Travel podcasts for city break fans. All the historical and cultural background you need to enjoy your visit.
Episodes
Apr 24, 2019
Apr 24, 2019
31 min
The two city-centre palaces featured in this episode both tell us more about the end of the Romanov dynasty, albeit in very different ways. The Shuvalov Palace, a former glittering hub for St Petersburg's aristocracy, is today the home of a museum housing many artistic treasures, including a collection of Fabergé eggs, which remind the visitor of the luxury enjoyed by the last imperial Romanov family. By contrast, an exhibition at the Yusupov Palace tells the story of Rasputin, the spiritual adviser, or 'mad monk', who exerted such an influence on Nicholas and Alexandra that he was eventually lured here by Prince Felix Yusupov and his accomplices and murdered.
Apr 17, 2019
Apr 17, 2019
26 min
The Alexander Palace was the family home of choice for a number of Tsars, even if they hosted big public events in the swankier Catherine Palace across the park. Nicholas II, the last Emperor, was born here, and made it a comfortable family home for his wife and 5 children, until they were taken away in the middle of the night in July 1917 and sent to their deaths in Siberia. There are reminders of them throughout the building, from the paintings and photographs they collected, to rooms like the Lilac Study, daytime retreat of the Empress Alexandra, where the family gathered to take tea every afternoon at five o’clock.
Apr 10, 2019
Apr 10, 2019
34 min
This episode tours the many waterways of St Petersburg, looking first at some of the canals and bridges and then taking a stroll along the Neva, up the Palace Embankment, starting at St Isaac's Cathedral, whose gleaming dome soars above the city 'like a shining mitre'. The walk continues past the Winter Palace whose 1000+ rooms were once the home of imperial families, but which is now better known as one of the world's best art galleries and we finish at the Summer Gardens and Summer Palace, the idyllic riverside refuge designed by Peter the Great as a venue for summer parties and outdoor frolics.
Apr 3, 2019
Apr 3, 2019
27 min
Nevsky Prospekt 'is Petersburg' according to Gogol, writing in the 1830s, and this long road is still today the backbone of the city. We explore it, stopping off at three of its best-known buildings, starting with the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, burial ground of Dostoyevsky and Tchaikovsky. Then it’s on to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan, scene of so many imperial funerals and of the Te Deum held to celebrate the delivery of Moscow from the Emperor Napoleon. And finally, we take in the onion-domed, riotously colourful Church on the Spilled Blood, built on the exact spot where Alexander II was assassinated in 1881, and hear the story behind that.
Mar 27, 2019
Mar 27, 2019
34 min
Just as splendid as Peterhof, the Catherine Palace is St Petersburg's other dazzling summer residence, built as a surprise for Peter the Great by his wife Catherine on land he had gifted to her. This episode tells the story of the two great empresses who made it their own, starting with Elizabeth, daughter of Peter and Catherine and moving on to her niece-in-law, another Catherine, who succeeded to the Russian throne after the timely, not to say highly convenient, sudden death of her husband Peter III. She ruled for over thirty years as Catherine the Great. Learn something of the lives both empresses lived in the Catherine Palace, and then hear a few pointers on what to look out for on a visit.
Mar 20, 2019
Mar 20, 2019
32 min
Peter the Great's legacy is, of course, the whole of the city of St Petersburg. But this episode focuses on some of the buildings most closely associated with him, such as the Peter and Paul Fortress, begun as a citadel, and later the site of the city's most feared prison. Also within the walls is the beautiful Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, whose foundation stone was laid by Peter himself and whose interior is the final resting place for him and almost all his direct Romanov descendants. Finally, hear about Peter's grandiose summer residence, the Peterhof Palace, designed by him to dazzle and delight and still doing both today.
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Mar 13, 2019
Mar 13, 2019
31 min
St Petersburg Episode 02 Peter the Great
The building of the beautiful city of St Petersburg at the dawn of the 18th century was all down to the willpower of one man: Peter the great. Hear how he drove tens of thousands of serfs and prisoners of war to dig into marshland on the banks of the River Neva and plant the foundations of his dream city: an elegant array of palaces and cathedrals set to rival anything he had seen on his travels to Amsterdam and London. Find out about the man who dreamed of sophistication, yet watched his henchmen torture his own son to death for opposing him.
Mar 6, 2019
Mar 6, 2019
32 min
St Petersburg Episode 01 Introduction
Dobro pozhalovat! Welcome to episode 1 of City Breaks St Petersburg. This opening podcast will give you an overview of the city, historically, geographically and culturally and an idea of the material to be covered in each of the remaining 16 episodes. We hope that after listening to it, you’ll be looking forward to the rest of the series and maybe also keen get down to planning a visit, knowing that what you have learned will help you get the most out of your city break. Or perhaps you have already been to St Petersburg and will enjoy reminiscing. Whatever your knowledge of the city, and whether you have travel plans or not, we hope you will love the ‘virtual visit’ anyway!
Feb 27, 2019
Feb 27, 2019
27 min
Munich Episode 14 World Capital of Beer
First, a brief history of brewing in Munich, from its beginnings in medieval monasteries, through royal patronage, the 19th century development of the craft on an industrial scale and, finally, the development of the 6 big breweries. Find out which brewery was started for his own personal use by a Wittelsbach monarch and why Löwenbräu has a lion as its symbol. Hear too about some of the city's most popular beer gardens and what snack foods you should order if you want to drink your beer in proper Bavarian style. We finish with a visit to both Munich beer festivals and more ideas for further research: a museum for beer-lovers and ideas for a guided tour of the city’s breweries and beer halls. Prost!
Feb 20, 2019
Feb 20, 2019
25 min
Munich Episode 13 Enjoying the food in Munich
This episode is devoted to all things culinary in Munich, including Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake) and the Viktualienmarkt,(food market) which is the gathering place for anyone wanting to buy local produce or enjoy Bavarian snacks like Weisssurst with mustard. Descriptions follow of some of Munich's best-known dishes, including hearty meat-based meals like Schweinesbraten and Leberknödelsuppe, popular local vegetable dishes such as Sauerkraut, Rotkohl and the wide variety of local mushrooms – Pfifferlinge, Steinpilze – which are the base of delicious sauces. Of course Munich is a cosmopolitan city, but the emphasis here is on traditional, Bavarian cuisine and so we couldn't resist a mention of the city's museum dedicated to the humble potato, the wonderfully named 'Kartoffelmuseum'.