Day 10 - Sept. 30 - Wednesday

ST PETERSBURG - TALLINN, ESTONIA

Goodbye Russia. We left St. Petersburg - still afraid that we got in the wrong bus - at 10:30 to Tallinn. It was 8 and half hours until we got to our final destination, but the trip was a bit different than we are used in Brazil. (on your left
a photo of the only bus station in St. Petersburg.

The bus never stopped for food. It only stopped in towns to pick up and drop off passengers, at the borders and at the duty free for 10 minutes. Good thing we took few fruits and sandwiches from the hotel's breakfast, otherwise we would be dead, especially my dad.

Leaving Russian we could see more communist style buildings and very few houses, which were rare.

The ride in Russia was no so pleasant, because of road conditions and I have to say, bad driving. We also got lost of rain on the way. (photo of Russia's pot holes)

The border crossing was a bit tense, like any other border crossing. We had to unload the bus, pass our luggage through the metal detectors and answer questions (in English) in both sides. But I have to say that the Estonian side was not as tense as the Russian.

Estonian side.

The rest of the trip was fine. Our first impression of Estonia was of a more relaxed place than Russia. The people on the streets look not so uptight and more colorful. The cars look newer and the buildings in better shape. Even the sun started shinning after the border. Some farms reminded me of Alberta.

Our hotel faced the old town.

A nice meal after the 8 hours and half trip with no stop for food!

We got in Tallinn at 6pm (7pm in Russia) and I fell in love with the city right away. About 400 thousand people live in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia and that's one third of the country's population.

The nicest part of the town is the old city, which we visited right away. It was founded in 1130s. Just amazing, with its wall still standing in some places. We ended the day having a nice liquor called Narva Tallinna, from the region. Yummy!!!

If you want to try, come over, because i got a bottle of it. But come quick...

This is for our lovely princess Carolina. Carol, esta foto eh para voce, minha princesinha!

Day 9 - Sept. 29 - Tuesday

ST. PETESBURG'S LAST FULL DAY!

After a delicious breakfast at the hotel, we joined the group for a visit at the third largest
museum in the world. The Hermitage Museum is 22 km long, with almost 3 million pieces of art. It is only smaller than the Louvre, in Paris, and the British Museum and the Art Gallery in London, together. If a person spends one minute looking at a piece of art, it will take this person 7 years to see the whole thing.

But it's not only the collection that is impressive. The museum itself is an amazing building with more than a thousand rooms. It was built in the beginning of the 18th century by Peter I, but Catherine the Greater started buying the art pieces by the end of the same century. She appreciated art very much and decided to have her own private museum.

That's why she named it The Hermitage, which means a place for solitude. But ironically more than 3 million people visit the museum every year.

During the Russian czar period the museum was private, opening its doors by the Bolsheviks after the revolution of 1917. Supposedly many pieces of art also disappeared around at time.

You can get a license to take pictures inside the museum (200 rubles, or about 5 euros). But I preferred to see the collection instead. Well, If you are ever in St. Petersburg, you definitely should spend at least a couple of hours checking out few rooms.

Our next stop was the St. Isaac Cathedral.




FROM http://www.saint-petersburg.com/

St. Isaac's Cathedral was originally the city's main church and the largest cathedral in Russia. It was built between 1818 and 1858, by the French-born architect Auguste Montferrand, to be one of the most impressive landmarks of the Russian Imperial capital. One hundred and eighty years later the gilded dome of St. Isaac's still dominates the skyline of St. Petersburg. Although the cathedral is considerably smaller than the newly rebuilt Church of Christ the Savior in Moscow, it boasts much more impressive fades and interiors.
The cathedral's facades are decorated with sculptures and massive granite columns (made of single pieces of red granite), while the interior is adorned with incredibly detailed mosaic icons, paintings and columns made of malachite and lapis lazuli. A large, brightly colored stained glass window of the "Resurrected Christ" takes pride of place inside the main altar. The church, designed to accommodate 14,000 standing worshipers, was closed in the early 1930s and reopened as a museum. Today, church services are held here only on major ecclesiastical occasions.

In the afternoon, we went back to the bus station and without too much trouble, we got the tickets for Tallinn for tomorrow. After that, a quick walk at the main street, the Nevskyi Pt.

An inside joke: This is to prove that I didn't forget to get my dad the "cafe com mistura".

The sun finally showed up in St. Petersburg and the blue sky made everyone happier.

Brazilians with the guide Roberto, from Austria.

In the evening we went to see a folk show called You Feel Russian. It was really beautiful and fun. the guys did an amazing job jumping and doing the splits on air. The music is also very touching. It is a show for tourists, but lovely! It costs around 50 euros, but if you want to get a taste of Russian's folk dance and music, I recommend.

Vodka at the intermission! Right on!

End of the day. Today I am really exhausted, but happy. Good night St. Petersburg!!!!