{"id":1481,"date":"2016-04-25T06:20:14","date_gmt":"2016-04-25T06:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/?p=1481"},"modified":"2016-08-21T01:25:44","modified_gmt":"2016-08-21T01:25:44","slug":"tuesday-april-19-hermitage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/?p=1481","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday, April 19, Hermitage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Back to the Hermitage. Hey, it&#8217;s why I filled out all that paperwork\u00a0and\u00a0journeyed all these miles. Totally worth it.<\/p>\n<p>After downing a double shot\u00a0Double B latte, my goal was\u00a0a thorough look at the French rooms and the small\u00a0English collection. Passing by\u00a0the classical Baroque painter\u00a0Nicolas\u00a0Poussin, I heard something outside the window. More band practice, or as I like to think of it, the Hermitage halftime show.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 1280px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('video');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-1481-1\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Hermitage-halftime.m4v?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Hermitage-halftime.m4v\">https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Hermitage-halftime.m4v<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A\u00a0lovely Raeburn portrait captivated me, as did\u00a0this partially completed\u00a0portrait of a general.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1490\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1490\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/general.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1490\" src=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/general.jpg\" alt=\"I love these incomplete works, the intention of the artist still visible.\" width=\"500\" height=\"680\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/general.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/general-221x300.jpg 221w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1490\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">I love these incomplete works, the intention of the artist and his bold beginning still visible.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I lingered in a large room lined with glass cabinets filled with\u00a0mostly\u00a0silver and gilded silver\u00a0objects; variations on goblets, boxes, serving trays, dishes and vanity sets. Took way too many photos to post, but here are two\u00a0standouts:<\/p>\n<p>A dragon devouring a horse on top of a tankard.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1488\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1488\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/dragon-ests-horse.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1488 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/dragon-ests-horse.jpg\" alt=\"dragon eats horse\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/dragon-ests-horse.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/dragon-ests-horse-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/dragon-ests-horse-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1488\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">I guess St George lost this one.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Big Chicken, Hermitage-style.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1487\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1487\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/big-chicken.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1487\" src=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/big-chicken.jpg\" alt=\"Turn right at the Big Chicken to get to the throne room.\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/big-chicken.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/big-chicken-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/big-chicken-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1487\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Turn right at the Big Chicken to get to the throne room.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Stumbled into the throne room. I think the Russians invented the phrase, <em>&#8220;Winter is coming.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1498\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1498\" style=\"width: 625px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/throne-room.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1498\" src=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/throne-room-1024x311.jpg\" alt=\"Game of Thrones, Russian Division. Winter is coming.\" width=\"625\" height=\"190\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/throne-room.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/throne-room-300x91.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/throne-room-624x189.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1498\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Game of Thrones, Russian Division. Winter is coming.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Very imposing.\u00a0I especially liked the ceiling.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1492\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1492\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/look-up.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1492\" src=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/look-up-1024x802.jpg\" alt=\"look up\" width=\"400\" height=\"313\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/look-up.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/look-up-300x235.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/look-up-624x488.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1492\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Looking up.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I was fascinated by\u00a0\u00a0a small exhibition about restoration of embellishment and embroidery.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1495\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1495\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/restore.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1495\" src=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/restore.jpg\" alt=\"Made me itch to pick a needle and embroider.\" width=\"400\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/restore.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/restore-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1495\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Made me itch to pick a needle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Then I\u00a0stumbled across the white and gold baroque chapel. The lines from Keats&#8217; poem,\u00a0<em>On First Looking into Chapman\u2019s Homer,<\/em>\u00a0popped into my head.<b> \u00a0<\/b>&#8220;Much have I travelled in the realms of gold,\/And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>There were interesting liturgical bits and pieces, all of Romanov dynasty historical significance.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1485\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1485\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/angel-icon.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1485\" src=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/angel-icon.jpg\" alt=\"detail of an icon\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/angel-icon.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/angel-icon-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1485\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">detail of an icon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/bible-gem.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1486\" src=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/bible-gem.jpg\" alt=\"bible gem\" width=\"300\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/bible-gem.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/bible-gem-240x300.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>During my\u00a0lunch break in the cafe, I drew cherubs on the backs of postcards to send home. Afterwards I went in search of the postoffice annex inside the Hermitage. Up I went to the top floors, down they sent me to the basement, I just couldn&#8217;t locate it. Tomorrow I&#8217;ll give it another go.<\/p>\n<p>Walked to Fruktovaya Lavka \u00a0after for another stellar meal (sous vide turkey breast, with parsnip puree and cherry sauce, buttered mixed Cruciferae\u00a0vegetables, and raspberry tart on cr\u00e8me anglaise).<\/p>\n<p>Trying to figure out\u00a0where to go to buy authentic and interesting Russian goods \u00a0not made in China and not nesting dolls. Not making great progress, but ever hopeful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Back to the Hermitage. Hey, it&#8217;s why I filled out all that paperwork\u00a0and\u00a0journeyed all these miles. Totally worth it. After downing a double shot\u00a0Double B latte, my goal was\u00a0a thorough look at the French rooms and the small\u00a0English collection. Passing by\u00a0the classical Baroque painter\u00a0Nicolas\u00a0Poussin, I heard something outside the window. More band practice, or as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[21],"tags":[103,36,32,101,194,102],"class_list":{"0":"post-1481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-chapel","9":"tag-fruktovaya-lavka","10":"tag-hermitage","11":"tag-parade-practice","12":"tag-restaurant","13":"tag-throne-room","14":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/va-and-gold.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7OBxc-nT","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1481"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1507,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481\/revisions\/1507"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiaparker.net\/travel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}