Moscow to St Petersburg

A total of 2 weeks in Moscow which enabled us to really get the feel of the city which we explored from one end to the other. Each day we set out on the metro looking at more site, such as the Space centre, more Art galleries, the Armoury all of the Cathedrals in the Red Square (5 in total). Walking for miles and of course sampling the many different ethnic foods Russian food. After 2 weeks our shoes are almost worn out. One special highlight being a Russian Dance Extravaganza we attended, this was so colourful and told Russian history through the ages.
It was now time to depart and make our way to St Petersburg. The scenery between the two cities is fairly none descript which is probably just as well as the traffic was horrendous along with the roads, you really have to concentrate not only on what every other driver is doing also. The temperature dropped considerably by the time we were 150kms out of Moscow and for the first time in 2 months we had to change out of shorts and tee shirts and put on jeans and long sleeve tops. Along with the cooler temps came some much needed steady rain, which followed us all the way to St Petersburg. As there is no camping facilities in the city and free camping is considered dangerous we stay in Hotel Moscow overlooking the river Neva and just 2 metro stops from the main attractions. Lonely Planet describes St Petersburg as being as elegant as Prague and as enchanting as Budapest, with just a smattering of tourists due to Russia’s strict visa regime.
The first places we visited were the State Hermitage, which was the winter palace of the Tsar’s, and absolutely mind bogglingly opulent and huge with over 400 rooms. Every room is decorated differently and have the most amazing floors all hand laid. These range from mosaics done with squares 1 cm by 1cm, Italian marble, inlaid wood designs, parquet and so on. It is set in a huge square and surrounded by other very large building s which was occupied by the admiralty, general staff building which housed the Prime Minister and other dignitaries. The Hermitage is also considered to be one of the world’s best art galleries, while we there they had a Picasso Exhibition. The Peter & Paul Fortress, which is on an island in the harbour was founded in 1703, the bell tower is the highest structure in the city, which to date has managed to avoid skyscrapers. Inside the fortress are a number of buildings including the cathedral of the Saint Peter & Paul Apostles. This is where the remains of the last Tsar and his family (the Romanovs who were murdered in Yekaterinburg in 1917) where laid to rest following the end of the Communist regime. While there we were able to attend the most amazing live performance by the St Petersburg Male Choir in the auditorium of the former Commandants House. In absolute reverse of this memorable moment was the visit to the prison of the Trubetskoy Bastion, a very grim place and used up until 1918.
During our stay here we also visited the Kazan Cathedral, St Isaacs Sq, The Church of the resurrection (the saviour on the Spilt Blood) plus we took a canal boat tour. It is now time to say farewell to Russia, we have travelled through two thirds of the country crossing 5time zones. We have met many lovely people and learnt a lot about Russian history and culture. From here we head across the border at Vyborg into Finland to start the Scandinavian part of our trip. The weather has remained sunny but much cooler than Moscow and more akin to the Auckland winter temperatures. We imagine that Finland may be similar weather wise. We have put photos up depicting life on the streets of St Petersburg and some of the sites we visited.
Warm regards to you all.
Michele & Vic
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