While the treasures contained inside the Hermitage were incredible, the intricate architecture and decorations of the building itself were the favorite sights for most of us.
After the Hermitage, Emmett and I peeled off to pick up some things back at our hotel. While we did that, the rest of the group went to the Church of the Spilled Blood and went inside. They said it was stunning, and the pictures back that statement up. The inside was entirely decorated in tile mosaics that had quite a lot of detail.
This spot marked where Emperor Alexander II was fatally wounded in 1881. The church was built on the site by his son as a memorial.
After some dinner, the group headed back to one of the hotels (we were not able to stay in the same place) because it was time for the Euro Cup final---France vs. Portugal. The pub's foosball table quickly became the main attraction for the boys, though. At one point, another spectator challenged Colin to a match.....Colin promptly beat him (and the guy was not letting him win). He was so proud.
As the game wound down, Bob and I said good night to the boys. Helen and Alex generously offered to host a sleep over for Emmett and Colin so that Bob and I could go on one of St. Petersburg's infamous "night cruises". You have to stay up quite late to take one, because this was what the sky looked like at midnight....it still wasn't fully dark!
When it's about as dark as it can get, the buildings along the river light up. You can take a late night river cruise to see the lights and also watch the numerous drawbridges lift up for their nightly opening. We boarded the boat a few minutes before 1:00 AM.
The narration of the cruise was all in Russian, but since the real attraction is the buildings we figured we'd just enjoy the views. And they were stunning!
As we returned to the pier at 2:30, it was actually starting to get light again......the sky never fully darkened, parts of it stayed sort of twilight-y and then started getting light again. That was a really cool thing to see, even though we were pretty tired at that point. The taxi we took was a bit questionable (we're pretty sure it was some college kid trying to make some extra money...once we pulled away he reached out his sunroof and took his taxi light off his roof!) but we made it back to our hotel about 3:00 AM, tired but happy after a full day!
Monday we got a bit of a later start and then met to go to the Peter and Paul Fortress. This is the original citadel of St. Petersburg, built to keep the Swedes out and, eventually, used to keep prisoners in. It's located across the river from the Hermitage and we had great views (and weather).
Within the fortress are quite a few different buildings, some of which house museums dedicated to different topics. We went into one about Russian space exploration, and while most of the information was in Russian we did see some interesting space capsules. And Colin really wanted his picture taken with this...
The highlight of the fortress is a visit to the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, where most of the royal families who ruled Russia are buried. We wandered through the cathedral and also used it as an opportunity to learn a bit more about the history of the Russian royal family and the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, which overthrew Nicholas II, the last Czar of Russia, and thus ended the royal families' rule.
After the fortress we eventually made our way to St. Issac's Cathedral, another landmark of St. Petersburg. The style was quite a bit different from the Church of the Spilled Blood, and it reminded me a lot of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.
Alex and I climbed to the top of the dome, where we got a nice bird's eye view of the city, particularly the Hermitage.
After the cathedral, we went for a quick dinner. These kiddos have walked a lot over the past 2 days, which has left them looking a bit tired.....
Tomorrow we all leave St. Petersburg and head to Moscow, so we have a four-hour train ride during which we can rest a bit more. We've had a full but enjoyable stay in St. Petersburg, the "Venice of the North"!
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