Our Highlights of St. Petersburg Russia.

St. Petersburg Russia.

We have now travelled as far-east up the Baltic Sea as we are going to go and we have arrived at the very large city of St. Petersburg, which is the second largest city in Russia with a population of 5 million people.

St. Petersburg is a very grey looking city consisting of lots of apartment blocks that all look very similar. The city is built on marsh land and consists of 43 islands all very densely populated and linked by many bridges. Getting around St. Petersburg by bus is very frustrating. We had two full day 8 hour- tours booked and we felt we spent half our tour time sitting on the bus. We did however also see some wonderful sites.

 

Views of the Hermitage.

 

 

On the first day we started at the spectacular landmark and world famous Hermitage Museum. This is said to be one of the finest museums in the world and it boasts of 353 rooms, filled with masterpieces by Raphael, Titian, Giorgione, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and many others. The Hermitage is situated in the Winter Palace which is the former residence of the mighty Russian Czars, on the Neva River. It is just full of amazing paintings and huge tapestries that adorn the museum walls. There are spectacular staircases, marble structures, malachite columns and highly decorated floors and ceilings. It has to be seen to be believed.

 

The massive and grand staircase in the entrance to the Hermitage.

Mosaic Floors



 



 

The Roof Top Garden.

 

One of the fantastic rooms at the Hermitage.

In the afternoon we went some distance out of the city to Peterhof to visit the Magnificent Gardens and Fountains of the Yusupov Palace.

Us in front of the fountains.

 

 

The Main Fountain.

The next day we went in the opposite direction to the town of Pushkin to see the magnificent Catherine’s Palace. This grand residence has been fully restored over the past 40 years as it was extensively damaged during the 2nd World War. It is massive n size and is light blue and white in colour. Inside each room is spectacular in its own right. Words cannot explain the beauty – I hope that some of the photos do. There is a Grand Hall, Throne Room and a Very Large Ball Room as well as many other rooms. You can only see so much on a tour like this, but I am sure we have been taken to the grandest parts of the palace and we have been given as much information as we can handle.

 

 

Outside views of Catherine's Palace.

 Inside the Grand Palace.

 The Gold Ball Room.





The Blue Room.

 

The main stair case is just magnificent and it is decorated with plates and vases of the finest Japanese and Chinese porcelain and many of the rooms are gilded with gold and decorated with floor to ceiling mirrors. Each room has the furniture and Famous painting of the time and the table are set in the finest dinner ware specially made and designed for that room.

There is one room that is totally decorated in amber. It is just amazing as it glows in soft oranges, yellows and reds.

In the afternoon we go back to the centre of St. Petersburg to see the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Isaac’s. This is the largest Cathedral in the city. The interior is richly decorated with different kinds of marble, malachite and other semi-precious stones and it has a magnificent painted dome which is encircled with gold statues of angels and many glorious paintings everywhere. It would be one of the most eye pleasingly decorated cathedrals I have ever seen. It has not been used as a working church since the 1930’s and it is now a State run Museum.

 

St. Isaacs Cathedral.



 

 

We stop to take photos of the Church of the Spilled Blood which looks very beautiful. I am sorry that we did not get to see inside.

The Church of the Spilled Blood. 

The souvenir shops are full of Babushka Dolls which are wooden painted stacking dolls and represent the family. Some are very exquisite but they are also very pricy. The Russian also make beautiful hand painted lacquer boxes which are absolutely beautiful but well out of my price range.

 

The Stacking Dolls.

On both Days we had free time for lunch and we were dropped off at major shopping complexes. They are exactly the same as ours, with many of the same shops and most of the signage is in English. On both days we enjoyed KFC. It was exactly the same as we have in Australia except you can also purchase a local beer. We really enjoyed our lunch break and even though we were very tired at the end of the 2 days, we did have a great time seeing the sites in Russia and we have many great memories.