Crossing the border into Russia from Estonia was a little weird. A friendly “Welcome to Russia!”? Didn’t happen. We got off the bus, marched into the security point and presented our passports. Then a guard swept the bus with a flashlight over, under around and through. Not sure what she was looking for. Then we rebounded and once we were settled in our seats another guard came through and examined all of our passports. Just to make sure. Sure of what I am not sure. We held our collective breath and drove across the border headed to St. Petersburg. The outlook improved as we approached the city:
Cruise ships are big business in St. Petersburg. It is known as the Venice of the north. Peter the Great start constructed this city from marshland in 1703 and today it is a city of canals with the Neva River the main waterway.
While I read Robert Massie’s “Peter the Great” and “Catherine the Great,” nothing could have prepared me for the actual palace interiors we saw. Jaw-dropping, to say the least. These images are of the Hermitage, former palace of Catherine. It is now an art museum housing Peter the Great’s collection, including the “udderly” interesting painting of a cow:
One of my favorite places was the Russian Orthodox Church of the Spilled Blood. The entire interior was of mosaics. Not a painting in the place. The exterior is iconic:
St. Isaac’s Cathedral, the largest Russian Orthodox Church in the city, was also a sight to behold:
And then there is the fabulous Peterhoff, Peter the Great’s summer palace with its magnificent self-sustaining fountains that use the tides from the Bay of Finland below. Peterhoff does justice to its inspiration, the Palace of Versailles:
Postcards 