The night train conveniently ferried me from Moscow to Northern Venice – St. Petersburg!
My mum joined me for a few days here, where we could make most out of our days as at the moment the ‘White Nights’ are ongoing in St. Petersburg. This is the season when it never gets dark in the city. Even at 2:00 am it’s still bright enough to read a book without any lamp. Really fascinating and most enjoyable after five years in Singapore close to the equator, where it gets dark every day at 19:15.
The city was built from scratch with many lovely canals by Peter the Great in early 18th century. It has been known by several other names (Petrograd, Leningrad), before it renamed itself to St. Petersburg after the Soviet Union came tumbling down in 1991. But whatever it’s called there’s no denying that St. Petersburg is one of the most glorious cities in Russia.
Walking along the Neva River and the many canals that meander through the heart of the city is a seamless showcase of hugh palaces of 18th and 19th century architecture. Winter Palace, the former Royal residence of the Romanov family, houses nowadays the Hermitage, one of the most magnificent art collection in the world. The rooms where these art pieces are showcased were equally impressive.
By hydrofoil speedboat, we made a trip 30km outside the city to the Palace Peterhof – the Russian equivalent of Versailles. The centerpiece of the palast is its garden with 140 fountains and canals. Being a tsar 300 years back during the immensely rich Russian Empire time must have been a good life.
We also set aside some time to explore the Yusupov Palace, Vasilyevsky Island and the Peter & Paul Fortress. My mum also liked the Cathedral and Churches. As the sightseeing days were long - thanks to the White Nights - we were quite tired in the evenings.
It took me five (!!) hours at the central train ticket office to get my ticket via Belarus and Poland to Germany. Sometimes it’s extremely frustrating as English it not spoken in Russia outside the main tourist spots. Travelling in Russia was not always easy!
July 4, 2007 at 9:00 am
Ciao Marc,
Ist einfach gewaltig, was du da berichtest und erlebst.
Ich bin jetzt bis Ende Juli in der Schweiz und dann gehts wieder back to Singapore.
Noch alles Gute auf dem letzten Stück durch Europa und ich wünsche dir ein gutes Ankommen in der Schweiz (Switzerland is really not Singapore!!!!)
Cheers
Bart
July 4, 2007 at 11:07 am
Hello Marc
Looks like you getting close to the end of your fascinating journey. Thanks for letting aus traveling with you along the internet highway. Really enjoyed it almost as much as the real thing a few years back since all the places you covered rekindled some of my own memories.
During your time in Russia, CNN ran a special series: “Inside Russia” which I watched along with your reports at the same time. They nicely complimented each other.
Wish you a good trip along the last leg of your adventure. Take care and kepp the blogs coming.
Best regards. Jay
February 19, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Hi! I’m the Community Manager of Ruba.com. We’re building a website to highlight some of the most interesting places travelers around the world have discovered. We’ve read hundreds of blogs about Russia, and we think that yours is awesome! We’d love to highlight excerpts from blogs like yours (assuming it’s OK with you of course) and to discuss other ways of tapping into your expertise if you are interested. I’m at erin@ruba.com.
Thanks!