-St Petersburg, Russia-

 We were in St Petersburg for two entire days. We took our first 'organized' tour in this port. We decided to book through a private tour guide vs taking a tour with Princess. It was a great decision, the tour was amazing, we had a ton less people than a Princess tour and we were able to make additional stops. All for less money.

The evening of the first night we went to the Russian ballet as well, no pictures from that night.

Subway in St Petersburg

It's blurry, it's in Russian, but I bet you know what it is!

Streets of St Petersburg from the bus

Me in front of the The Church of the Savior on Blood

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is one of the main Russian Orthodox churches of St. Petersburg, Russia.

The name refers to the blood of the assassinated Alexander II of Russia, who was mortally wounded on that site on March 13, 1881

Construction began in 1883. completion in 1907

Matryoshka dolls in Russia, the most popular souvenir.

The Peter and Paul Fortress is the original citadel of St. Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1703.

A helicopter was landing right as our group was walking in, like fools, we were all staring at it and taking pictures.

Well, it landed RIGHT next to us. Literally almost knocked us all over. I was digging sand out of my ears for days. blech.

Interior of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, this was our first taste of russian decor and wow!

Our guide, Ludmilla, she was amazing. She took great care of us for two days.

The cathedral houses the remains of almost all the Russian Emperors and Empresses from Peter the Great to Nicholas II and his family.

A few of the tombs

Another tomb, that I thought looked like a bowling bowl

In 1998 the remains Tsar Nicholas II and his family, (excluding Maria and Alexei), which had been exhumed from a 'grave' near the Ural Mountains, were placed here. Analysis of DNA recovered from the remains was used to confirm their identities.

From the Peter and Paul Fortress we boarded a tour boat to tour the rivers and canals of the city. View of the Hermitage from the water.

Waiting to board the boat...the spire is from the Peter and Paul Cathedral

KGB building (look at the 'eye' billboard!, THEY ARE WATCHING YOU!) :)

St Petersburg Hotel

It was reallly cold. Our entire tour group was inside the boat but Vinny and I and one other couple braved the elements! BRRR

Statues donated to Russia by Egypt

The Aurora is a Russian protected cruiser, currently preserved as a museum ship in St. Petersburg. She became a symbol of the Communist Revolution.

St Petersburg is termed the 'Venice of the North' for its numerous canals and rivers, there are over 500 bridges in the city!

The State Hermitage Museum is one of the largest museums in the world, with 3 million works of art

the staircase entering the Hermitage. WOW.

The staircase into the Winter Palace

The museum is made up of six buildings, this is the Winter Palace.

I was absolutely in love with the enlayed wood floors. You'll see, I took pictures of all of them I think. :)

This was me, for two days. Of course, when I wasnt looking at the floors :)

I wish I could remember everything about each room but I can't, there was too much in two days!

I thought this guy was cute...lol

I think this guy is even cuter!

Paul McCartney's long lost twin

Amazing ceilings, my neck was sore from staring upward for so many hours! In this room, the enlayed wood floor had the same pattern as the ceiling.

The matching floor, hard to take a picture.

Wow, right?!

This was a table in one of the rooms, made out of little itty bitty tiles. You can see them if you click to enlarge.

More floors...

Madonna with a Flower - Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519. This painting is one of the few surviving works by the young Leonardo.

Madonna and the Child (The Litta Madonna)

Leonardo da Vinci.

I wish I remembered the details on this one. You could really feel her emotions just viewing the painting.

One of the halls, absolutely breathtaking

This shows what the walls looked like before the restoration.

Closer shot of the ceiling

Descent from the Cross - Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn. 1743. Notice the light is only on Jesus, and Mary.

WOW! Possibly my favorite..just wow.

Woah, gold room.

More floor...

:)

Peter the Great Monument (although I personally like the black angels on the building in the background)

St. Isaac's Cathedral - the columns are solid granite, and weigh 114 tons each!!

Inside the dome

Suspended underneath the peak of the dome is a sculpted dove representing the Holy Spirit.

VAMH in the cathedral

Trying on hats at the gift shop!

He looks good right?!

:) I dont even know what this is but it was in the gift shop, I dont recognize it as being Russian?

Day Two in St Petersburg - This was a church on the way to the Peterhof Palace

Peterhof Palace & Grounds - waiting in line

Another amazing entrance!

The ceiling in the staircase - Peterhof Palace

Built to rival Versailles, the palace sits atop a hill overlooking the Gulf of Finland.

More amazing floors! I know you are excited ;)

Vinny listening to Ludmilla tell us about the restoration of the palace

A close-up of the stoves that were used to heat each room.

More floors...:)

Wow, right?

I just cannot fathom people living in such places!

Beautiful smoked crystal chandelier

Check out the size of those paintings!

hehe...tricky huh?

More floors..

:) Floor...

Ceiling

Small dinner party ;)

Chandelier in the dining hall

The bowls under the plate would be filled with boiling water to keep the food warm

Picture Hall. Its walls are almost entirely covered by a series of 368 paintings.

The paintings are mostly of variously dressed women, differing in appearance and even age, yet most were drawn from a single model.

I really enjoyed this room, it was amazing to see the variety of facial expressions and such.

Room after room after room. This style of layout was called something, but of course, I can't remember.

Picture of the stoves that each room had.

Each doorway was ornately decorated

The Grand Cascade is modeled on one constructed for Louis XIV at his Château de Marly. The Gulf of Finland in the far distance

Buns of Steel

The fountain depicts the moment when Samson tears open the jaws of a lion, representing Russia's victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War.

Beautiful hostas!

This fool would NOT get out of the way. Chess inspired fountain on the palace grounds.

Perhaps the greatest technological achievement of Peterhof is that all of the fountains operate without the use of pumps.

Water is supplied from natural springs and collects in reservoirs in the Upper Gardens.

Ludmilla showing us (and a group of soldiers) one of many hidden surprise fountains. She knows how NOT to make them spray you.

The soldiers however, do not! This was a great time, Peterh apparently had a good sense of humor :)

Another home on the grounds, closest to the gulf.

Soldiers planning something? Hmmmm

We took a ride on the infamous subway (no pictures allowed). Called the "palaces of the People". This green thing was outside of our stop.

SEPHORA! In RUSSIA!!

Yusupov Palace

Man caves existed thousands of years ago!

Middle Eastern Room

Wow floor!

Supposedly if you follow the movements of the painting you will be dancing. This is on the ceiling of a dance hall.

A monkey painting cats, I dig it.

A theater built for his wife since she wanted to be on stage.

Oak room, complete with oak chanedelier

hahaha..Vinny looks like some creep in this picture..I have no idea what was going on.