St. Petersburg

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Okay, apologies to begin with - this is a very belated blog entry as it is for the final stop of the trip to Russia in 2012! That said ,added to my inability to remember what I did 2 days ago, it will consist mainly of photos.

We arrived by train on the Sapsan train which took 4 and a half hours. We took the metro to Nevsky Prospekt, the famous street in St. Petersburg as our hotel was in a side street. We checked in and found a lovely tapas bar at the end of our street. We had a wander to get our bearings and then booked tickets online for the Hermitage Museum. This enabled us to bypass the large queue the next day and enter the amazing museum. It opened to the public in 1852 and only a small portion of its collection is on display at any one time. The collection is housed in 6 buildings including the Winter Palace and includes the largest collection of paintings in the world. There are pieces of work by Goya, Rembrandt, Monet and Reynolds to name a few as well as classical antiquities and artefacts from every corner of the world. There are computers in the main entrance that enable you to choose specific items you wish to see and then print off a map. This is invaluable otherwise it is easy to wander around aimlessly. A real treasure trove of things to look at and the buildings themselves are beautiful.

St. Petersburg is made up of many islands and from Spring to Summer the numerous drawbridges are raised to allow large/tall ships to travel along the Neva River. We booked a boat trip[ to witness this at midnight and it was quite a spectacle. It's a bit like New Years Eve with boats and jet skies vying for the best spot.



Next day we had a leisurely walk around the city including a walk over to St Peter and St Paul's Fortress, going inside The Church Of Our Saviour On Spilled Blood and a visit to a local bakery!

On our last day in Russia we decided to visit Peterhof the Summer palace. We took the hydrofoil through the gulf of Finland to this wonderful collection of buildings in manicured gardens with lots of fountains. It was really hot so the shade provided by the trees and spray from the fountains were both very welcome. It was a very relaxed end to a hectic but memorable trip. We headed back into St Petersburg by bus and metro.

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Photos

Hermitage Museum
Imposing but magnificent building

Lift off
One of the drawbridges opening

Drawbridge
A nightly occurrence in the Spring and Summer

Church Of The Resurrection
Commonly known as the Church Of Our Saviour On Spilled Blood, built to emulate St Basils Cathedral in Moscow.

Wonderful location for a bakery
Thought it would be downright rude not to visit this building which just happened to house a bakery - oops!