St. Petersburg in the Sunshine.

The Church of the Saviour
of the Spilled Blood

Am I glad I decided to re-do the tour around St. Petersburg which, last year, was rather fraught with too much traffic and the rain.

 

This time the day was full of sunshine and much less traffic so we not only saw all of the sights we should have seen last year, but also made a non-scheduled stop to take photographs of the Hermitage.

Some domes on the Church
of the Saviour of the Spilled Blood

It is quite a long drive from the docks into the centre of St. Petersburg but as there is so much look at - from road-side flower beds to the various domes and spires of the churches - the journey isn't boring. This year at the Church of the Saviour of the Spilled Blood we had time to do more than just hop off the coach and take a photo. There was time to take a walk around the outside of the cathedral and admire its colour and architecture from different angles. And with the sun glinting off the gold and showing up the colours was a breathtaking.

The coach was also able to make a proper stop at St. Isaacs Church with its gold dome that you seem to be able to see from any direction in St. Petersburg. This is the only gold dome. The others are coated with bronze-made-to-look-like-gold. I also crossed the road to take a look at the gardens in front and watched a bride and groom posing for their photographs.

Stopping at the Stock Exchange Bridge gave us the opportunity to see the views across the river to the Fortress and various edifices along the river side - one of which was once the British Embassy.

During the drive around the city we took the road that goes between the Summer Garden which was created by Peter the Great and has 79 sculptures - but I didn't have time to count them - and the Field of Mars, once a parade ground which became a park in the late 19th century. This was a part of the tour we completely missed last year.

Of course there was the obligatory shop stop.  One thing puzzles me about the souvenirs. I always thought that Matryoshka dolls (the ones that have smaller and smaller replicas inside) were 'Mamma' dolls. If I'm right, what do they call the ones of sports people and politicians? And, no thank you, I don't want one of Putin or Stalin, thank you very much. What I did want but couldn't afford, was a gorgeous purple figured velvet cape trimmed with purple fur. Only £1,250! Oh, where is my millionaire!

Thank you, Mr. Sunshine, for a glorious day in St. Petersburg.