In 2016, Starship traveled all over Eastern Europe on an Azamara Cruise, including Russia!
Our next stop was St Petersburg Russia, formerly Leningrad. Arriving in Russia is unique as we have not been able to enter on our own for many years. The port has a passport security building set up for our arrival with heavy security and passport control. We are not allowed in Russia without an escort or guide with you at all times, they have to bring us back to passport control.
As our ship was right in town it was within walking distance to the world famous Hermitage, a museum consisting of 5 buildings that hold 1000’s of artifacts from throughout history. It is said “if you view each item for 1 minute it would take 9 years to see each piece of work”.
We choose to see the “gold room” at an extra charge but “worth the weight in gold” to see the magnificent pieces. This is truly a museum to be enjoyed and not rushed through. This evening we had a special opportunity to attend the world class Russian Philharmonic Symphony. This was a private event for the Azamara Quest for the Azamazing Evening.
We started out with a cocktail party just for us, not knowing the entire evening was private.
Generally, the conductor will only do one encore but for our group, as he was having so much fun he did 3 encores for us. We felt so special and high class in this magnificent venue.
Our next day we drove to the Peterhof Palace one of the most beautiful private estates one could ever visit. The grounds made up of fountains made of gold are breathtaking to say the least. A show is presented every afternoon of the fountains set to music, the crowds of people wait anxious to see this spectacular show. Of course the interior exhibits are comparable to none other.
