Our first stop in St Petersburg was this old fortress. It has a huge cathedral and other buildings. The curch spire can be seen from all over town and you'll see in in some other pictures.
Inside the cathedral was amazing. The amount of gold the Russians used is awsome. Everywhere was guilded in real gold.
The building below was the original treasury for St.Petersburg / Russia from long ago days. It was just opposite the Cathedral.
Just outside the St. Peter and Paul Fortress a Russian helo was landing.
The Hermitage.
The Tsar's winter palace in downtown St. Petersburg. An amazing place. Its hard to get a sense of how big it is but consider it 2-3 city blocks long by the same wide. They say to see every piece inside for 10 seconds would take 3-4 years full time. We spent 2 hours.
RSS......Add More Pictures Here.St. Petersburg By Water.
They call St Petersburg the VEnice of the North. More like Amsterdam with its wide canals lined with narrow streets. The architecture is BIG. Long blocks of big houses or palaces all connected. Muted colors adorn the buildings.
The white building in the distance is the original stock exchange...dating back several thousand years. When boats and traders came to St. Petersburg they had to pay a tax to get in. The tax was stone or rock which was needed to build up the city.
A fountain in the center of the town waterways. Cannons fire off at noon and it turns on for the afternoon.
A view of St Peter and Paul's fortress from the water. The tall spire on the left is that of the Cathedral.
Russian Sun Set.
On our first night in St. Petersburg the sun was amazing. I took about 50 pictures as it was setting. Here are a few shots.
Outside of St Petersburg.
This is a classic church out in the country, near the Tsar's summer Palace. Typical Onion Domed Cathederal decorated with colorful tiles. See some below.
Peterhof Palace.
The Tsar's Summer Palace. This is about an hour outside of Central St. Petersburg and was built to look like Versailles in Paris. It was truly lavish.
Rasputin.
A replica of Rasputin at the last meal he ate. He was poisned, shot and stabbed then ran away. He fell through ice on a river and died from drowning. He was a tough guy to kill.
Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood
This is a famous site in St Petersburg. It is where Tsar Alexander II was finally assassinated. It is said he survived numerous attempts to kill him over the years and when a bomb went off outside his carriage killing his driver he got out to help. A second bomb exploded finally killing him.
The Church Of Spilled Blood in St Petersburg Russia. This is a model located inside the Cathedral.
Leaving St. Petersburg
Leaving St Petersburg we passed an old Russian Sub base. Here were a few of their subs.
This is a view of the outdoor theater. The jumbotron is huge and while hard to see in this picture it gives a great view on screen. They have Movies under the Stars every night complete with blankets. We are sitting 2 levels above the deck in a balcony area.
A boat along the Helsinki waterfront.
