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Published: June 17th 2009
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St Petersburg.... Not So Russian At All
Arriving bright and early in the old capital, we dumped our bags at the hotel and headed for breakfast near the station thinking "if that was the last train I'll see, it won't be that bad!!" Straight into a walking tour of the city, we were taken to some of the old palaces, shown some of the brilliant architectural buildings (and even a church with a striking resemblance to St Basil's), and given a bit of history into the city. The fact that the city was built from the ground up by Peter The Great when he decided he needed to control the mouth of the Neva River and gain a viable port for Russia, is a feat unto itself. After touring through Europe, he took the best bits of all their cities and included them into his plans. Seeing canals and fountains, open parkland and manicured gardens full of statues, and a very artistic approach to the buildings, you could almost be mistaken for thinking you weren't in Russia anymore. What's more,
St Petersburg has a bottomless pit of talented people who have lived there including Pushkin and Tchaikovsky.
With the
afternoon to do with as we pleased, I headed to the original fort, Saint Peter & Paul's Fort to check out the
Cathedral of St Peter & Paul. Definitely worth the trip with frescos and gold leaf adorning all sides and ceilings, and the tombs of the great to reflect on. Housing all the Tsars from Peter The Great except Nicholas II (who is buried in Ekaterinburg), along with Catherine The Great who was the original founder of the Hermitage.
The next day happened to be the Day Of Russia, a holiday celebrating the fall of communism, and the streets were packed with parades and party-goers. We on the other hand were headed for the
Hermitage where it's said that if you look at each piece for one minute it will take you 3 years to see them all. They also say that only about 40%!o(MISSING)f their pieces are on display. The hermitage is also joined to the
Winter Palace and is actually five buildings all joined together by corridors. It's not just the art inside either.... the walls, floors and ceilings are masterpieces in their own right. Spending a couple of hours wandering around the likes of
Da Vinci, Renoir, Van Gogh, Monet and Picasso, we felt a little cultured out so we headed to our next stop.
St Isaac's Cathedral is the main cathedral in the area, with it's giant golden domes and a view to die for across a park to the river. It also has an observation area at the base of the main dome that gave fantastic vistas across the city.
With the tour all but over, the last night was spent drinking, eating and remembering the times had together. Last drink was called in the light of midnight, and we prepared to leave Russia our separate ways.
Final words on Russia... don't be afraid to go there!!! It's a fantastic place with so much to see and do, but don't count on it being cheap!!! Besides that, I would love to go back to St Petersburg but I get the feeling that once you've seen the major sights in Moscow there's not much else there.
"To a man with imagination, a map is a window to adventure." - Sir Francis Chichester
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