St. Petersburg, Russia

St. Petersburg,Russia

The excursion staff has been warning us for days that visiting Russia is trickier than the other places.  The only way you can visit without a visa is to be on a cruise excursion.  We had to go through immigration and they warned us that the Russians are very strict and don’t bend an inch.  They told us they wouldn’t smile and they would be very strict as we went through.  They said not to stop and look at something too long on the tours because if we lost our guide we’d be stuck in the country with no visa.  I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal to stay with the guide, but it was soooooo crowded that it was easy to lose sight of the guide.  It was also very hard to get photos of anything due to the crowds. 

I went on a half day tour of three cathedrals - the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul,  the Church on Spilled Blood, and the Cathedral of Saint Isaac.  


The Church on Spilled Blood is built where Emperor Alexander II was fatally wounded in 1881.  It contains more than 7500 meters of mosiacs. 

Saint Isaac's Cathedral was dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia who was a patron saint of Peter the Great. The dome was painted grey to conceal it from enemies in WWII. 

mosaic that looks like a painting

mosaic up close

All of the churches were Russian Orthodox, but the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Cathedral was built more like European churches instead of the orthodox style with the “onion” bulbs on top (That is what the guide called them.)The Saint Peter and Saint Paul church had a lot of “fake” materials like the Schwerin castle did.  It was all the rage of the time to use those techniques instead of real marble, gold etc.  The cathedral is located inside the Peter and Paul Fortress and it is the oldest landmark in St. Petersburg. 

Peter the Great's tomb

The cruise staff have their country on their name tags and I always ask the Indians where they are from and it is almost always Mumbai so we chat about life there.  Today there were some Indians on my tour and they were from Mumbai and the woman’s nephew goes to the school I taught at!  Another couple heard us talking and the woman said she was a teacher with the Department of defense schools in Italy.  I’ve met a lot of teachers on this trip.

I had my Peru shirt on and the hand sanitizer lady asked what part I’d been to because she was from Peru and was so excited that I had been there. 

On the 2^nd day in Saint Petersburg, I went to Catherine’s palace and the Hermitage. Our guide was fantastic – really funny which wasn’t true of most of the Russians we met.  We had lunch at a Russian restaurant and you never know what you are going to get on those included lunches, but it was really good.  Cucumber salad, soup, fish, rice.

Catherine's Palace is in Pushkin about 30km outside of St. Petersburg. It was originally built for Catherine I, but later it was redone by her daughter Empress Elizabeth who wanted a grander palace. 

fireplace from netherlands

I loved the floors.

The grounds. 

The Hermitage

Gorgeous floors

I had a hot stone massage by a woman from Montenegro – she was impressed that I’ve been there and knew that it was different than Serbia – I guess people think they are the same?