Blogs from Northwest, Russia, Europe

Over the years, combined with my love for trains, metros, and public transportation, I have been fortunate to find some of the most beautiful stations in the world. Here are a few of my favorites (with help from tripsavvy): Komsomolskaya Station, Moscow (above) With its crystal chandeliers, marble pillars, and golden mosaics, you’d almost expect Moscow’s commuters to waltz through Komsomolskaya Station on their way to the platform. Constructed in 1952, the space was inspired by a wartime speech of Stalin, and the creative duo behind its extravagance (Artist Pavel Korin and architect Alexey Schusev) even won the Stalin prize for their work. Beyond its beauty is a blatant political mission. The station was also designed to promote Soviet propaganda, so you’ll find sculptures of fallen leaders and scenes depicting moments of Russian history. I was ... read more

Here is the last entry of our 5 weeks spent in Russia in these trouble times of 2022. Initially we were going to leave St Petersburg on the 12th of March, but we ended up re-booking our flight five days ahead of the schedule time. Result of this was our stay in Moscow would be shortened by few days too. The think I miss about the last 3 blogs is not to have been able to share great pictures of the great friends we met over the last 5 weeks. But let say that this part will stay private. We landed late Friday afternoon in Moscow arriving from Sochi and would leave on the Sunday late afternoon by the speed train to St Petersburg. Little point to note, in Moscow you spend a lot more time ... read more

I have been to some of the most beautiful metro stations in the world. Europe definitely has the best, followed by Asia. The US is a distant LAST! Syntagma metro station, Athens, Greece A transfer point between Athens Metro lines 1 and 2, Syntagma is not your average station. Considering the city's illustrious history, it maybe won't come as a surprise that the station is part museum. Located beneath the Syntagma Square, there are many antiquities on display at the station that were found during the construction. Aside from the ancient artifacts, there are also works from many contemporary Greek artists. The problem? It is a major transfer point, and everybody is running around like a Greek chicken with its head cut off!Szent Gellért tér Station, Budapest, HungaryAuthorities don't always​ need to spend ... read more

http://www.heygo.com St. Anne’s Church, or Annenkirche, is a large Lutheran cathedral in the heart of St. Petersburg. It stands out among the other buildings with its semicircular rotunda with columns. This evening Anna was able to take us inside to meet Katya who is a guide for this remarkable building and to learn of its history. As we entered the church resembled a set for a post-apocalyptic movie. Annenkirche was built in 1779 by architect Yury Felten and is one of the oldest churches in St Petersburg, it was originally built for the German community. During the 19th century the church used to be the spiritual home of many famous city dwellers, for example Carl Fabergé. Not only was it a church, but it also functioned as a hospital and a shelter. In Soviet times, the ... read more

What a treat to be able to visit virtually the Faberge Museum with Anna in St.Petersburg The collection is made up of over 4000 display items which represent the many different items created by the House of Fabergé. Anna gave detailed information on many of the items with the main focus on the Imperial Eggs all so beautifully displayed. The First Hen egg (Given by Tsar Alexander III to his wife in 1885) was not on display as it is part of the Faberge collection currently being shown at the V&A museum in London. The Renaissance Egg is a jewelled Easter Egg and was the last Faberge egg Alexander gave to his wife Maria. The Rosebud Egg opens like a bonbonnière to reveal a yellow-enamelled rosebud, where the surprises were originally contained. The surprises are missing, ... read more