Russia - 2012
In 2012, I took an escorted tour to Moscow and St Petersburg. A party of 4 cancelled at the last minute, so I was the only person on the tour. In Moscow I visited Red Square, and the Kremlin, and went inside to see the museum and the cathedrals. Photos are not allowed inside the Kremlin, but I was able to take a few when no-one was looking. Next to the Kremlin is St Basil's Cathedral, with the famous onion domes seen in so many pictures. These onion domes are sometimes mistaken for the Kremlin, but in reality, St Basil's is not part of the Kremlin. Red Square was cordoned off in preparation for Russia Day celebrations. I saw Novodevichiy Convent, the Tretyakov Gallery, Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the Bolshoi Theatre and the infamous Lubyanka Prison. I window-shopped and had lunch in the GUM mall across from the Kremlin. There is a fountain in the center of GUM, with a display that is changed periodically. The tours finished at 5:30, and since it doesn't not get dark till about 10:00, I went around on my own in the evening, using the Metro. There is almost nothing written in English in Moscow, and since the Russian language uses the Cyrillic alphabet it was very difficult to find the right stations on the Metro. I missed my station a few times and had to take the train back in the opposite direction. You only pay once when you enter the station, so it didn't really matter. The Metro stations are works of art with a lot or marble and paintings and sculptures. Along the banks of the river, there were a few places where people had put on a lot of padlocks and thrown away the keys. My guide said this was done by couples in love, to symbolize their eternal love for each other.
St Petersburg has so much to see. It has a lot canals like Venice and everywhere there are reminders of Imperial Russia and the opulence of the Tsars of Russia. The main street is Nevsky Prospect, with lots of shops and cafes. I visited the Cathedral of Our Saviour on Spilled Blood. This building is just magnificent. Unfortunately, the sky was overcast, so the pictures don't do justice to this building. This Cathedral was built on the spot where Alexander II was assassinated by a bomb that cut his legs off at the knees and he bled to death. I visited the Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral. Almost all the Tsars of Russia are buried here, including Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia. He and his family were murdered by the Bolsheviks. St Isaac's Cathedral is also very beautiful inside. The Hermitage Museum has an extensive collection of paintings and sculptures. In addition, it also has re-creations of rooms in the imperial palaces. I had a full day tour to Peterhof and Catherine's Palace. Peterhof has a lot of fountains and gardens and looks like Versailles in Paris. Photos are not allowed inside Peterhof. Catherine's Palace is very ornate. One of the rooms inside is the Amber Room, which is entirely panelled in amber. The original amber panels were looted by the Nazis and never found again. The room was re-built. Photos are not allowed in the Amber Room.
Click on the pictures below, to view the photos.
Moscow
St Petersburg
