St Petersburg

St Petersburg at night

Great hassle free flights from Aberdeen to Amsterdam, and onwards to St Petersburg.......until I went to get the checked in bag. Left at Amsterdam 😭 So had to wait in a queue for just over an hourLue lisää
Peterhof Palace

Did a tour of Peterhof Palace today, about an hour south west of St. Petersburg. This is the Palace that Peter the Great created as a consequence of Versailles. It was used by all the Russian royals,Lue lisää
Peterhof Palace

Peterhof Palace

Peterhof Palace

Peterhof Palace Gardens

The place was virtually decimated during WW2 by the Germans. But the gardeners hid a lot of the statues by burying them. Most of it has been returned to its former glory. The gardens are just asLue lisää
Peterhof Palace Gardens

Peterhof Palace Gardens

Peterhof Palace Gardens

Admiralty

Then it was back into St Petersburg, passing one of two similar triumphal arches commemorating the victory over the French in 1812. I got dropped off at the Admiralty building. This is the centre ofLue lisää
St Petersburg Coast Walk

I then headed for the edge of the coast, just behind the Admiralty building. I came across the old Winter Palace, now the Hermitage Museum, a magnificent green building. Then I saw the queue to get inLue lisää
Savior on the Spilled Blood Church

Turning inland at the next big Prospect I came again across the Savior on the Spilled Blood Church, which looks equally looks as good in daylight. It is also called the Church on the Blood - as itLue lisää
Kazan Cathedral

Had a free day, so wandered around St. Petersburg. Came across Kazan Cathedral, hard not to notice it as it's massive. It is the main church and very busy, not only with tourists, but also localsLue lisää
Palace Square

Today I had a tour of the Hermitage Museum, formerly known as the Winter Palace. I met the tour guide and the three other people on the tour next to the Alexander Column in Palace Square.
PalaceLue lisää
Palace Square

The star attraction of the square is the immense column that sits in its center. Known as the Alexander Column, it is a monument to Russia's victory over Napoleonic France. Designed, ironically, byLue lisää
Hermitage Museum

The Hermitage Museum is one of the largest and oldest museums in the world and an absolute must-see for any visitor to St. Petersburg. The museum was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great, empress ofLue lisää
Hermitage Museum

Hermitage Museum

Hermitage Museum

Hermitage Museum

We also go into the huge basement to see a collection of artifacts dug up in Siberia, that are perfectly preserved.
Among them is a fine detail carpet, the oldest one of its kind in the world,Lue lisää
Travel to Moscow

We took the high speed train to Moscow today. Took about 4 hours, rather than the usual eight hours. Very comfortable and fast.
Arrived in Moscow early evening, and took the metro to the hotel, anLue lisää
Moscow

Match day in Moscow

Match day and we go for a wander around Red Square. Seems to be a farmers festival on, many tractors as well as many food stalls and displays of various vegetables.
Luzhniki Stadium

Made it to the match. Awesome stadium. We were standing next to the press area, noticed some spare seats and took them. We even got the WiFi code from a female Russian journalist sitting next to us 😂