Beautiful St. Petersburg

---

Over the weekend we spent several days in St. Petersburg. At first it was very difficult to adjust to the new time (8 hours ahead of EST!). If the time difference weren't bad enough, right now St. Petersburg is experiencing "White Nights" (similar to Alaska) where the sun doesn't completely set, creating 22+ hours of sunlight. They were celebrating the founding of the city last weekend so there were many people from throughout Russia & other parts of the world visiting for the anniversary. The city hosted concerts & festival-like events for the anniversary.

Three things that surprised me most about St. Petersburg:

1) The city was extremely clean particularly for such a large city. The streets & alleys were not filled with trash.
2) There are a lot of modern buildings but the historic buildings have also been very well maintained & renovated. I thought more historic buildings would have been destroyed particularly the imperial buildings during the Soviet period.
3) The delta of the Neva River which runs through St. Petersburg creates a very pleasant view even though the river is heavily polluted. Our guide told us that you would have to be out of your mind to actually swim in the river because it is so contaminted.

Sites Visited

We visited The Hermitage, the largest museum in Russia. The museum has an extensive collection of art, many pieces collected by Catherine the Great in the 18th century. Today, there are more than 3 million items in the museum. I especially loved the collection of Van Gogh & Monet paintings in the museum.

The St. Peter & Paul Cathedral was absolutely beautiful with elaborate decorations. It is the place where the Russian tsars & tsarinas are buried including (only recently) the last royal family the Romanovs.

Overall, it has been a good trip thus far. Next weekend we will travel to Moscow.

*Pictures to come soon*

---

Comments

[Cindy]

Trip
Amanda, I'm so glad you made it safely. It sounds beautiful, I can't wait to see pictures of the Cathederal. Be safe and no swimming in the river!! Cindy

[Gail]

So good to hear from you and know you're having a good time. Thanks for the update. Your Kings Island parents have been thinking of you. Glad you're having a real good time. Gail.

[John]

Wow!
Amanda, Thanks for sharing your trip experiences with us. I'm especially pleased to learn that the historic structures have been well taken care of, even times of great turmoil there. It will be great to see pictures soon. Have a safe journey to Moscow!

[Mary Jo]

I found you! It took me a while. Glad to hear that you're having fun. How's the food? Anything smell like funnel cakes so far? I made a copy of your page and posted it for all to see. Take care. Mjo