Murmansk Winter Expedition: Day #6
Daily distance: 0 km
Distance from home: 1570 km
Why should we love and hate Tsar Peter I?
St. Petersburg impressed us with its beauty and elegance. We wanted to saturate ourselves with it as much as possible, and in total we had a full day and a little bit at our disposal.
The plan was as follows:
- St. Isaac Church
- Hermitage
- Peter and Paul Fortress
- Aurora
- Starbucks
- The Church on the Blood (Resurrection Sobor)
- The cemetery where Piotr Czajkowski is buried
Shortly after receiving the keys to the apartment we jumped out for unplanned but necessary shopping.
Interesting fact: the time of closing the shopping centre is completely contractual. It was supposed to be open until 23:00, and at 23:10 we finished shopping at marks&spencer, then we visited a delicatessen and nobody drove us out.
St. Isaac’s Church is actually huge and impressive. The girls were much more impressed by the huge lawn in front of her, covered with a thick layer of snow, on which the snowmen molded.
Hermitage is huge and overwhelming. We watched the palace interiors scrupulously bypassing art exhibitions from different parts of Europe. If we wanted to see everything, our visa’s time of validity would not be enough 😉
The next stop is the Peter and Paul Fortress. On the map it looked quite close from the Winter Palace, in practice you had to cross 3 bridges. We wanted to see the fortress from close up to know where it all started, but somehow it didn’t charm us.
On our way to Aurora, we came into such a real Russian solianka bar. For 4 soups and 4 pieces of apple pie we paid an impressive 500 roubles or about 27 zlotys.
The meeting with Aurora was an opportunity to explain what the October Revolution was all about in an accessible way, understandable for nine-year-olds. The ticket office was closed, so we missed the opportunity to bring about another revolution.
Wandering along and across the Neva River, we reached the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. Despite the ongoing renovation of the highest tower it looks so beautiful that there are no words. We stood next to the Japanese and took a photo after photo.
We have recalculated the time and plan. The day passed unexpectedly quickly. So we decided to visit the cemetery the next day, but to give a rest to our feet, we headed to the nearest metro station. It was worth it.
At the end we just wanted to have dinner with something typically Russian. In such a Czech Prague, dumplings and fried cheese await at every corner. It’s not so easy here. We didn’t mean a canteen bar, but a regional restaurant. Finally, we found something on the very top of the shopping centre, where pizza and pasta were hiding dishes from the former Soviet republics. In terms of culinary tourism – disappointment.
Finally, Our walk looked like this:
The second day
On the second day, as planned, we went to the Tichwinski Cemetery to visit the graves of Piotr Tchaikovsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Modest Musorgsky and Leonhard Euler.
We are very pleased with this trip to St. Petersburg. In winter it’s a very nice place to walk. No crowds, in a nice atmosphere, beautifully and mysteriously illuminated. We recommend it!
Practical tips on sightseeing in St. Petersburg await you in the next post.