Bicycle touring Russia: Ivangorod to Petergof via Gatchina, Pavlovsk, and Pushkin

Wow, what a week of bicycle touring! Of course, I had been to Russia before, but not by bicycle, and I was a little concerned with how we’d be treated as cyclists. We needn’t have worried.

First, though, we had to get there. It took about seven hours (perhaps a personal record?) to cross the border from Narva to Ivangorod. Much of that was waiting to be interviewed on the Russian side. They were more polite than the immigration officers doing a similar job at the Tel Aviv airport but less competent than the officers I spent a day with in Ust Koksa.

Ferda made a friend while she waited for me in the sun.

Finally in Ivangorod we changed money at a bank and went straight to a restaurant ’cause we hadn’t eaten anything all day.

The polite guards had warned us not to camp near the border so we nixed our planned route and got on the highway to pedal some quick kms away from the border. The vegetation was thick everywhere, and it was starting to get late by the time we found a suitable place for the tent, though clearly it was someone’s land. I wanted to ask permission to camp, but the nearest house was abandoned. We could see a home farther away, but we didn’t bother going over there. When the owner did show up, he said it was fine to camp and gave us apples. That was a pleasant relief. Welcome to Russia.

We pedaled east the next day with a tailwind.

In the late afternoon on a paved road Ferda was riding in front of me. A car slowed down behind me and didn’t pass even when the road was clear. I looked back, and a young woman gave me two chocolate bars. When she passed Ferda, she smiled, waved, and showed a large pink cardboard heart!

The next morning we stopped at a bakery in Volosovo for tea and savory pastries. The friendly clerk spoke English, and when we got up to leave, she gave us two cakes.

That afternoon we got on dirt roads for the first time and later arrived at Gatchina Palace.

We thought it was too late to visit the palace, but we looked around the garden that afternoon.

Camping was once again easy even though we were close to Gatchina (pop. ~90,000). The next morning we were awed by the palace.

Another day of riding with a tailwind brought us to Pavlovsk and nearby Pushkin (connected by an excellent bicycle route through parks) where we stayed in friendly Lana’s comfortable, modern apartment for three nights.

At the supermarket we started talking in English with a man whose daughter is married to a Turk from Ankara. He had noticed we had sauerkraut in our basket. When we saw him again in front of the market, he handed us a small bottle of vodka, saying it goes well with the pickled cabbage.

The next day was the palace and garden at Pavlovsk. First the palace:

Not bad for a place you’ve never heard of, right? My notes say: “Pavlovsk is more ornate and over the top than any other palace I’ve seen.” However… it got even better the next day. First, let’s have a quick look at Pavlovsk’s huge English-style garden.

The next day was Catherine Palace at Tsarskoe Selo which is usually people’s first priority in Pushkin.

Does that exterior look familiar? Remember I warned you back in Latvia that we’d see more of (Francesco Bartolomeo) Rastrelli? He also designed the Hermitage in the garden just 1km SE of the main palace.

Don’t worry, it’s not all Rastrelli in the garden.

Ferda and I were quite interested to see the Çeşme Column built to commemorate Russia’s naval victory over the Ottomans in 1770 near Çeşme. The building that looks like a mosque in this photo is a hamam.

But at Tsarskoe Selo the palace is the star of the show. I am certainly no expert on the Romanovs, but two names came up over and over: Peter the Great (Peter I) and Catherine the Great (Catherine II). Here at Catherine Palace it’s all about Catherine the Great and Rastrelli.

Rastrelli’s marble staircase is perhaps simpler than the one we saw at Rundāle Palace.

But the modesty ends there. The luxurious opulence perhaps reaches its crescendo in the so-called golden enfilade, room after room of gold leaf, blue-tiled Hamburg fireplaces, wooden patterned parquet floors, mirrors, gilded statues, painted ceilings, stucco decorations.

Catherine liked to play cards, chess, and to gamble. In the red room she’d gamble with rubies.

In the green room she’d gamble with emeralds.

Crazy, isn’t it? Had enough? Uh, no, not yet. Catherine asked Rastrelli to make a cabinet out of amber for her. But that wasn’t enough. Nine years later she requested an entire room.

Some people come to Pushkin just to see the amber room at Catherine Palace. I couldn’t stop coming back in my mind to the Bolshevik Revolution.

Leaving Pushkin the next morning we rode through Alexander Park where there’s yet another palace to visit, Alexander Palace. But we were out of time.

It was kind of crappy suburban riding that day with multiple navigation mishaps (first stairs, then a railroad bridge…) as we made our way toward Petergof.

We bought groceries, filled our water bottles, and were heading to what looked like (on the map) a forest area to camp for the night when Tanya flagged us down. Tanya has seen touring cyclists before and dreams about traveling, but this was the first time she had ever invited strangers to stay at her home. We spent two fun evenings with her and Roman and their daughters, Polina and Alsu.

That wonderful invitation enabled us to spend a full day at Petergof Palace and Garden without carrying our bags and without having to worry about where we’d sleep that night. Let me warn you: one day isn’t really enough at Petergof. Maybe you’re tired of Rastrelli’s gold leaf by now, but we got to do some cycling between these sites. 🙂

Actually most of the interior design at Petergof is not Rastrelli. There are a number of different architects so we see various styles. This ended up being my favorite palace.

This (below) is Petergof’s answer to the Catherine Palace amber room. They don’t even let you stop.

Sorry, I realize it’s one thing after another in this post, but — here I go again — the highlight at Petergof is the fountains!

Rastrelli’s Grand Cascade:

Matching French fountain:

and Italian fountain:

Matching Adam fountain:

and Eve fountain:

The checkerboard fountain:

leads down to two matching Roman fountains (which might look familiar if you’ve been to Rome (St. Peter’s Square?)):

A four-sided pyramid fountain inspired by the three-sided one at Versailles:

There was a fountain in front of the orangerie, but I like this photo of the building better:

Maybe this is the sun fountain with the sun rays shooting out from the center?

Here’s the Lion Cascade. It’s hard to see the lions, but it reminded me of a Temple of Zeus. The audio guide compared it to the Parthenon (as I’m writing this, I realize I mix up those two sites in Athens — the Parthenon and the Temple of Zeus; they’re (somewhat) similar).

There are staircase fountains with gilded lions, a small fountain with ducks and a dog going around like a merry-go-round, at least four playful trick fountains — for example, intermittent water sprays a path so it’s unclear when you can walk by without getting wet.

I must say we were quite lucky with the weather. It was the last week in September, and the fountains aren’t always running so late in the summer. I knew we might miss the fountains, but I didn’t realize how important they are for a visit to Petergof.

In the morning we said goodbye to our new friends and had our last day of riding into Saint Petersburg…