Saint Petersburg - the final two days

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It was a fast train from Moscow to Saint Petersburg (especially compared to our 4 days on the Trans Siberian) we did the approximately 900kms in just under 4 hours. It was a smooth ride across more flat Russian countryside.

We were booked into a small boutique hotel that had been newly renovated so was very comfortable and quiet after the throbbing masses of the Moscow hotel.

The next day our guide meet us for another 16km long walk around the sights of Saint Petersburg. We stopped for coffee along the way and were served large coffees in soup bowls which kept us firing for the rest of the day. The churches and buildings along the main stretch of the city were magnificent again and we spent the morning strolling through these stunning buildings. The government has spent an amazing amount of money restoring all the churches throughout the city.

After lunch we went to the Hermitage (the winter palace of the Tsar) which has been stunningly restored to its former greatness. The chapel and the two throne rooms and the ballrooms blew us away (see the photos). In this building there was also a great collection of traditional painting including a large collection of Rembrandts and Rubens.

The impressionist collection was housed in a recently renovated building on the Hermitage square which was amazing in it self. Then we moved inside to be awed by collections of Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, Renoir, Picasso, Cezanne. By the end of this we pleaded with our guide for mercy and she took us home on the bus. That night we were only able to struggle downstairs to the restaurant in the hotel for dinner before returning to our room to a very well earned rest.

The next morning we went to the Fortress of Peter and Paul before returning to the hotel to get our lift to the airport to start our long flight home.

So sitting in Dubai airport waiting for our next flight we discussed what were the highlights for us of this trip and decided that the following in no particular order stood out for us. Ulan Baatar City and the National Park to its NE that we visited. Watching the bogeys being changed on the train on the Chinese border. The flatness of the countryside from the time we entered Mongolia all the way across to Saint Petersburg. The Decembrist House in Irkutsk and the amazing cathedrals in the city. The modern Moscow contrasted against the historic buildings of the Red Square and its surroundings. The boat ride on the Moscow river that gave a good perspective on the size and variety of the city. The Hermitage and its beauty and amazing art collection

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