Last Legs

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Your trusty travelers had two exhausting days in St. Petersburg. A ton of walking, but most thankfully the city is flatter than a pancake. Pete usurped the land upon which the city was built from the then powerful country of Sweden who attacked him through Poland and the Baltic countries. He eventually defeated Sweden during the summer campaign of 1709 and continued construction of his magnificent city. Indeed the city is magnificent. The roads are wide and arrow straight. Buildings majestic, yet we wonder their condition and use during the soviet era. Our street is the very long Nevsky Prospekt, which is filled with commercial enterprises interspersed with historical buildings and monuments. These capitalistic shops were not here in 1955, we feel sure.

We have a couple of pictures as we walked "a gazillion miles" according to Bird, and spent many hours in the Hermitage. Peter's daughter and other rulers lived here, but it is now a very large museum. The Russian Versailles? Well yes, it is every bit as grand-and exquisitely expensive. The result of this opulence was identical for the rulers of each country.

The remainder of our trip consists of two overnight ferries, today to Helsinki and tomorrow on to Stockholm. We then spend a couple of more days there. Have yet to see the Vasa, which was a very large Swedish warship that sank on its maiden voyage. That will be our last post. Fly home Wednesday. Yes, we are ready.

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Photos

Hermiage From a Bridge
Early in the "gazillion" miles walk we took a picture of the Hermitage. Really nice house Peter's daughter built.

Peter and Paul Fortress
On our way to the fort and church within.

Distant Sight
Zoomed way in to capture these distant onion tops. Lot of things in this city. Nope, don't know what it is.

St. Issac's Cathedral
The church is the large thing in the middle. Again, don't know what is to the left of it.

Commandant's House
Nice digs for the guy who ran the fortress.

Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral
Sure, the Russians participated in the church building competition in years gone by.

Interior
Very ornate.

Czar's Tombs
Final resting place of six czars. Peter is at the right front with the bust of him atop. Catherine the Great is at the rear left.

Alexander II and His Family
Remains of Alexander and his family were only discovered in 1991. They were interned here seven years later.

Peter Gate
Main entrance to the fortress. Built in 1703.

Pete's Temporary Residence
Peter lived here while he planned and constructed the city. This is the oldest building in town.

Palace Square
Looking at the Hermitage from the Palace Square. The remaining seven pictures are inside the Hermitage.

Nicholas II
Last Czar

Typical Room
Many, many rooms like this. Bird refused to allow more than one picture of them.

Madonna and Child
Crafted about the time our continent was discovered.

da Vinci
There are only twenty paintings in existence by da Vinci. The Hermitage has two.

Boy on a Dolphin
From the 1st Century AD. Yes, yes, they had a ton of Roman sculptures!

Hadrian
An emperor in the 2nd century.