Traviata

And so this post will just about wrap up my time in St Petersburg. All the photos I've posted so far are only a small portion of the amount I have on the computer. I hope everyone has enjoyed them and enjoyed reading my posts. 

On the last day of sight seeing we went for a casual stroll along the river Neva and in the afternoon, my mother, her cousin and I went to the Opera. The Opera was in Italian of course but they had a little screen above the stage with subtitles. My horrible long distance eye sight made me suffer considerably as I tried to decipher what was going on. The performances was called Traviata, your typical romantic drama with love, pain, suffering and misunderstandings all in song form.

Here's a photo of the theater, on the right side is the royal seat from where the tsars watched the performances. Nowadays the seats are open to the public but are of course more expensive than your standard seats.

Peter and Paul Fortress

One thing I learnt about my mum's cousin is that she's very sneaky. After dragging us around St Petersburg the entire day and listening to my dad's complaints about his sore feet, she assured us she was leading us to the back to the metro. Little did we know, we were actually going to visit the Peter and Paul Fortress. 

It took 100kg of gold and the lives of 60 men to build this fortress. It lies on a small island just upstream of the river Neva.

The bell tower is 123.2 m tall, making it quite difficult to photograph from a close distance

The fortress consists of several buildings, one of which is the cathedral. Inside the cathedral lie the tombs of Russian tsars such as Peter the Great.

Here lies Peter I The Great

The cathedral interior. The iconostasis is still undergoing reconstruction.

Outside the fortress when you cross the canal leading to the fortress you can find this little rabbit sitting on a post in the water. The say that if you toss a coin and it lands right on the rabbit's feet, then your wish will be granted. 

 After 5 attempts of coin tossing in different currencies, I managed to hit the feet once but the coin immediately rebounded into the water. That still has to count for something, right?

On the way to the metro station we walked past this little cafe in the park which was located right under a bridge. Quite an odd place for a cafe but the people look like they're enjoying themselves. 

We barely made it alive to the metro station, dragging our feet we arrived at the apartment and collapsed into a deep sleep. I cannot emphasize more that if you do visit St Petersburg, wear comfortable shoes.

Love Padlocks

I found this was pretty cute. Outside the Church of Our Saviour on Blood, there were love padlocks hanging on the bridge. This padlock reads "Sasha + Lena = together forever". I know, it's a little corny but I still think it's sweet.

Catherine Palace

Today's destination: The Catherine Palace, home of the Amber Room.  The Palace is located 45 minutes from the city center in a place called Pushkin's town. Pushkin is a world famous Russian writer and the Catherine Palace is located in the town he grew up in. Unfortunately I don't have any photos to show of the amber room, photographing and filming is prohibited as it damages the amber but believe me when I say, the room is incredible.

Let's begin.

Here are the gates which lead into the courtyard

Front view of  the palace. Before you enter the palace to view the rooms, they give these shower cap shoe slippers to put over your shoes which are to prevent damaging the floor. They look ridiculous in photos though. 

The Palace Chapel

One of the rooms in the palace

The ballroom

One of the walls in the ballroom

I thought this lady was made from wax until she moved. The Catherine is complete with costume role players.

One of the staircases

Everything was going well until it started raining, with no umbrellas or coats, we returned to St Petersburg looking like drowned rats. I got a pretty neat photo though.

Some people that were actually prepared for the rain

South side view of the Catherine Palace. The lawns have been designed to match the parquet inside the palace.

There's even a mini Hermitage

A wafer cake is a great way to end the day

A boat ride, Saint Isaac's Cathedral and colourful bears

The day started off with a boat ride along the river Neva. The weather in St Petersburg is very unpredictable, one moment you're melting in the sun and the next, it might as well be snowing. It was quite cool and cloudy when we boarded our boat for today's excursion but luckily it didn't rain and blankets were offered to all the passengers.

A boat ride along the river Neva is a great way to see many parts of the city. Despite all the gold and extravagant buildings, much of the city is still in ruins or falling apart. Many buildings are undergoing reconstruction and inside the churches, donations boxes stand near the entrances to collect money for restorations. In my opinion, the ruins add the city's charm, they make you appreciate just how old and deep the history of the city is. You won't find many modern buildings here.

After the boat ride, on our way to visiting Saint Isaac's Cathedral we ran into bears. Many, many bears. These bears are on show St Petersburg for 2 months, ever country has their own bear which they painted in their on way. With ice cream stands manning the area, I think everyone had a good time taking photos with the bears.

The gold bear on the left represent Russia with the classic Hohloma pattern

Australia 

There are two ways to experience Saint Isaac's Cathedral, one is two climb the incredibly long and winding staircase to the top of the main dome and two, is to view the interior. We did both of course. Entry isn't free but for a small price the ticket will get you both the entry into the cathedral and climb to the top of the dome. The view from the top is amazing. You can see for miles. All at once you can see the Hermitage Church of the Saviour on Blood and a bunch of other buildings I've shamefully forgotten the names of already. When I get back home I will definitely have to read the brochures.

Saint Isaac's Cathedral

The winding staircase to the top

The view from the top of the dome. To the left you can see the Hermitage.

The view inside

The main dome

Can you see the white dove at the very top?

The iconostasis

Inside the Cathedral you can find many mosaic icons, gold and malachite pillars and beauty you must experience yourself. St Petersburg is also famous for it's Amber. In the little shop tucked away in the corner of the Cathedral you can find lots of Amber jewellery as well as many other original pieces such as a vase with roses, all made out of Amber.

Happy Russian folk, relaxing on the lawns

The Kunstkamera again 

Admiring the view of the Hermitage and gates (red pillars) of St Petersburg

You can see St Isaac's Cathedral and gates in the distance

Hermitage, Winter Palace, Church of the Saviour on Blood

Jet lag, you are my worst enemy. For the past 2 days I've been walking around resembling a drunk zombie, teetering from side to side as struggle to stay upright. This is what a 6 hour time difference and little sleep does to you. Not to mention the fact that it doesn't even get dark in the city. It's 10:30 at night and the city is busier than ever, almost all the shops are still open. Which begs the question, does the city ever sleep?

Today our destinations included the famous Hermitage and Winter Palace, Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood, a seedy little café and a ballet perfomance.

Starting with the Hermitage. All I can say is, it is huge. We only walked around on the 1st floor, but there are 3 in total, each floor dedicated to specific items. My tour guide said that it would take you 9 years to walk through the entire building while only taking a glance at everything. The Hermitage spans for 24,000 square meters so make sure you wear your most comfortable shoes.

The Hermitage and Winter Palace are famous for its mosaics and vases. Almost everywhere you go, the walls and furniture are decorated with mosaics made from microscopic coloured tiles. The work is so detailed it's hard to believe it's all made from little stones. The table tops and walls are made from lapis lazuli, nephrite, malachite, marble. Giant vases and cups decorate the hallways, rooms are covered from floor to ceiling with gold. This place really is fit for royalty.

The staircases at the entrance

The ballroom (It's a shame I didn't bring my ball gown, I would have totally reenacted the scene from Anastasia) 

Listening to my virtual tour guide

One of the many cups made from Lapis Lazuli

The royal throne

This is the room where Catherine II greeted her guests

Table top made from coloured stones

Statue made from Malachite

The Winter Palace wouldn't be complete without a Gold Room, despite the fact that everything is already decorated with gold.

The Malachite Room

Mosaic floor

Church of our Saviour on Blood. This is still an operating church as well as a tourist attraction. They offer services on Sunday mornings but afterwards it's open to the public.

Inside the church

A portion of the floor inside. Most of it was carpeted to prevent it from being damaged by the public 

After all that walking, my parents and I were just about to collapse. You see, unlike back home the main form of transport here are your own two feet. You walk literally everywhere. So if you do end up visiting St Petersburg, bring the most comfortable pair of shoes you have but leave the flip flops at home. No one wears flip flops here.

We left the Hermitage, and found the nearest café. Your idea of a café might be a nice clean little place with good lighting and air but this was like an underground pub. I'm not saying they don't have nice café's here I'm just pointing out that they can vary greatly. The food was delicious though. You can't go wrong with classic Russian food, although be weary, it is possible to  get food poisoning if you're not careful about what you eat.

One thing that I dislike about St Petersburg is the amount of smokers. With cigarettes being sold at approximately $2AU per packet, it's no wonder that the majority of the population are smokers. Many buildings also allow smoking inside and not all of them have proper ventilation. I have never inhaled so much cigarette smoke in my life. Moscow is a lot worse though.