Advertisement
Published: June 20th 2009
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. - Lao Tzu
June 11, 2009, Thursday a free day, St. Petersburg, Russia. Off on the Metro, we found the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood. This is the spot Alexander II the Emperor of Russia, was mortally wounded. This memorial was erected between 1883 and 1907. Mosaics cover a vast area of the outer and inner walls. Kel is not a fan of churches, but this one got her attention, it is magnificent, 7,000 square meters of mosaics!! How many tiny pieces of colored tiles intricately placed to show shadows, and each fold in the garments, and the facial expressions, etc, etc…WOW! it is amazing.
The Russian Museum was our next stop, since we didn’t see any Russian artists at the Hermitage, we needed a stop here. It houses one of the country’s finest collections of Russian Art. We were not disappointed. It was a bit pricey, tickets, audio guide, and photo permit, but worth it.
Back to the “Campground from Hell”, and yes the propaganda is still blasting and everything is dirty, and the water is not drinkable, and the showers are not an option. Please let us leave Russia soon!
June 12, 2009,
Friday, St. Petersburg to Petrodvorets on the Gulf of Finland to Narva and exit Russia and enter Estonia!
Outside St. Petersburg is Petrodvorets (Peterhof), which is a magnificent showplace. The Grand Cascade has a collection of over 140 fountains. We only had time to visit the upper and lower gardens and walk the grounds. It was a cool rainy morning as we viewed Finland across the Gulf. The different themes of the fountains were interesting, some whimsical and others more serious. We gathered with many other tourists at 11 AM as the band played the main fountains began to flow, even the sun broke out for the occasion.
The parking lot was now jammed with tour buses and it took some maneuvering to get 16 RV’s out and on the road. We all eventually made it and began our trek to the Russian Border. The further from the city we go the worse the roads get. Yes, this is Russia’s fond farewell.
After six hours of waiting, we finally drove into Estonia!! We have never been so glad to leave a country!! If you visit Moscow or St. Petersburg, you have not seen Russia.
The Campground
Laagna was just a few kilometers from the border and we rushed to the restaurant for a quick bite before closing time. Our American friends found the same campground! Then we noticed some of our friends, “The Frenchys” arriving. Estonia is a small country.
After a nice hot shower it was pleasant to fall asleep without the loudspeaker blaring propaganda!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.051s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 7; qc: 26; dbt: 0.025s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Joan Roolf
non-member comment
Russia's wealth
The Russians show of wealth is mostly in the churches and monuments, but the infrastructure is lacking! You have shown us the real Russia in pictures and words.