St Petersburg finale - from Russia with Love

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26 June. Today we had another treat in store, the Summer Palace of Peter the Great or Peterhof outside the city. More lavish grandeur inside the palace and the gardens were magnificent, with fountains everywhere as Peter loved fountains and water features. So much gold everywhere too, it was used extensively in most palaces, cathedrals and on domes in St P and also in Moscow. By this stage we were getting quite blasé about the grandeur of the Tsars, but it is impressive. After the tour, Blu was very happy as we came across a craft beer restaurant. We tried a great porter and had mussels which were small compared to NZ but very good. Wandered around for a while, tried out the metro to visit a monastery across town, St P also had very smart metro stations but newer and less grandiose than Moscow. Back by the river, we found the Summer Garden which was lovely. Some similar features to Peterhof, maybe one was modelled on the other? Time for a final Georgian meal which we liked the best (and the cakes), we hit the sack, Blu says our legs are 2 inches shorter from all the walking we are doing!

27 June Our last morning in Russia before flying back to London, time to find Blu a souvenir T shirt and a visit to the Church of the Spilled Blood, which was a highlight, had been looking forward to going inside the church and was not disappointed. On the site of the church, one of the Tsars was murdered, hence the name, his son had the church over the spot as a memorial to him! It is magnificent inside and out, the whole inside is mosaics, and the altar is full of precious stones. So it was goodbye to Russia, a good flight back, we even got a meal which was confusing as we only got s cheese roll on the way over! Back In London we were wishing we were back on the Moscow metro as we had a series of events on our journey across London to our accommodation - first a train delay from Heathrow, then a signal breakdown at Piccadilly, so changed lines and had to walk, bus and walk to our hotel with our luggage. Seems there are so many steps on the underground when you have bags with you! Finally made it after about 3 hours! Blu's summary on the small part of Russia we have seen on a week, bloody amazing! I agree, it exceeded our expectations, two great cities with diverse cultures, food and people, and a fascinating history.

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Photos

Peterhof gardens
View to the Gulf of Finland - so Peter could see his ships come in

Another fountain!
How many does it have?