Saint Petersburg
Before visiting Saint Petersburg, there was a sense of foreboding. We had to get visas, which were really hard to obtain, we had to consider the fact that we were Americans visiting a not so pro-American government, and it was scary! Still, we found out that the people in Saint Petersburg were very nice, and the city was amazing.
Just another train ride. That’s how we got to St. Petersburg. We had our visas ready and were let in. Passports stamped. No fanfare. We were 
officially in Russia. Then, we walked from the main railway station to the subway in the rain. When we got inside, there was a big mosaic of Lenin on the wall of the subway station and there were people everywhere. We took a breath and headed down into the subway. Fortunately, we had guidance in the form of a long email from friends from Russia and they told us about how to use the incredibly reliable and regular subways there.
When we came out of the deep, deep subway, we found our way to our hotel and checked in. Once we had put our bags in our room, we set out to our first stop in Saint Petersburg: nowhere in particular. We wanted to get to know the city by wandering around aimlessly. We just wandered up Nevsky Prospect, the main street lined with shops, churches, restaurants, and street performers. We stopped when we got to the Hermitage, the second-largest art museum in the world, which we would visit on another day. We took in the green and gold facade and decided that it was time for dinner. On the recommendation of our Russian friends’ email, we went to the Literaturnoye Kafe (Literary Cafe), a restaurant where iconic Russian writers, like Alexander Pushkin, who wrote many famous works that I am not familiar with, and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, whose work I am also not familiar with, used to come to write. I am guessing one day that I’ll read these writers and maybe then I’ll be able to look back and think about eating in the same restaurant that they used to frequent. We shared some classic Russian cuisine, like beef stroganoff and Russian dumplings! I also got the salmon and it was pretty great. There’s nothing like some good salmon to end your day. Once we finished eating, we headed to our hotel to get some sleep.
The next day, we headed to the Palace Square, a beautiful square filled with lovely facades, and, of course, a palace! We took in the large, sumptuous Winter Palace while admiring the yellow arch of the general 
staff building. Even though the Winter Palace is the main attraction of the square, I thought that the modest (perhaps that’s overstating it, but “modest” compared to the Winter Palace…) General Staff Building was the most beautiful, because of the simple but pretty yellow color and the complicated embellishments. The Winter Palace is where the Czars used to spend their winter, and it now houses the Hermitage Museum.
After taking in the square, we headed to the Admiralty Building, a large 
building with a gold-tipped spire. The Admiralty used to be the head of the Imperial Navy, and now it’s just (this is a relative just- the head of the navy is pretty cool) the head of the navy- no emperor involved. We went there through the Alexander Gardens, a public park. It’s a nice place to walk and it takes you right to St. Isaac’s Cathedral and the Bronze Horseman, which we chose to admire later.
After taking in The Admiralty, we headed to St. Isaac’s Cathedral and explored the lavish interior. What looks like paintings on the walls are actually mosaic and trust me- it’s pretty hard to believe. They are so ornate,
and the tiles are quite small. We also walked up the dome for a view of the city. It was a great way to take in the sights from above! We saw many recognizable buildings, but only one skyscraper! One second please, I’m getting into teacher mode. Alright, I’m ready. Well, students, there’s only one skyscraper because St. Petersburg was built on a swampy marsh. That’s also why the subway goes so deep into the ground. The foundation simply can’t handle very tall buildings or underground areas too close to the surface. Now teacher mode needs to take a break.
When we finished taking in the view, we headed to get some food right off the square. We went into Bar-Restoran Schast’ye U Isaakiya expecting a mediocre restaurant that pulled in money mostly for the view of St. Isaac’s Cathedral. But boy, were we wrong! People come in for the view but… the food was delicious! We ate some yummy salmon, as well as beef and
potatoes. My father even tried some of the Russian-style meat sandwiches, and he’s vegetarian! Once we were filled up, we headed to the Bronze 
Horseman. It’s Peter the Great on a horse- statue form. I liked it but didn’t find it very interesting until I heard the history. Apparently, it’s in the same spot where Peter The Great had his vision to build Saint Petersburg into the city it is today. Also, the rock is supposedly pagan, so it symbolizes him thwarting devils because he is standing on top of a rock that symbolizes pagan-ness. You can choose to believe or not, but it’s still just as interesting.
When we had finished up there, we headed over to a memorial for World 
War Two. The simple memorial is on the street: a piece of barbed wire under a sign that says that when being shelled, this side of the street is more dangerous. It was put up after the war, and this memorial was very moving, as it is a reminder that during the war the people of this city lived under constant shelling. The barbed wire is similar to what would have been used in trenches at the time.
We kept walking along the street and came to Pyshechnaya, a portal to 
Soviet times. It’s a donut shop! We got the recommendation from the locals we know, there’s nothing as good as a local’s favorite shop! With a pretty pastel pink inside and green-topped tables, this shop has the best donuts! After waiting on a long line, just like in Soviet times, we were rewarded with the best donuts I have ever had. They were sweet, airy, and finger-licking good. I don’t eat donuts as a go-to dessert, but for me, it was well above standards.
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a church that had been turned into a swimming pool in Soviet times. The church still hadn’t fully 
recovered and it was amazing to see. In Tsarist Russia, churches were a big deal, and belief in the church was a very important part of life. Under communism, religion was supposed to be pretty much banned. Communists were very opposed to religion. So what could the communist leaders do with all the huge and resplendent churches after they had their revolution? Well, in this case, they turned it into a pool! They dug out the floor, put in a big pool, but kept the balcony pews for spectators to watch the swimming! Now that communism is gone and religion is once again a permitted part of the culture of Russia, they’ve put a floor back in and use the place as a church again, but it’s not at all perfectly rebuilt, so the place is half pool gym and half church… a strange sight indeed.
We also peeked into the Kazan Cathedral, home to the Our Lady of Kazan icon. Everyone lines up to kiss the icon, and it’s a pretty big line! It wasn’t amazing or notable for me, but looking back on it in the middle of a pandemic, it seems amazing that nobody thought about the risk of germ transmission!
We also hopped inside the Church Over Spilled Blood and the outside does 
not overshadow the inside! The outside is a simple brick covered in onion domes, reliefs, and tiling. The inside is covered, top to bottom in beautiful intricate murals. The church marks the spot where Alexander II was hurt fatally by a bomb in an assassination attempt on March 1, 1881. It seems crazy to me that someone would get a whole ornate church built on top of the spot where they died. He was slowly dying when he ordered the church to be built. What’s even crazier is that it was mostly carried out after his death, so people either loved him or feared his legacy a lot!
After this, we continued down Nevski Prospect, browsing through windows on the way to our final destination: the bed.
The next morning, we headed on to the line for the Hermitage. We had purchased our tickets online, so we got to go in through a building to the right of the Winter Palace where the people who bought their tickets online go in. That line was not so long and moved fairly quickly. We had received instructions on how to get there, so it was pretty easy and didn’t have much of a wait.
We went into the museum and were greeted with extravagant halls, mind-blowing tapestries, golden rooms, and most of all, spectacular art. It is
similar to the Louvre because it was a palace-turned-museum. Even though it was crowded, it was most certainly a highlight of Saint Petersburg. The art collection is good, but the setting is something else (in a good way). You can see the throne room, furniture, and other accessories that a royal would keep in their palace. Either one on its own (art or palace) is nice, but this special place is a lucky two-for-the-price-of-one deal.
Once we had tired ourselves out with classical art, we headed over to the General Staff Building and entered through the wooden door with green signs on either side. It was a nice break from the crowds and the collection was as, if not more amazing than the one at the old Hermitage collections. This collection features a variety of post-impressionist paintings. It’s mostly from the collections of private owners whose collections were ransacked by the Soviet Union, after the communist revolution, when it was illegal for people to have private property. Private property and the collection of private wealth, such as art, was not allowed by the state, so the museum wound up with some pretty good Picassos! There were lots of artists that I could recognize, such as Gaugain, Matisse, Van Gogh, and my personal 
favorite, Picasso. My favorite pair of pieces was a painting and then a portrait of someone standing in front of the painting! My favorite piece in the museum was the Portrait of Ambroise Vollard, by my personal favorite artist. If you don’t know who that is by now, reread the entire post, please. This piece is a more abstract take on a portrait. I like it because it stood out in a room of paintings of their surroundings, which were pretty realistic. We navigated the collection using Rick Steves’s guide. The pieces have been moved around since he wrote his guide and it was fun to seek out the pieces like a treasure hunt.
We then ate at the museum café and enjoyed good sandwiches with a nice view of the Palace Square. The people behind the counter at the cafe didn’t speak English, but it was easy to order by pointing to what we wanted in the cases.
Then, we took a pleasant walk to Peter and Paul Fortress, an old citadel, where there are now many attractions. It used to be a fort, then a prison, now a museum! There are things like history museums, military canons, and churches. One of these churches is the burial site of the rulers of 
Russia. There are large marble coffins that mark the spot where they are buried 10 feet below the ground. Even the last royal rulers and their children were buried there, the family of the Tsar who was murdered during the Soviet revolution. For years, people believed that their daughter Anastasia survived, but with modern testing, they found her body and confirmed it to be real and placed it with her family here at the Peter and Paul Fortress.
For our last dinner in Saint Petersburg, we got traditional Russian dumplings at a place right near our hotel, Kafe Lepim I Varim. We got some Big Meaty pelmeni, Mom’s Siberian pelmeni, and Famous Shrimp pelmeni. They were all delicious and fresh!!! Not only that, it was a savory tasting but sweet feeling way to end our time in Saint Petersburg.
ONE LAST THING! I know that people are stuck at home because of social distancing and can’t travel but… there are many ways to visit Saint Petersburg virtually! Try looking on Google Earth– travel to Saint Petersburg in the search bar and look around! Also, the Hermitage offers a virtual museum visit that’s pretty cool.
GET READY FOR MY NEXT ADVENTURE IN MOSCOW!!!
Nice! Very informative.