St Petersburg - The City of Palaces

Following a rather bumpy (but safe) bus ride to St Petersburg, we went to the Nikaloveski Theatre to enjoy a Cossack music and dance show. We were met in the foyer by wigged Victorian courtiers who handed us a glass of champagne. After the first half we had another glass of champagne together with caviar. The second half opened with glorious singing from a male quartet and continued with more of the traditional dancing. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Afterwards, Mum and I forwent the boat cruise to look around St Isaacs cathedral.

Some of the Palaces.

The next day was the group's city tour. We started with Smolny Cathedral - painted as blue as the sky and which was never used as a place of worship. We continued on to the Church of our Saviour on Spilt Blood (built on the site where Alexander I was assasinated). At 12 noon we viewed the Peter and Paul fortress from across the River Neva. Katya had failed to mention that the cannon goes off at 12 and the fountain in the middle of the river starts up, accompanied by classical music. Rather a nice surprise. Lunch was at a Russian restaurant a bit like Sizzler, only you pay for the time you are in there. The afternoon was spent at the Hermitage Museum which is made up of 5 buildings including the Winter Palace. The opulence was like too much candy for the eyes.

Alexander column near the Winter Palace.

The last day Mum and I went in to explore Nevsky prospect - the main street of St Petersburg. The evening was spent having goodbye drinks with our lovely group.

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R
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and Judy