St. Petersburg

There is a lot to see and do in St. Petersburg and our five days there just scratched the tip of the iceberg. The things we loved the most were,

1. The Winter Palace/ The Hermitage. Make sure to see the Impressionist collection that is located in the building across the square from the palace, the entrance free covers both. Also we had to miss the Gold Rooms as they are by tour only, and we had not timed our visit appropriately. Check the schedule as they sounded incredible.   

2. Saviour on the Spilled Blood, make sure to go inside as the tile work is amazing. 

3. Peter and Paul Fortress. This fortress dates back to the time of Peter the Great and includes the church where the Romanov's are buried. Sadly all the buildings were closed the day we were there so we could only walk around the fortress, but definitely worth seeing.

  

4. Faberge Museum. This is a small museum that has 9 of the 43 Faberge eggs still around today, including the first Faberge egg created. As well as the eggs it also houses other creations made by Faberge and some impressive art as well. It is a small museum and well worth visiting. 

5. Mariinsky Theatre. I throughly enjoyed seeing the St. Petersburg ballet, Ben had other feelings on the subject. 

6. Peterfhof. Just outside St. Petersburg is Peterhof, an amazing palace that will be covered in its own post. 

7. Catherine's Palace. Also outside of St. Petersburg, also known as the summer palace, this incredibly restored palace is very grand and well worth a visit. 

Our hotel was just across the street from St. Isaac's Cathedral. We loved walking by it every day. 

St. Petersburg is very colorful. 

Church of our Savior on the Spilled Blood, thus named as it was built on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was fatally wounded in 1881. 

 If you look closely there is a workman up there. 

The entire inside of the church is decorated in tile mosaic from floor to ceiling. It was impressive. 

There was not another doll inside of this doll. 

The Hermitage! This is one of the more impressive museums I have ever been to. We spent an entire day there and only saw 25% of the collection. Thankfully I had done some research before hand on what to see and we skipped over things that were similar to those we had seen in other museums or countries. 

One of the more unique things in the museum was the Peacock clock. We actually stopped by it twice because we were so impressed with it. It was made in the 18th century and still functions today, however they don't wind all the mechanisms as the museum is trying not to over work it. Three were a few small mechanisms working when we were there. There was a dragonfly that turned with every second tick, and a few other small things. When fully wound the peacock opens it feathers, spins around, a rooster crows, an owl ruffles its feathers, and mice and rabbits spin. It is quite the design triumph. 

 The Hermitage museum is housed in The Winter Palace, which in and of itself is impressive. Pretty much every room has a pained ceiling, gilding, and is a masterpiece in and of itself. 

The Hermitage was incredible. You could spend days exploring it and still not see all it has to offer.