It was hard to get out of bed this morning at 6:45 because I stayed up late last night trying to update this blog. My computer is acting really weird. Anyway, we left Moscow today for St. Petersburg, the cultural capital of Russia.
Traces of the communism
I took some pictures of old buildings that I imagine are from the soviets era. They look pretty communist to me. But overall Moscow is a very modern city - at least downtown and on the way to the airport.
Echozinho (our old car in Calgary)'s twin brother.
WELCOME TO ST. PETERSBURG (former Petrograd and former Leningrad)
The flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg was a piece of cake, only 1 hours and 10 minutes. The stressful part is to move around with a group of tourists. Everything takes much longer.
Right away I fell in love with the city. St. Petersburg is considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is still very undiscovered by the tourists, originally because of the regime, but now because of Russia's visa requirements. Well, in a very selfish way, it is good for me, because once they lift the visa (if they do it), this place will be insane!
The name of the city changed once to Petroburg by the Germans, and after the Russian Revolution of 1917, the city became Leningrad in 1924 when Lenin died.
Charming things about St. Petersburg:
- the buildings are 
very low - with 4 or 5 stores each - because people didn't dare to build higher than the government palace.
very low - with 4 or 5 stores each - because people didn't dare to build higher than the government palace. - the streets are very wide.
- there are many canals in the city, which gave St. Petersburg the nickname of Venice of the East.
- people look more relaxed here than in Moscow - the financial capital of Russia.
- there are more than 100 museums in St. Petersburg.
- they also have one of the best universities and libraries of the world.
- everywhere you look there is a monument, or a palace or a sculpture, or a fancy bridge, or all of the above at once.
- although it looks old, the city is only about 300 years old, a very young existence for European standards.
- the main river here is called Neva
We discovered this local fast food place that serves all the traditional dishes of the norther part of Russia. Among other delicious things, we tried today re caviar, in a fast food place! Loved it!
In the heart of St. Petersburg is a very fancy and busy street called Nevsky Pt. It is not that different than Oxford street in London or the Champs Elysee in Paris. Our hotel is really close to it. And so are most of the main attractions of the city. So, I would really recommend a hotel near by, since it is not that easy to move around by train since the signs are all in Russian.
After the check in we got back in the bus for a city tour. It was nice to have an idea about what the city is like. But I can't wait to discover it by foot tomorrow.
Today we also visited the Petrograd Side, which refers to islands in the river and canals. The main attraction there is the Peter and Paul Fortress. In the 1700s this used to be the main defense for the city. later, after the 1917 events, the fortress served as a political prison.
This is the interior of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, that is now a museum. Most of the Russian czar families members are buried here, including Peter the Great and Nicholas II.
The most famous Russian souvenir are the Babushka dolls or Matryushka dolls. They are everywhere. According to our guide they symbolize the motherhood and fertility. A mother doll with numerous dolls-children perfectly expresses the oldest symbol of human culture.
This is one of St. Petersburg most famous building, the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood. It was built in the beginning of the 20th century, inspired by Moscow's famous of St. Basil's Cathedral.
I am absolutely in love with St. Petersburg. Stay tuned for more adventures from this magical land.
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