Wednesday, July 6, 2011

St. Petersburg, Russia (Day 1)

Sunset from the ship.  After 10 pm.
Peter and Paul Fortress

Misc. buildings in St. Petersburg





Hermitage and Winter Palace from across the bay

a restraunt
More random shots

They were having unusually warm weather. 
People were hanging out on any type of beach that they could find.



Cool metal work on a bridge
More people in costume begging for money to take your picture with them

St. Isaac's Cathedral.  One of the largest domes in the world.  It is covered with 220 lbs of gold.  It was commissioned by Alexander I in 1818 and took over 3 decades to complete.









Another costume begger
A mossaic


The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood



This is the location of our catered lunch
The lunch started out with this salad, vodka and champaigne. 
Good think I packed my Granola Bars
Lunch entertainment

Garden construction at Senate Square


Peter the Great Bronze Horseman Statue.  It was commissioned by Catherine the Great.
The pedestal boulder is known as the Thunder Stone.  It is sometimes claimed to be the "largest stone ever moved by man"

This is a popular place for wedding photos
This is also a popular spot for pick pockets. 
We had a few member of our tour group robbed in this park.
We were lucky though and they passed us by.
The following pictures are random shots at the Hermitage Museum.
I really liked the decorative ceilings in the museum and included several of those photos.

The grand staircase






They had a number of wooden floors that were remarkable as well


This was a clockwork peacock and they say it still works when turned on













the Malachite room





The return of the Prodigal Son - by Rembrandt



they did alot of decoration on the fireplaces




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