The heat continues

This will be a short entry, because, well, its still SO HOT!!

Today was our last day in St. Petersburg. An early morning start took us to Peterhof to see the Palace, gardens and fountains of Peter the Great. The Palace sits on the Baltic about an hour’s drive from the city. The palace was as opulent as expected and the gardens were beautiful (although Peter actually preferred to stay in a small cottage right on the shore at the edge of the property). After touring the Palace and gardens, we waited to see the spectacular “Grand Fountain Cascade” come to life to the accompaniment of opera music. The fountains are famous for the underground engineering that uses only gravity to move the water into and through over a hundred places. That was the highlight of our visit to Peterhof (we’ve seen a more than our share of overly ornate palaces in the last few months).

Our last excursion in St. Pete was to the Choral Synagogue, the main synagogue in St. Petersburg and the second largest in Europe. Alexander II signed a resolution in 1869 allowing the Jews of St. Petersburg to build the Choral Synagogue, which finally opened in December 1893 after years of planning and building. We toured the synagogue and went shopping in the gift shop. Joel found a beautiful Kiddush cup made by a Russian artist. Then we gathered in the main sanctuary to meet with the Cantor. After fielding questions for 45 minutes, he treated us with a performance. The second he began to sing, it was clear why the synagogue is named the Choral Synagogue. The acoustics are amazing and his voice rang loud and clear without a microphone.

So we have spent the last three days on a whirlwind tour of St. Petersburg. It is a fascinating city that shows the splendor of the Romanovs combined with the legacy of the Soviets. Formerly magnificent buildings are crumbling next to beautiful onion-domed churches. amid a labyrinth of canals and rivers. And Russians. Let’s not forget the Russians.

We had heard the city was fascinating. We weren’t disappointed.