After Kronstadt, we went to Peterhof (as it was originally named by Peter the Great who built it, or Petrodvorets as it used to be called in Slavophile, Soviet times). This is the most extraordinarily extravagant summer house on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. It is a triumph of conspicuous consumption or, as the Admiralty charts might say, "consumption conspic." The place was swamped by visitors and not really worth visiting in the height of the tourist season, like the Hermitage. But the golden statues in the grounds were impressive, even if it was not always clear, as in this one, exactly who is having sex with whom.
Saturday 9 June 2007
St Petersburg weekend
After Kronstadt, we went to Peterhof (as it was originally named by Peter the Great who built it, or Petrodvorets as it used to be called in Slavophile, Soviet times). This is the most extraordinarily extravagant summer house on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. It is a triumph of conspicuous consumption or, as the Admiralty charts might say, "consumption conspic." The place was swamped by visitors and not really worth visiting in the height of the tourist season, like the Hermitage. But the golden statues in the grounds were impressive, even if it was not always clear, as in this one, exactly who is having sex with whom.
