035 Russia: St. Petersburg

Russia: St. Petersburg
Palaces & gold. Peterhof, Hermitage & Catherine's Palace
Unbelievable. We are probably 2cm smaller for all the walking we did. All the 'stuff' we saw is that which was not lost in the revolution. If this is only a small sample of what they managed to hoard then you start to understand why there was a revolution.

This is only a small sample of our photographs. We took more on St. Petersburg than Moscow- which I wouldn't have thought possible. Add to that all the palaces where no photographs were allowed and you can begin to imagine how much there is to see in Russia. We were totally enthralled. One of the most memorable was the Amber room, in Catherine the Greats palace - breathtaking.

The fast train from Moscow-St. Petersburg; more like an aeroplane experience than a train ride.

The Peter and Paul fortress.

 St. Isaac's Cathedral. Once again we didn't need to cover our heads.

 Peter the Greats summer palace at Peterhof. The fountain was just amazing, gold everywhere you looked.

 

 

Hermitage. There are plenty of interesting facts about how long it would take you if you stood for a certain amount of time in front of each exhibit - ranging from 5 - 7 years!! We took 5 hours and saw about 80% of the place.
There was some amazing artefacts. Add to that the sumptuousness of the actually palace, the ceilings, the walls and the spectacular parquetry floors and you went into sensory overload.

 

the floors (which we were actually allowed to walk on) were exquisite (eventually you just run out of superlatives :))

 

 

 

I found this of interest as in the western world we rarely see busts of black people. Russia has loads of them.

Something that was quite surprising: all these famous paintings and little security. If you were brave (or stupid?) you could actually touch them - we saw one guy do just that and no alarms went off. In the Louvre you would be queuing for hours and then see the Mona Lisa behind bullet proof glass.

endless opulence.

 

I loved this. It is an individual sleigh for one of the children. The artwork was ... well yes, exquisite.

Russia is not a place to advertise. In fact if we hadn't been told exactly where this show was we would never have found the place, even when we were standing right outside. Traditional singing and dancing.
We got into the habit of just trying interesting looking doors as so much was hidden behind the most uninteresting doors (just like our apartment :))

Some things are just there to amuse :)
The park had an Alice in Wonderland theme

Church of the spilled blood - it's new. I think it was finished in 1996 yet unless someone told you, you would think it old. Inside was all mosaics. Shows that we still have the skills to create masterpieces.

If you have ever been to the Hermitage you will totally understand this photo. I've done 5 (yes five) hours in the place and I'm see sick.
It is magnificent but there is only so much you can absorb in a day.

 

And that was Russia.

FANTASTIC. A few cultural differences for us to navigate but nothing insurmountable. While there was limited English, we made our needs understood.

The Metro was cheap, clean, safe and efficient.

We were a bit slow to understand that if you ask for the English menu you get the a-la-carte menu which can be expensive. We pointed to the specials board, crossed our fingers and were rewarded with very inexpensive 3 course meals.

I think I'm most proud of the fact we navigated the local bus and train service that the Russian country people use.