St. Petersburg

Our bus ride from Veliky Novgorod to St. Petersburg took about 3 hours.  We arrived at about 11am, took a taxi to the metro station, took the Number 5 (Purple) line, then walked about 10 minutes to the Hotel Cameo.  The metro is fairly new so it looks very modern.  It is built deep into the ground.  Getting out of the metro, you take one of the longest escalators I have ever seen.  After checking into the hotel, we set out for lunch and took a walking tour of the city.

A metro station

Hotel Cameo

A very long escalator in and out of the metro

Sweet and savory pies for lunch at the Stolle's restaurant

A Chevy decorated with Route 66 logo on Nevsky Prospekt, the main street

I found out that it rains in St. Petersburg all the time.  It gets only an average of 35 days of sunshine every year.  So it's no surprise that it was raining the first two days we were here.  Fortunately, we scheduled a visit to the Hermitage Museum on the second day.  Our tour leader, Vasily, is a licensed tour guide for the Hermitage Museum.  He said it'd take years to see all the exhibits at the museum.  You can read more about the museum by clicking here and on their official website.  It was founded by Empress Catherine the Great in 1764 and is the largest in the world with over 3 million exhibits.  The museum comprise of six historic buildings, including the Winter Palace, a former residence of Russian Emperors.  The admission is 700 rubles, about US$12.

One thing everyone agree on this trip to Russia is we ran into a lot of tourists from China.  At first I couldn't figure out why.  Then I realized it's their so-called Golden Week, which consists of their National Day of October 1 and a few extra days off.  Chinese residents, with their new money are traveling all over the world, and spending big.  They are replacing the "ugly Americans" of 40 years ago and the "curious Japanese" of 20 years ago.  When I was on the Slot Canyons photography trip a few weeks ago, at least 50% of the tourists going through the narrow canyon were Chinese tourists.  Similarly, at the Hermitage Museum, over 50% of the tourists on the day we visited, were from China.  How do I know?  Because I can understand (and speak) Mandarin and Cantonese.  Our tour leader Vasily said, unhappily, that many of the Chinese tour guides at the Hermitage are not licensed.  They use the license of a Russian guide, who waits nearby.  We spent 3-4 hours at the museum and barely scratch the surface.  Vasily took us to the exhibits that he wanted to show us.  He is very knowledgeable on Russian history and politics and it was a pleasure to have him as our guide.

Palace Square - main Hermitage Museum and Alexander Column in the middle, surrounded by the Winter Palace, also part of the Museum

Entrance to the Hermitage Museum

Unbelievably ornate decorations

Venus

Cupid

An Ornate Hallway

Collections include some of the oldest and rarest paintings

Throne of one of the Tzars

I've been to many museums around the world and I must say Hermitage is way on top.  There are palaces/museums in Vienna and Versailles that are almost as beautiful as this but not in the quantity and quality of exhibits that this museum has.  Sadly, this was built on the backs of the Russian peasants who have to work so hard to support the lavish lifestyles of the Russian Tzars.  This is one of the contributing factors in the February Revolution, which saw the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II,  right here in St. Petersburg (at that time known as Petrograd).  In the same year of 1917, there was another October Revolution, led by Vladimir Lenin, which eventually led to the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922.

On my third day in St. Petersburg, the rain stopped.  A miracle!  Even the sun peeked out among the clouds.  My objective for the day was to visit the Resurrection Church (aka Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood), the Peter and Paul Fortress, and the St. Isaac Cathedral.  I bought a 2-day ticket on the hop-on hop-off bus by City Tours so I was able to get to some of these places without to much walking.

Saint Petersburg is sometimes nicknamed the Venice or Amsterdam of Russia because of its many canals.  On my last day I decided to take a cruise that goes along the Neva River and the canals.  It gives you a different perspective of the city.  I sat on the deck of the boat even though the temperature was freezing cold at about 40F or 4C.

A view of one of the canals

Cruise boats are popular along the canals

An Art Mart on Nevsky Prospekt, the main street

Night scene alone the canal

Canal leading to the Church on the Spilled Blood

I was told this is an advertisement by a prostitute, painted on the sidewalk

Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood

Faberge Eggs on display at a souvenir store

Walkway at the St. Peter and Paul Fortress, with beautiful golden autumn leaves

Judgement Day painting on the ceiling of St. Isaac's Cathedral

St. Isaac's Cathedral

Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul

Souvenir Stands outside the Church on the Spilled Blood

Soviet Propaganda from the 60s'

Religious Icons for sale

Lastly, the Russian language is written in Cyrillic, an alphabet that originated from the Greek alphabet.  It is now used in countries like Bulgaria, Serbia and the Ukraine.  This makes signs difficult to read or pronounce for those from countries using the newer form of the Latin alphabet, like English.  You see the same sign over and over again and you wonder, what does the following sign mean?  See answer below

It means STOP.  How do you pronounce it?  STOP     😄

This is the end of my wonderful 10-day trip to Russia.  It's too bad that not too many Americans want to come here.  Most just stop in St. Petersburg for 2 days as part of a Baltic cruise.  Moscow has as much, if not more, to offer as in St. Petersburg.  Tomorrow afternoon I am flying to London, then to Edinburgh, Scotland.  I will stay in Edinburgh for 2 days, then York for 2 days, Cambridge for 1 day, and finally back to London before flying back to Phoenix.