We arrived at Finland station in St. Petersburg (the same place Lenin arrived in 1917) at about 1 pm due to vigorous passport and visa checks taking about an hour on the train. When we arrived we decided it best to go on a boat tour around the beautiful city of St. Petersburg it was very dangerous at some points with live wires hanging from bridges and a chance to be knocked out if you stood up.
The next morning we got up and after a not great Marriott breakfast and went on a great walking tour the guide adjusted the tour to the audience and we had great fun seeing all the back alleys and learning about everything from communal flats to the murder of Rasputin. This really gave us an inside view on St. Petersberg and we ended the day doing a bit of a cafe crawl in which I mistakenly asked for a glass of lemon juice!
On our final day in St. Petersburg we went to the Peter and Paul fortress and climbed the spire as high as allowed. We also visited the Winter palace/Hermitage which was quite interesting we even spotted a Van Gogh of the place we stayed in France (first picture bellow.) As a reward for all the museumy stuff mum payed for me to have a go on a swegway outside The Hermitage. However me and mum were more interested in the state rooms and the history of the Tzars involved with the place. Although possibly the most interesting part of the day was when I almost mistakenly bought a Russian doll for 15,000 rubles which i thought was £15 but was actually £150.
We are off again for the next few days cycling around the archipelago!
Like the heading! Great to have you back with all your interesting news and pictures, we're learning far more history from you than we ever did in the classroom but not sure I would have liked being on a boat with all those dangers lurking (pleased you survived!) Was the Russian doll very ornate and made by Faberge? Thank you for keeping us up to date with all that is going on and the photos. Happy cycling, hope to hear from you soon, love to all of you and Neve if you are still following, Grandma & Grandpa xxxx
ReplyDeleteLooks like you're all still having a fabulous time, lovely words again Euan! Lots of love Neve xxx
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