17 – 20 July: From Russia with Love! Episode 1

Wow!  St Petersburg is indeed amazing and more than lived up to our expectations, both in terms of the general atmosphere of the city, which was surprisingly modern and cosmopolitan, and the sights to see.  Even Charles was happy to go sight-seeing!

The first day we just had a wander round the centre of the city and took a canal boat trip to get a general feel for the place.

This is the huge and impressive Hermitage museum, built in the second half of the 18^th century and one of the largest museums in the world.  It possesses a vast collection of art and artefacts mostly purchased by Catherine the Great.  It also contains the Winter Palace, an opulent Russian Baroque winter residence for the Tsars.

This is a closer view of the elaborate architecture and decoration …

On the opposite side of the huge Palace Square is the Neo-Classical General Staff Building built in the 1820s, a graceful curving building, supposedly one of the longest crescents forming one continuous structure – it’s certainly impressive …

This is the Peter and Paul Fortress, which is where St Petersburg was founded in 1703, using thousands of forced labourers to construct the original wooden fortress on the marshy banks of the River Neva …

This is one of the Rostral Columns, which were originally built as lighthouses and decorated with protruding ships’ prows …

The waterfront buildings reflect many different styles – English, French, Greek, Italian, Art Nouveau and so on.  Because St Petersburg was founded so relatively recently (1703) its architecture was influenced by many other countries which were already developed at that time.  Our guide on the canal trip said that’s why visitors from all over the world feel ‘at home’ here …

This is the ornate Baroque Stroganov Palace, designed by the Italian architect Rastrelli, who was a favourite of Peter the Great …

The following day we went to explore the Peter and Paul Fortress properly – the magnificent gilded Cathedral of St Peter and Paul …

… with its interior rather over-elaborate for our tastes …

This is part of the fortress prison, which was used for many years as a political prison – this is the bath house …

… and this is Leon Trotsky’s cell …

We found many international restaurants and chic cafés on Nevskiy Prospect, one of the main streets in the centre of St Petersburg, but here in the Peter and Paul Fortress, we felt we were stepping back in time eating traditional Russian food in a traditional, rather old-fashioned restaurant …

In the evening we went to a wonderfully entertaining Russian Culture Show with traditional singing and dancing from all parts of this vast country – it was held in yet another fabulous building – the Nikolaevskiy Palace …

… which had wonderful ornate staircases, where they served vodka and blinis in the interval …

Even the signposts for the loos were rather over-the-top Greek statues, but at least we couldn’t be confused! In various countries the loos have been indicated by many different letters, such as L, D, M, N, P or ж, and in Estonia simply by different shaped triangles!  At least this was obvious!

Some people just can’t resist doing a silly pose!

There were also local arts and crafts for sale – I liked this display of Russian Babushka dolls …

Here’s some of the colourful singing and dancing …

The next evening, by contrast, we went to the opera Iolanthe at the Mariinskiy Theatre which was excellent and a real treat to attend a performance in this famous old theatre, which used to be called the Kirov …

This is a view of the elaborate decor inside the theatre ...

We walked to the theatre along the canals, and were struck by how many attractive buildings there are in St Petersburg just on every street and round every corner, quite apart from the famous sights, palaces and museums …

This is the apartment block where the writer Dostoevsky lived on the Griboedov Canal …

To be continued in Episode 2 – there’s just too much for one blog!