palace is in the background in the first photo - a canary yellow affair with all of the pomp and intricate moldings of the winter palace (the hermitage - photos to come). Czar Peter went to Versailles (I think I overheard this right) and saw all of their beautiful gardens and fountains and wanted a copy of it for his very own. The gardens are meticulously laid out and have an overlapping wheel and spoke pattern with fountains in the center of the wheels and elsewhere. The Grand Cascade, also behind Nathan in the first photo, is littered with golden statues and fountains going every which way. I think they powered the fountains with steam pumps back in the day.
In the second photo, you can see a couple of hooded crows (a European bird, common as dirt around here) playing in the Grand Cascade. They would get as close to the edge of the waterfall as they could without falling - it was very slippery, hahaha. Nathan was also disappointed because the only ducks were mallards and the only gulls were black tipped (name?) gulls, also very common.
The interpretative signs are unlike anything I've ever seen - when they are in English, which is rare (fair enough - none of our signs are in Russian), they tell you what sculptor made it and when. Nothing about what the fountain or the statues symbolize or the cultural context behind it - a hold over from 'uplifting' the worker?
I was disappointed because the 'Orangery' was turned into a cafe, no trace of oranges around. I was looking forward to a tropical greenhouse.
This was another big fountain (below) - lions flanking the pillar structure with a nude maiden carrying water. The side of the structure has the faces of nymphs with water coming out of their mouths.
They were cutting the edges with scissors! Job creation? Thank goodness for line trimmers.
Nathan got a sore throat and cold the last part of the week so we stayed around home. I woke up with a tickly throat this morning, so I am downing vitamin C and honey, etc...Its definitely time to get out of the house tomorrow! Maybe the Seige Museum, the Lush store (British deluxe body products - sounds fun), the wool shop (I'm learning to knit).
A friend of the family is going to Aikido and Nathan went for the first time with him tonight. We'll see how it goes - it might just be for children??
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