Rendezvous in Russia
On arrival at St Petersburg, we transferred to our hotel the Novotel Centrum, in a quiet spot, just off Nevsky Prospekt , which is the main shopping street in St Petersburg. I hadn't really known what to expect, and had visions of long queues for food at grey looking outlets, so was pleasantly surprised to find St Petersburg is a beautiful city, complete with Western shopping centres, with M&S and Top Shop. The architecture is a photographers dream. Many buildings are painted with a pale yellow exterior, and there are many beautiful churches with interiors that put our own to shame, embellished with much gold.
Our daughter met us the following morning having got the overnight train from Moscow to St Petersburg. We wanted to visit the Hermitage first thing, and as it was a fairly long walk from the hotel, we took a local marchrutka ( mini bus) down the length of Nevsky Prospekt to the Hermitage. Had we not had our Russian speaking daughter with us it would have been totally confusing. You board the minibus, and then fare is passed through the other travellers to the front to the driver, all in Russian. I hadn't a clue what was going on, when someone handed me money! The Hermitage has long queues which can be avoided if on a guided tour . You can spend all day inside wandering around the magnificent rooms, marvelling at the famous art work within. From there it's an easy walk to St Isaac's Cathedral and then on to the Church of Spilled Blood. Even if you aren't religious, the buildings are very impressive. Both St Isaacs and the Church of Spilled Blood will take your breath away. Our 1st evening meal was at a Russian chain, a bit like the Harvester, but a Russian version. My daughter wanted us to sample real Russian food. I enjoyed the Borsch soup, but couldn't eat the Beef Stroganoff, which was strips of meat braised in lard I think, on a bed of overcooked ribbon pasta, also cooked in lard, with a dollop of sour cream on top. Yuk!
The following morning we took a metro under the River Neva to Peter and Paul Fortess. This is a citadel which holds the first prison, where you could walk around the cells, and see who occupied them; well known names such as Lenin's brother, Dostoevsky and Trotsky. The citadel is also home to St Peter & Paul Cathedral, which houses the tombs of the Tsars, including the last resting place of Nicholas & Alexandra and family - all very poignant.
We took a train out to Catherine the Great's Palace at Pushkin and again if we hadn't had our guide with us, we would have been lost. On arrival at Pushkin we had to get another marchrutka which dropped us off outside the Palace gates. We were one of a few non-Russian speaking tourists there, which meant we didn't have to go around with the Russian speaking guide and could enjoy the interior at our leisure. Again the palace was a magnificent building with ballrooms decorated in blues and golds. I imagine this is where Cinderella met her prince! On another occasion we took a bus out to Peterhof Palace, which looks out onto the Gulf of Finland, again another impressive building. We were there a little early in the season and missed the beautiful fountain water displays which were due to be turned on for the summer in May. I particularly enjoyed the gardens here, and could see that when the fountains were on, it would be stunning.
We then took the overnight train to Moscow and checked into our Ibis Hotel. The train was an experience, quite comfortable and I did manage to sleep. We visited all the famous places in Moscow, Red Square, the Kremlin, which was much larger than expected, as the walls surround many museums and churches, the Space Museum, Gum department store. The traffic was manic here, and got around by metro with the help of our guide. Our final day in this area took us out to one of the Golden Ring towns called Sergeev Posad which is spiritual home of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Fantastic!