 | |
| Church of Spilled Blood They say that St.Petersburg (populated with over 5 million folks) is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. That is attributed to it's lavish palaces + grand cathedrals + mansions along 60 canals with 300 bridges. Many of those canals are lined with ornate 18th century mansions. In the downtown area those large mansions/bldgs are now occupied by businesses/shop/stores.The main boulevard "Nevsky Prospket" is truly an impressive sight |
 |
| The Hermitage Our first evening, we took a HAL tour excursion of The Hermitage/located in the Winter Palace.... over 3 million exhibits. Unbelievable as there were only about 100 of us folks walking around in the huge palace, that evening. What an awesome experience to see it and then to be in it ....almost "alone". Our tour was focused on the highlights of the art collection, that meant we were able to be in so many fabulous palace rooms. Some pix below: |
 |
| Throne Room...of course |
 |
| Ceilings are often one of the best parts of a room ! |
 |
| Layers and layers.... |
 |
| The Hermitage...inner court yard. |
 |
| Night visit.. it seems that all of St.Petersburg is illuminated at night. |
 |
| Second day in S.P. we took another morning bus tour. Without a Visa, the only way to leave the ship is to be escorted aka be with a tour. So we did another bus tour and then.... had 3 hours of independent time. |
 |
| Downtown walk way |
 |
| The streets are line with old mansions...more pix below |
 |
 |
| This is a bookstore/coffee shop now occupying one of the old mansions. |
 |
| This is the Russian Museum....we spent time here! |
 |
| Ceilings again!!! |
 |
| Just a little coffee area in their museum... :) |
