St Petersburg Day 2

Day two in this fantastic city and we are out tour escorting again. (Hopefully my passengers will be better able to keep up with the guide today.  Our day trip includes a panoramic tour on the coach where the guide will explain the history and point out structures of interest. We also get to visit the Church on the Spilt Blood and the Hermitage, both of which are outstanding places to visit, and a must for any tourist.

St Isaacs Cathedral in the centre of St Petersburg.  The granite columns show damage from siege bombing in World War II

So, what have learnt about St Petersburg?  Well, it was Peter the Great's idea,  it was born in 1703 and originally called  Petrograd.  It was the capital of Russia from 1712 until 1918, (just after the revolution) and became Leningrad.  It is now known as the nothern and cultural capital of Russia. It has been built on the estuary of the River Neva as it runs into the Gulf of Finland and the city used to spread across an area of 105 islands.

This blue and white church is quite beautiful inside.  Built for one of the princesses of Russia

The city is still divided by numerous rivers and canals, giving it the name of the Venice of the North, but the number of islands has been reduced to 45. The underground rail system is extensive with 65 stations and 5 Iines, the deepest is 102 metres down apparently. We've not seen them, but the underground stations have a reputation for being quite beautiful, with sculptured and painted ceilings etc.

The Aurora.  This little battleship fired the blank round that was the signal for the start of the revolution in 1917.

St Petersburghas an extraordinary selection of museums, including a museum of toys, a museum of cats and a museum of water suppy.  It also has the only museum that you can enter sober and come out drunk......... the museum of vodka.

The river Neva is still the largest watercourse running through the city, and it is still navigable by ship as the many bridges are drawbridges which are raised at night.

During the second World War the city was surrounded by the Germans in 1941. The Siege of Leningrad lasted 900 days. In the first winter, temperatures dropped to -40°C, there was no water, no power and no food and 650000 Russians died. It's no surprise that the people of St Petersburg are proud of the fact that they never surrendered.  The city is surrounded by the so called 'Ring of Glory', 35 War Memorials dedicated to the bravery of the soldiers that defended the city during the siege. The Germans eventually retreated in 1945, but not before they tried to destroy anything of beauty or value, Catherines Palace included which is why most of what we saw yesterday was restored copies.

Church on the Spilt Blood

After the bus tour, we were taken to see the Church on the Spilt Blood. Dedicated to an assinated prince, this church is extraordinary. The decoration is breathtaking and you could stand and stare for months and not be able to take it all in.  There is no way photographs do it justice, but here are the attempts anyway.

Our tour included lunch and a souvenier shop, both of which were thoroughly taken advantage of, before we were taken to our last stop, the Hermitage.

Stunning, amazing, beautiful, astounding, gorgeous, incredible, breathtaking and awesome. I could go on, but it would get boring.

All I can says that if you are go to St Petersburg. You HAVE to go to see the Hermitage. (Be prepared for a lot of walking and standing though,  the place is massive and very busy.) Here are the pictures.

This clock was designed by a British Clockmaker - the mechanism is brilliant - the peacocks feathers open, the cock crows, and there are loads of little moving details.  There is one other version, which can be find in the museum in Barnard Castle

I have so many more pictures - I may add them later I have a desk and stronger wi-fi.

So that was St Petersburg.  We've left it still wanting more.  Looks like Peter is going to have to get himself on another Baltic Cities cruise dunnit?

Tomorrow we are in Helsinki, and we will be escorting again. Somehow, I don't think we'll be able to match these last two days.  We'll just have to wait and see.