Fountains and Peter with a Shrunken Head

The last two excursions sponsored through the program were to Peterhof and to the Peter and Paul Fortress.
Peterhof was absolutely fantastic. We got a tour which consisted of the lower gardens and the grotto and lucky for us, the fountains were still on. The lower gardens have fountains everywhere including the main, huge fountain of Samson behind the palace. There is also the Chess Mountain thingy, which is, of course, a mountain of chess. My Babushka says there's a similar fountain in Germany somewhere. Peter apparently loved practical jokes because there was a bench fountain that when you sat on it, it'd squirt you with water. There was also a fountain which contained a bucket of fruit, and when you grab at it, the security guard flips a switch and *soaked. I'm sure all this water is fun in the summer, but in the fall, it's pretty cold. We saw the Gulf of Finland. Near the shore there's a bronze statue which if you rub it and give it money, it's good luck. I hear everything in Russia is lucky if you touch it/give it money. I have yet to prove this, but speaking of which, I need to go raid Chizhik Pizhik sometime; there are probably some cool coins there. Again, the lower gardens are absolutely beautiful. Definitely a must see if ever in St. Petersburg.
The next part of the tour was of the grottoes, where all the fountain mechanics are. And by mechanics, I mean just pipes and values. All the fountains are operated without the use of pumps; they just use gravity and differences in elevation. Though claustrophobic at times, the grotto part of the tour was the most interesting and cool.
After this, we had a little bit of free time to see the upper gardens or pay extra to see inside the palace. The people I was hanging around that day were getting hungry and cranky, so we, instead, went to a cafe nearby and ate. I guess the upper gardens will have to wait until next semester.
The next excursion was to the Peter and Paul fortress. The fortress is one of the oldest structures in St. Petersburg and is rather impressive. We took a tour of the main cathedral inside and of the prison. The coolest part was definitely the cathedral. Inside are the tombs of former czars including Peter the Great, Catherine the Great (tee hee), and the Romanov family (last czars). The prison was interesting, but not necessary. I would have rather toured the mint/coin museum thingy that is also located in the fortress.
The area around the fortress is also pretty interesting. There is a miniature park which has bronze miniatures of the famous buildings in St. Petersburg. The metro stop nearby looks like a flying saucer. The Mosque is really close and Peter the Great's cabin is just around the corner.