Last full day in Russia

---

Now having a last full day in St Petersburg before flying back to Copenhagen tomorrow (it's 9/11 so security may be extra tight), killing time at the airport there for about six hours then heading towards China. We have really enjoyed St Petersburg. It is a comparatively new city for Europe, built by Peter the Great in 1703 after he reckoned that Russia was going to go nowhere in trade and economics without a decent port. He fought a war with the Swedes, grabbed an outlet to the Baltic and built a new capital here. Meanwhile he borrowed every good idea going on building and design, so you find Russianised copies of practically every good idea over the previous thousand years transplanted here. The Hermitage Palace and Museum are mind-blowing with both their fabulous Baroque architecture plus the art inside -- stacks of good Impressionists etc. I must watch Russian Ark again, and may stay awake this time seeing it means a bit more. His summer palace at Peterhof was equally stunning, including one garden adjoining the Gulf of Finland with 150 fountains. The cost of all the gold and the work must have been phenomenal, so if the serfs were paying for it through taxes you can understand them eventually getting fed up and having a revolution to change the system.
Have done a few tours, and by night the city looks magical with the most important buildings lit up. Funny to think of the River Neva and canals all iced up in a month or two. Apparently they stop the water supply to the fountains in some places, cover them with boxes and then wait for spring before unveiling them again.
We've encountered none of the queues predicted with the major monuments, so it has been pretty easy. Weather has been great until today when there was a brief shower, with maximum temperatures around 13-14 degrees.
My Cyrillic is making steady progress, but I still stumble on some of the dipthongs.
Getting a taste for shots of cold neat vodka, but don't expect to keep drinking it on return. The call of Aussie red wine will prove too strong I suspect. Doing better in navigating the Metro here -- flat fair of only 14 rubles -- and haven't got lost yet, although the system is smaller. It is supposed to be the deepest underground in the world so even short trips are faily slow -- standing on escalators and going deep into the ground, waiting to find the platforms.

Tonight we are going to the ballet to see Swan Lake, which you have to do here.

Cheers

Georgie

---

Photos

Sunset over Neva
Great sunset in great city

hermitage by night
St P looked fabulous, with great lighting at night

Comments

[Chloe]

Reliving your youth??
Neat shots of Vodka??? Wow mum...you are my drinking idol!

[Georgiana]

Reply to Chloe
Sounds like you can probably teach me some more. Looking forward to that around Christmas!