Saint Petersburg

The ride into Saint Petersburg was also quite beautiful but tiring as it was very cold and to make matters worse I had a difficult experience crossing the border into Russia. As I arrived to the border I had to queue to see an immigration official who then grunted and handed me a form to fill. Naturally, the officials only spoke Russian so I had to fill the form without help. When I returned the form the official pointed out an issue and through pointing various parts I understood what needed changing. I then changed and handed back the form which evidently looked correct to the official who proceeded to stamp and sign it and point me to the next station. At the next station I was informed I couldn't finalise the procedure to clear the border because the previous official forgot to put one of various stamps in the form he approved so I had to go back and wait in line until I could ask for the stamp. Once the official stared at his mistake he laughed and stamped it so I could proceed to the next step where I finally got the green light to cross the border. All in all I spent 2 hours at the border before being cleared and later my Russian friends in Saint Petersburg told me it was my welcome to Russia moment and asked why I didn't just pay the people at the border to cross in 15mins as others around were clearly doing.

Crossing the Russian border.

After that border adventure I continued my way to the Parnas neighborhood in the north side of Saint Petersburg where I would be staying with a very nice Russian couple from Couchsurfing. As I approached their place I was so impressed by the sea of hundreds of separate 25 story residential buildings that rose from the distance. These were very similar to buildings I've seen in other megacities in developing countries with modern looking facades and frugal interiors. While the aesthetics are aimed to match modern apartment buildings I would describe the result as "neo-soviet" block house style.

Once there I met Yura and Nastyuska, the lovely couple from Krasnodar who would host me for the next 4 days. Krasnodar is close to the Black Sea so like me they where not exactly in their elements with the cold in Saint Petersburg. Also they are both improving their English so communication was very interesting with some Google translate help when needed but overall we made a nice friendship and I hope to see them again soon. They both told me to return to Saint Petersburg next summer when it's best to enjoy the city and I would love to do so.

Parnas neighborhood.

Parnas neighborhood.

The following day I visited around Saint Petersburg's historical areas and was amazed by the beautiful sights. First I visited the city's Mosque and continued with the Peter and Paul Fortress area which is accessible by foot bridge and consists of the original citadel founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and also contains a catherdral that was completed in 1733.

Peter and Paul Fortress.

Peter and Paul cathedral.

Entrance to Peter and Paul Fortress.

Next I visited around the Nevsky Prospect which is the city's main street en route to a very special meeting I had in the historical Anichkov Palace. On the way along Nevsky Prospect I could observe many of the city's main sights and churches which leads to the nickname of tolerance street due to various denominations being represented. The purpose of my visit to Anichkov Palace was quite interesting. An English teacher had contacted me about my trip and asked me to come chat with her students about it and in return the students would give me an inside tour of this beautiful palace which is not open to tourists. As other palaces in Russia, Anichkov Palace has a very interesting story. Originally belonging to the monarchy it was nationalised after the October Revolution and the Bolsheviks first converted it into the Saint Petersburg City Museum until 1934, when it was converted into the "Young Pioneer" Palace. Even after the fall of the USSR this palace has continued housing hundreds of after-school clubs for more than 10,000 children including some very prominent alumni such as Dmitry Medvedev the current Prime Minister of Russia. It was an amazing experience to have an inside tour of this palace and meeting some really bright teenagers who may be the next Prime Ministers and also may be reading this blog, if so hello to you!

Talking about the trip in Anichkov Palace.

Anichkov Palace.

As most other European cities 3 of the most important sights were some beautiful religious buildings, the Church of the Savior on Blood as well as the Kazan and Saint Isaac's Cathedrals completed in 1907, 1811, and 1858, respectively. Kazan and Saint Isaac's Cathedrals have lossely similar classical style that can be seen in other bukilgjnfs across other European cities but the Church of the Savior on Blood stands out as a remarkable example of the emblematic medieval style of Russian architecture.

Church of the Savior on Blood.

Kazan Cathedral.

Kazan Cathedral.

Saint Isaac Cathedral.

Probably the most amazing thing to visit in Saint Petersburg was the Hermitage Museum. This is the world's second largest art museum and among other secondary buildings it is housed in the historical Winter Palace which was the official residence of the Russian Emperors from 1732 to 1917. It is not an understatement to write that entire blogs and many days can easily be devoted to this museum but here I will try to convey it's splendor in few sentences. I was blown away by how majestic each room was while also hosting world leading fine art. It is difficult to focus on the subject of art when it is housed in such a wonderful location so many times I found myself staring at the building more than the art pieces exhibited. It also immense, I could only cover parts of the museum and I have heard that if one focuses just 1 minute per art piece it would still take about 2 entire months to see the whole museum. After visiting the museum I felt this is one of the most important sites for humanity and I hope many of my friends will have the chance to experience it.

Winter Palace housing Hermitage Museum.

View from Winter Palace onto the Palace Square.

Hermitage museum.

As my time in Saint Petersburg finished I felt so fortunate to experience the city and also felt that I will have to return to this wonderful country.

Travel from Helsinki to Saint Petersburg: 375kms in 4hr30 (+ 2hr border crossing)

Total travel for the trip: 3814kms in 48hr40mins.

More pictures:

Hermitage Museum.

Hermitage Museum.

Hermitage Museum.

Hermitage Museum.

Hermitage Museum.

Alexandriskiy Theatre.

Singer House, also widely known as the House of the Book and serving as VKontakte (Russian Facebook) headquarters.

Saint Petersburg Mosque.

Mini-gorod reoresenting Saint Petersburg at 1:33 scale.

Living in Russian aristocratic opulence.