St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg was founded by Peter the Great in 1703 within the walls of the Sts. Peter and Paul Fortress. In 1712, he moved the capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg. His successor moved the capital back to Moscow, then it was returned to St. Petersburg. Between 1741 and 1825, Empress Elizabeth, Catherine the Great, and Alexander I built elegant palaces, government buildings, and churches here and St. Petersburg became one of Europe’s greatest capitals. At the beginning of World War I, its name was changed to Petrograd. In 1917, the Bolsheviks moved the capital back to Moscow. In 1924, Petrograd was renamed Leningrad. It became St. Petersburg once again in 1991.

The city is spread out over many islands and is located on the Neva River Delta. It also has many canals. Photo: St. Petersburg on the Neva River.

If you come into St. Petersburg on a ship or ferry and you stay no more than 72 hours, you usually don’t need a Russian visa. We needed to obtain visas for our Russian trip. I found the visa form horrendous to fill out and kept having to call my tour company and also the visa service that was recommended to us for help. Including the visa service fees but not including FedEx charges to send my forms to the visa service, the total was $327.31. I know someone who is in the process of getting a Russian visa but is using a different visa service and is not having the horrendous time that I had.

St. Petersburg

We took a city tour today, starting out at 8 a.m., right after we docked. Photo: One of the many canals that we crossed over.

St. Petersburg

Another canal scene.

The Smolny Monastery

Our first stop was at the Smolny Monastery, built in the Baroque style in 1748–1769. The Cathedral of Resurrection is in the middle of the photos. We did not visit inside the cathedral.

Church of the Spilled Blood

The Church of the Spilled Blood definitely is an impressive building. It was built in 1882–1907 over the spot where Czar Alexander II was assassinated in 1881. We only walked around the church and didn’t go inside it.

St. Isaac’s Cathedral

Our next photo–op was of St. Isaac’s Cathedral. Again, we didn’t visit inside it, but if you have the time, you can visit inside all the churches that we stopped at.

St. Isaac’s Square

A photo of part of my tour group in St. Isaac’s Square facing St. Isaac’s Cathedral. I include this photo as I keep referring to Lyn, one of our group of five tablemates and travelmates. She is the woman in the white sweater.

Rostral Column

Our next photo–op was of this rostral column, erected 1805–1810. There are two of them close–by each other, but this is the only one we visited. A rostral column is a type of column celebrating a victory, but from what I have read, these columns are just for show.

View of the Peter and Paul Fortress

One of the reasons we stopped at the rostral column was to view the Peter and Paul Fortress across the river.

The Peter and Paul Fortress

Our next stop was at the Peter and Paul Fortress on which grounds are the Belfry, at the right, and the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral, on the left. It is the oldest landmark in St. Petersburg, built between 1712 and 1733 by Peter the Great. The Belfry is the world’s tallest Orthodox bell tower.

Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral

The inside of the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral is spectacular.

Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral

Inside the cathedral.

Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral

Inside the cathedral.

Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral

The Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral serves as a burial chamber for the Russian royal families. Czar Nicholas II (the last czar of Russia), his family, and his household staff, assassinated in 1918, were re–interred here in 1998.

I have put the rest of my photos of the first part of the city tour on a slide show: Go directly to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/st–petersburg–city–tour–1/

or to Slide Shows, Eastern Europe, Russia–2, St. Petersburg: City Tour–1.

Time for Lunch

We didn’t go back to our ship for lunch, but instead ate at a restaurant in the city. Some of us were very excited when we saw this restaurant sign––we thought, finally some Italian food. But, no, the restaurant served a buffet of food close to what we had been eating all along.

Time for Lunch

A Russian bear greeted us.

Time for Lunch

And also this woman in costume who gave out coupons for the souvenir store next to the restaurant.

Time for Lunch

Cute nesting dolls for sale in the souvenir store. In St. Petersburg, you can pay for most everything in either euros or U.S. dollars, only needing rubles to pay for small items, such as bottled water.

Palace Square and the Hermitage

The State Hermitage Museum was founded by Catherine the Great in 1764 and open to the public since 1852. The museum complex consists of six buildings, including the Winter Palace shown on the left in this photo. The Winter Palace was the residence of the Russian emperors. The Hermitage’s collection is huge, about 3 million items, and the rooms in the museum are so numerous that it can takes years to visit them all.

The State Hermitage Musuem

Inside the Winter Palace part of the State Hermitage Museum, a beautiful building. I have put the rest of my photos of the Hermitage on a slide show. Go directly to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/st–petersburg–the–hermitage/

or to Slide Shows, Eastern Europe, Russia–2, St. Petersburg: The Hermitage.

Getting Separated from My Group

I knew that there was an Internet cafe in the Hermitage and I had planned to go to it. It had been 10 days since I could check my e–mail or know what was going on in the world, as we had no news given to us on the tour. Before we entered the museum, I asked Tanya, our Gate 1 tour conductor, where and at what time we would meet after seeing the Hermitage. She told me right where we were now––at the entrance––and at 4:30 p.m., which is exactly where I waited for my tour group after I had left the tour to go to the Internet cafe. But no one showed up. Either there was miscommunication as to what “entrance” meant or the local guide changed the meeting place after I left the tour. They couldn’t find me and my tour group left without me. I finally was able to get a signal on my cell phone so I could call Tanya. She sent Alina back after reaching the boat and she found me.

Alina asked me if I wanted to go back to the ship for dinner or did I want to stay in the city until the rivers and canal cruise that I signed up for came back. Silly question: Of course, stay in the city.

I took this photo of the Hermitage while waiting for Alina. I had to call Tanya back when no one came after an hour to rescue me and she said that Alina was there looking for me. I told her I would be right next to the column in this photo and Alina did find me.

Palace Square

Palace Square is the central city square of St. Petersburg and was built as a monument of the Russian victory over Napoleon. It was the site of the Bloody Sunday in 1905 and of the October Revolution of 1917. The building opposite the Hermitage is shaped as an arch and was built in 1819–1829. The Alexander Column, erected 1830–1834, is at the center of the square and is the tallest red granite column in the world.

Palace Square

The angel on top of the Alexander Column.

Palace Square

The statues on top of the arched–shaped building.

Palace Square

You could take a horse and carriage ride here.

Palace Square

Close–up.

Palace Square

There was a very interesting building right next to the Winter Palace and I assume part of the Heritage. Note the statues holding up the balcony.

Palace Square

Close–up.

Nevsky Prospekt

Alina and I walked from Palace Square to Nevsky Prospekt, the main street in St. Petersburg, so I could have some dinner. Alina just wanted something to drink.

Nevsky Prospekt

A bunny greeted us on Nevsky Prospekt.

Nevsky Prospekt

And so did this Subway character.

Nevsky Prospekt

I picked out a place to eat––a place where Russians eat. It was like a cafeteria with many choices. I chose barbecued chicken, which I didn’t like because it was of dark meat, and spaghetti. Alina had bought me a coffee and some pastry.

Nevsky Prospekt

This is Alina. She is listed as an On–board Guide and she is as sweet as a person can be. We sat outside so I could people–watch and talked. She asked me if it was true that all that Americans eat are hamburgers and pizza. This really threw me as I did not know anyone thought this of us. Actually, I was so surprised by the question I couldn’t think of too much else that we do eat. Then I surprised Alina when she asked me what I thought of Russia and I told her that I thought it was very Western, as it is so much closer to Western Europe in culture than it is to other world cultures such as Asian and Islamic. While I was having a great time with Alina and eating on Nevsky Prospekt, I heard later that my tablemates were quite worried about me.

Nevsky Prospekt

After eating, I think we walked down this street to meet up with the tour group going on the rivers and canal cruise. This was an optional event. The other event offered was the ballet Swan Lake, which Dave and Joyce went to and liked very much.

On the Way to Meet the Tour Group

The tour buses were to come to a parking place in the middle of a square. You had to cross traffic to get to the middle. It looked clear and I started to cross when this idiot on a motorcycle roared into view. He wasn’t going to stop but I jumped clear of him. Then the surprise––this idiot was wearing motorcycle gang attire and blaring an Elvis song as he sped along. Who else could he be but one of those Ugly Americans who wreck our image in foreign countries?

Rivers and Canals Cruise

I met up with my tour group and am now on a Rivers and Canals of St. Petersburg cruise.

Rivers and Canals Cruise

Look closely at this photo to see how high our boat is and how low the bottom of the arch of the bridge. Lyn went down below on the boat to bring back two glasses of vodka––one for herself and one for me for my “traumatic” getting–separated experience. We were approaching one of these bridges when she came up with the drinks––hence, she was standing up. I yelled “Duck”  and she did and didn’t even spill the vodka. If she hadn’t ducked, I don’t want to even imagine what would have happened to her. It would have been awful. Going under these bridges was really dangerous. Lyn said that no warning was given about them on the bus and no warning was given on the boat. There should have been. Lyn was lucky––someone else told her to duck when she was standing taking photos and didn’t see the low bridge we were about to go under.

I have put the rest of my photos of the cruise on a slide show. Go directly to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/st–petersburg–canal–cruise/

or to Slide Shows, Eastern Europe, Russia–2, St. Petersburg:  Canal Cruise.

Rivers and Canals Cruise–Movie

I took a movie of part of our Rivers and Canals Cruise. No sound.