St Petersburg, Russia

Our trip to St. Petersburg, Russia.

In 1703, Peter The Great, established a fortress on an island in St. Petersburg, thus founding the new city of "Sankt Pieter Burkh" ... often referred to as Russia's widow to the west. In 1712, St Petersburg assumes the administrative and ceremonial role as the Russian capital.

We headed out early morning from Germany, on Friday the 7th of August and stayed through the weekend until Tuesday the 11th. The country requires that you stay for a 4 day minimum. Acquiring our tourist visa was a lengthy process. We had to apply, hand over our passports for several weeks and wait in endless lines. But we did it, and the trip to Russia was one we will never forget.

Upon arrival to St. Petersburg, we decided to take a bus to the metro and then walk to our hotel. This was our first time dealing with Russian rubles (31 to the $) in this photo below ... paying as we got off the bus.
The map that I had purchased in Germany was in the normal alphabet ... not in Cyrillic script (used for the Russian language) ... which got us off to a rather tough start. Russian only has 5 letters in common with the Latin alphabet and mostly consists of Greek letter. Remembering the fraternity and sorority names at Cornell ... off we went down into the depths of the underworld (St. Petersburg's subway is the deepest in the world at 105 meters, average) , see photo below.
There were absolutely no signs for any of the stops, only a voice over the load speaker which, of course, we couldn't understand. Once we arrived at our metro stop, which we knew was the right one, having carefully counted the number of stops along the way, we got off and tried to find our way to the surface.

We came up from the metro, thinking yes! ... we are almost there, and we quickly noticed that street signs were not the same as on our map! So, we were quite confused at first ... but then once we "debated" a little over who was to blame ... and after "1" start in the wrong direction ... we slowly figured out which way to go (thanks to Rich's cunning sense of direction!).

On our walk to the hotel, probably a 40 minute hike through the streets of this large bustling city of 4.6 million people, we saw many historical monuments. We were quite surprised to learn that this city is only 200 years old, with "Peter the Great" creating the first building back in the early 1700's, his very own fortress.

This is shot of the many canals throughout the city ... a result of Peter building it on a swamp ... and giving it another moniker ... Venice of the North.

This picture shows Sheila in front of a church called St. Isaac's Cathedral ... a truly magnificent structure. Our hotel was just around the corner from this beautiful church.

Here's another view.

We checked in, and headed out to see some of the sights. The Winter Palace of Peter the Great, is in the photo below.

This Palace on The Neva River was the principal residence of the Tsar, Peter The Great. (Now, remember ... "Peter the Great" is not Rich's younger brother. The guy is a different Peter, all together. We're not sure, exactly how the Tsar got "the Great" label, but figure Rich's brother must deserve at least "the Pretty Awesome"). I guess what they say is true ... it's good to be king ... or tsar.

This city was the capital of the Russian Empire for almost 200 years. But after the October Revolution on October 25, 1917 (started across the river from St. Petersburg in Petrograd ... and brought on by WWI food shortages), the Bolsheviks moved the official capital of the country back to Moscow.

The video below is of the Palace Square. This was the main square of the Russian Empire, which was the setting of many events of great historical significance. (Don't mind the thumb ... it's still pretty good!)

After we visited this grand square, we proceeded down to the Neva River to find a place to sit and have a nice glass of wine ... or an icy cold shot of Russian volka. We found this great floating restaurant and bar, behind Sheila in this photo below ... and settled on wine.

We relaxed and just enjoyed the sights and sounds around us.

As we left the floating bar, Sheila asked where the bathrooms were and this is where they sent her.

Very Interesting!!! Need we say anymore?

Interesting buildings along the Neva River on our way back to the hotel for the evening (below, is a shot of the "Admiralty" building). Dinner that night was nothing special ... just a restaurant offering the local beef stroganoff ... and we weren't yet in the mood to sample any vodka!

The next day we headed out and found a delightful coffee shop (spelled k-o-phi-e). It wasn't "Starbucks", but it was pretty darn close. We then headed down "Nevsky Prospekt" ... this street is known for its main retail center and home to the swankiest shops and hottest nightlife. (We saw "2" Bentley automobiles along the walk!) As we headed towards our canal ride, these were some of the sights along the way.

An open market with some beautiful pieces of art work on dislplay.

One of the many beautiful Baroque facades in and around the city streets.

We stopped and had lunch here at this outdoor cafe, above. Nice stop and friendly service.
As we ate our lunch we observed the people passing us by. Many of them were well dressed mothers with their daughters, arm-in-arm. It seemed as though many were making a fashion statement, with their beautiful attire, stunning hats, along with matching shoes and gorgeous accessories. We were quite surprised with the beauty of the Russian women. Just wish I had taken a few shots of them.
After walking around and seeing the sights for a couple of hours, we decided to take a canal tour to get our bearings straight. Here's Rich, once again using his cunning sense of direction ... despite which we finally found the site of the tour.

There are 3 main waterways which wind their way through the city. They are the Moyka River, the Griboedov Canal, and the Fontanka River ... all of which we toured on our canal ride.

Now the boat tour has a little story behind it ... while we were trying to find this tour we either took a wrong turn or spent too much time checking out the "swanky" shops (depending on who you believe) and this caused a bit of a rush to catch the next tour. We then proceeded to head towards what we thought was the spot and, of course ... yes, you guessed it ... it was the wrong location. Some Russians pointed us towards the "right" location. We proceeded to run from one side of the canal to the other and boarded the boat ... just in the nick of time ... seconds before it pulled away.

Here's a video from our canal ride below.



Yup, you guessed it! The tour was in Russian ... and we didn't understand a word of it! But it was a beautiful day .... and it gave us plenty of time to "debate" who was to blame ... again.

Oh well, maybe next time!

As we left the tour, we headed over to view some gardens behind the Russian Museum, once home of many Tsars in the history of St. Petersburg, and came upon this beautiful building. This Russian Orthodox church was started in 1883 and finished 24 years later. In the early 80's (and after the Soviets left power) it was restored to it's original beauty. It is 7,000 sq m of mosaics that line the walls inside. The exterior has 20 granite plaques on the facade recording, in gold letters, the main events of Tsar Alexander II's reign. (Unfortunately he had been assassinated here ... yeah, like on the spot the church was built ... in 1881.) The mosaic panels about half way up detail scenes from the New Testament and the 144 mosaic coat of arms each represent the provinces, regions and towns of the Russian Empire of Alexander's time. The steeple at 81m high has a glistening crown. No wonder it took 24 years to build!

Griboyedov Canal with a view of the church in the distance.

This is a video off a bridge viewing towards the "Church Of The Saviour On Spilled Blood" to give you a feel for the area along one of the many canals in the city. These musicians and artists were everywhere.

This shot is of a little Russian women selling her wares along the bridge in the afternoon.

I couldn't resist taking this shot of this artist. Just look closely at this perfection! The detailing was tremendous. What a fantastic vantage point!

As we headed back to our hotel, these where some of the sights moving through the city.

This building is the neoclassical building type, called Kazan Cathedral (1801-1811). What is meant by neoclassical, is "new" classical architecture, which describes buildings that are inspired by the classical architecture of ancient Greece and Rome (symmetrical shape and tall columns that rise the full height of the building). Another Tzar named Paul had commissioned this building to reflect his desire to unite Catholicism and Orthodoxy. Ironically, he intended it to have a matching semi-circular structure on the other side of the street. It never got built ... and the two branches of Christianity have still not been reunited.

This photo below, was of another Russian woman, selling her goods. They all seemed to be such tiny people, or shall I say very small (though some small Russians, we were told, look incredible when they are bare chested ... and swim a mean butterfly stroke).

These cars were everywhere throughout the city. The construction of the "Lada" started in 1969 ... and was the only car available in the USSR until the iron curtain came down. This automobile became extremely popular (well, since there were no other choices ... let's just say it became more popular than walking) during the Cold War years in Russia and Eastern Europe, particularly the former Soviet bloc countries where they have become a symbol of city life. It was amazing to still see them still on the streets ...

We found a neat little park close to our hotel. It had a beautiful fountain dating back to 1877. Several people were actually in the water just enjoying a warm summer day.

We headed out on Sunday, back to our "usual" coffee shop and then on to the Winter Palace to tour the inside!!

Adding to our entire stay here in St. Petersburg, you could see men and women dressed in this attire of the times and it really gave you a feel of stepping back in time.

Here we were entering into the Hermitage Museum (in the Winter Palace) which was erected in 1754. The photo below was the main staircase upon entry into the palace.

I couldn't resist to take these shots as we moved through the building. Each and every room had magnificent interior design and, to think, that they actually lived like this at one time ... just amazing. And, not hard to understand how the poor Bolsheviks got so POed when their bread ran out.

This painting of "Madonna and Child" was done by Leonardo Di Vinci and is one of his 12 painting in the world.

Another space with incredible detailing and beautiful art work.

So many beautiful rooms filled with relics from in and around the country.

(We have created a slideshow of this palace, for you to view, up in the right hand corner.)

After we left the museum we headed out in search of the Russian Museum which we were going to visit the next day. Rich ... once again using his cunning sense of direction (or map reading abilities). This was in the front of the Russian Museum. We stumbled across this statue of Alexander Pushkin, said to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of Russian literature. I see a bit of a resemblance with the guy in the blue, don't you?

This was an interesting shot with this man walking around with these 2 monkeys (another resemblance to the guy in blue?!) ...

and the typical attire of the times....

After sight seeing all day, we had a wonderful evening at the ballet. This restaurant near the Mariinsky Theater (called "Back Stage") was our first stop before the show. The best meal in the city ... though we forgot to ask for vodka with our meal!

Here is the Mariinsky Theater, built in 1859. Undoubtedly, the most spectacular venue for a ballet that we have ever seen (both of them). It was like a wedding cake and with a totally full crowd.

The talent was like none we have ever seen before. A dreamy evening watching "La Sylphide".

After a full day of walking the streets and taking in another day in St. petersburg and experiencing this spectacular show, we had to stop in a "Pub" to test the local brew! A nice little place off the beaten track. We were both smiling when we left ... maybe a little bit too much! The Baltica (spelled beta-a-lamda-t-some sort of backwards N-k-a) beer was excellent ... and a pub didn't seem the right sort of place to be drinking vodka.


On Monday, we decided to try the boat tour again to see another part of the city ... and maybe even listen to the history in English, this time!!

Great tour ... in English ... and this time they took us out to the Neva River where most of the action is.

A shot of the Neva River ... Vasilevsky Island just ahead. The island functions as the intellectual heart of the city, housing the St. Petersburg State University, the Academy of Arts, and other institutions. It was quite a windy day out on the Neva, as you can see.

This is the university that Vladimir Putin attended for his law degree before joining the KGB.

After the boat tour, we headed over to the Russian Museum (since Rich had spent all that time finding the place on our map!). If you want to see some of the works and feel of this museum, take a look along the slideshow on the right side of this blog. We found the art work to be very different from most of what we have seen in the West ... really interesting.

This is a photo of one work of art that we especially enjoyed in the Russian Museum. You can tell Rich is pretty excited by it.

After another day filled with culture, we went out to a place called the JFC JAZZ CLUB. We couldn't resist this shot of the entrance to the club. They actually had this baritone hanging from the window.
The venue was so small and a bit like a New York city club. It had an incredibly talented blues guitarist ... backed up by a piano and drum set. Extra fun evening ... but still no vodka!

When we left the club at 10:30, it was still light outside. We had a 45 minute walk back to the hotel along the river. What a magical evening, just to watch sunset and stroll along the river's edge was a beautiful way to end our enchanting stay in one of the most interesting cities we have ever been too.

The Bronze horseman dedicated to Peter was under moon light and right around the corner from our hotel.

This is a photo of St Issac'a Cathedral which was also under the moonlight.


When we got back to our hotel, we headed straight to the bar to FINALLY get a taste of true Russian vodka. Having already been warned away from tainting vodka with flavors ... we ordered it pure. The served 2 tall shot glasses ice cold with only a glass of water on the side. As we both took our first sip of vodka in St. Petersburg ... we both looked at each other ... and realized ... that we are definitely NOT of Russian heritage. While Sheila proclaimed it "the best vodka I've ever tasted" she left 1/4 of a glass on the table. Rich finished up (wonder when Sheila had last tasted vodka, any way ... her 16th birthday??) ... but looked a bit wobbly and glassy eyed on the way up to the room. But ... HEY! ... when in Rome ... or Russia ... do as the Russian's do ... at least briefly at the end of your stay!

We checkout on Tuesday morning and headed back to Germany. What a fantastic trip!

Stay tuned for our next adventure ... On to Portugal!!