St. Petersburg, Russia, Part I

It's finally Saturday and I can't wait to take another tour. Are you all set to go? Do you have your passports ready? You will need them to go to St. Petersburg, Russia. We will have to go through customs and security to get our pasports stamped. Remember not to try to be friendly with immigration officers. Just hand them your passports, they'll stamp and give them back to you and you do not have to say a word. That's how they like it, so don't try to make a conversation.

There is so much to see so I plan to go back again next Saturday. I hope you don't mind.

Now, just a few reminders: We can go shopping but remember not to buy fur coats, Russian coins, any KGB memorabilias and antique Russian religious icons. They will not allow you to take them out of the country and they might arrest you for it. Unless of course, you want to be detained and spend the rest of your life in Russia.

If you want to see more details on the pictures, please click on them.

Ok, let's go sightseeing!

The main altar inside St. Isaac's Russian Orthodox Cathedral is 3-tiered and is decorated with mosaics and a stained glass window of the Resurrected Jesus.

The gorgeous green and blue columns in the iconostasis found inside the Cathedral are made out of malachite and lapis lazuli, in fact, over 35,000 lbs. of malachite is used in the interior of the cathedral.
I can't show you everything inside because we will run out of time and we won't be able to tour other places, but trust me, it's all so richly adorned, sparkling in gold and simply breathtaking. The next three pictures show the outside. The massive red granite columns are made of single pieces. The picture below shows me on the right, my sister on the left and my aunt in the center,

Outside the church, you will see vendors selling lots of souvenirs such as Matryoshka nesting dolls.

Our next stop is the Hermitage Museum. This used to be the winter palace constructed during the reign of Catherine the Great. It was the home of the Romanov family from Peter III to the last Czar. Today, it exhibits so many artistic masterpieces by famous artists such as Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Rubens and Van Dyck.

Below you will see some of the art work.

Jordan Staircase at the State Hermitage Museum.

Whew! The walk along the halls of the Hermitage

is exhausting. How about some lunch? Now, this is what I call a fun lunch, with Russian dancers and entertainers. Rice and chicken with a creamy sauce and vergetables. Yummy!

How about a salad? It's very similar to our salad here. I think even the chicken is similar to what we eat here.

How about some pancake looking bread and caviar? Russians are also famous for their vodka and boy , is it ever so strong! It's enough to either wake you up or knock you down. I bought 2 of them, bottled in very pretty blue and white Czar and Queen jars. I will have to show them to you on a Blue Monday post.

Now, let's just drive around. There are so many big buildings with amazing architecture. It's interesting to know that St. Petersburg has no single homes, but you will see apartment buildings all over.

Russia is also very rich in culture. Just look how big their opera house is! This is the Marinsky Opera House and Theater.

Peter, the Great's Monument

A Russian couple in their costumes. Give them a dollar or 2 and they will post to take a picture with you.

I hope you enjoyed the trip as much as I did. We will go back next week again and see Peterhof and Pushkin and we'll see Catherine's summer palace. I hope you will join me then too. I promise you, it will be another incredible journey. Thanks for joining me. I really enjoyed your company!