St Petersburg
Howdy! Well had my last night on the train (sniff sniff) and it was absolutely BOILING - only -3 in St Pete and there is brown slush everywhere - can't just step out into the street cos you'd be ankle deep in it! But it still is snowing slightly...
Firstly back to Moscow - it was good - metro wasw a bit scary first time round - meant to be the deepest in the world - but got a bit used to it towards the end - some really ornate stations which we saw along the way to some markets and the Cosmonautical monument... Got dinners off street vendors - very tasty!! then had a nap before catching the midnight train...
Russian orthodox churches - the cross on the top - the horizontal line points N-S and the main entrance is always west, and the alter in the east - helped pilots in the war when nav. items failed... - have seen lots of churches - all very pretty etc.
Am writing from the Hermitage - it is so amazing - Catherine the Great's winter palace is part of the museum - and the entire thing is absolutely massive - I have spent several hours here and absolutely loved it - got an audio guide which was worth it... - the rooms are exquisite (yep fancy word to let you know how fancy the rooms are!) and then you have all the amazing artwork in them...
Did a walking tour this morning and saw all the main monuments... I didn't know that St Pete was the 'second Venice' - things you learn huh? Anyway very tired and have a 40min walk home and then out to dinner tonight... It is my second night of having a room to myself! Exciting stuff (first time was in Suzdal)! and the hotel is very good - and includes brekkie!
Cheerio!