June 4 St. Petersburg, my last night, or Room 26 where are you?

I had an almost perfect visit to the Hermitage on my last full day in St. Petersburg. I arrived at opening time, and, because I already had my Day 2 ticket, I bypassed every line, and walked right in. I felt like Tsar Ralf The Great.

It was a much less stressful experience than last Saturday. I had decide what I wanted to see, and I could skip all the "highlights" that I saw on Saturday. I have to admit there are things here that you won't see anywhere else. The Oriental collections are great, and they cover places like Tibet and Mongolia. And, as a bonus, there is nobody there. Very peaceful, and lots of time to soak in the atmosphere. You cross the hall, where the impressionists are, and it's a different world. They do have rooms filled with works by Renoir, Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh, and anyone else you could name. And also lots of tours.

Another group I wanted to see was the collection of Central Asian, and Siberian artifacts. These are all in the basement, which can be accessed by only two stairs. I asked 8 different Hermitage guides, and none were able to direct me there. In the process of finding these stairs I wandered all through the Hermitage, and did see some interesting things. I finally did find the magic stairway, you had to start on the third floor, no second floor entry. I started in Room 11, and worked my way up. It was fascinating to see some of the findings from Central Asia, all the 'stan countries. Things I had never even heard of before. I got as far as Room 17, where there was a sign "We apologize for the inconvenience, but, because of renovations access to the next rooms are by the stairs in Room 302. I nearly cried. I looked on the map, and not only was Room 302, all the way on the third floor, no elevator, it was on the other side of the building.

I had spent an hour trying to locate this room.

I hate to say it, but I admitted defeat, and left.

On the way home I stopped at Kunstkamera, or "Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (say that three times fast). This is the first museum in Russia, opened in 1727. Peter the Great was a great collector, and wanted to educate his people, so this museum was to expose Russians to other cultures. He was also interested in science, and collected medical oddities.

The museum is not nearly as well maintained as some of the others, no money from tour groups.

The main part of the museum illustrates cultures from all over the world. There is even a section on North American Indians. The Iroquois are one of the tribes featured. It's actually quite good.

The reason this museum is popular is because of his collection of malformed fetuses, all preserved in large jars. It is amazing what is on display. Fetuses with two heads, fetuses with only one eye, cyclops style. Fetuses with four arms and legs, others where the feet are joined, like mermaid. There are over 50 of these on display.I don't think there is another display of this type anywhere else.

I did not take any photos.

It is still hot, today it was 29, and that's in the shade. Apparently this is quite unusual, summer temperatures are a normally around 20. But there is no rain, unlike other parts of Europe. It doesn't sound that Prague would be much fun right now.

Let us count our blessings.

Ralf