The second stop on a trip covering Oslo, Norway - St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia - Minsk, Belarus- Kiev, Ukraine
We fly from Oslo to St. Petersburg.
This city has long been on our must-see list. But the hassle of getting a visa to enter Russia made us postpone this trip many times. This time we decide to go for it. It's not a major hassle, more of a medium-sized one. As we are going on our own (no travel agency, no relatives to visit), all hotels where we stay in Russia need to issue "vouchers" for us, a sort of proof of paid reservation. Russian hotels seem to have this down to a science, but we do go through 3 iterations before the information printed on the vouchers is finally correct (luckily I read Cyrillic). Then there is the mandatory insurance certificate proving that we are insured in Russia. Once this is all done, the paperwork itself is not unreasonable.
We are very excited when we land. We are in St. Petersburg! On the way from the airport the first "sight" we see is a large statue of Lenin, in front of the imposing House of Soviets. I haven't seen a Lenin statue in ages! I grew up in communist Czechoslovakia, so these sorts of things have funnily a nostalgic value for me. While I am mostly looking forward to seeing historic treasures, such as the Winter Palace, seeing these relics of the communist past is also fun (they all but disappeared elsewhere in Eastern Europe) .
We drive down Nevskij Prospekt, St. Petersburg's most famous avenue, so we get a quick glimpse of some of the famous sights. St. Petersburg was built at the order of Peter the Great, who decided to build a brand new capital for Russia (supposedly wasn't very fond of Moscow). He was fascinated by anything "Western", so St Petersburg is not truly a "Russian" city. French influence is very noticeable; and the rivers and canals, complete with hundreds of bridges, remind both of Venice and of Amsterdam.
 |
| The Admiralty (side facing the river) |
 |
| Bronze Horseman |
The Bronze Horseman Statue stands on Pl Dekabristov (Decembrists's Square). One of the dominant features of this square, in fact of all of St. Petersburg, is St Isaac's Cathedral. It is the city's largest cathedral and it's golden dome dominates the skyline. We visit the interior and are sufficiently blown away by the lavishness of it. It prepares us well for all the gold and elaborate decorations we are about to see on this trip, and also for the crowds we will have to deal with. My favorites in the Cathedral are the rich green columns, contrasting beautifully with all the gold, while my 8 year old daughter is fascinated by a "bird" in one of the windows.
 |
| St Isaac's Cathedral |
 |
| Interior of St Isaac's Cathedral. Lots of gold and lots of people |
 |
| The green columns inside St Isaac's Cathedral |
 |
| One of the elaborate doors of St Isaac's Cathedral |
 |
| "Bird" in the ceiling window - St Isaac's Cathedral |
 |
| Interior of St Isaac's Cathedral |
We walk by the Admiralty again, this time passing it from the "land side". It is in quite bad shape, seems like major reparations are taking place, which is disappointing, as it's gilded spire is such a landmark of St Petersburg. The Admiralty used to be the headquarters of the Russian Navy, and today houses a naval academy.
 |
| The Admiralty (side facing the city) |
We finish the day by a small walk on Nevskij Prospect, then it's back to the hotel for some well-deserved rest.
 |
| A little relic of the past (flag holder) on Nevskij Prospect |
Day 2:
We are very excited this morning as we are visiting the Hermitage, one of the world's most famous museums. We are visiting the main complex of the museum, which, in addition to the Winter Palace includes 5 other buildings. These were added to the palace over the years to display the emperors' ever growing art collection. There are also buildings elsewhere in the city which belong to the Hermitage but we will not visit those.
For famous museums like this we always expect long lines, so I try to buy the tickets in advance online. There is something wrong with the website however, so we arrive to St Petersburg without Hermitage tickets. The hotel concierge is able to help us by selling us tickets to a special exhibit which also includes a general visit of the museum. These tickets are more expensive than regular tickets, so we hesitate for a while, but we finally cave in. It's not fun to stand in line for hours, especially with a small child.
We arrive there at opening time, and there is already quite a long line for the ticket office, which makes us feel better about our expensive tickets. On this visit we learn a couple of valuable lessons about Russian museums, which seem to apply to most museums we visit in this country. Backpacks are not allowed, they must be checked in the cloakroom, which is one more line to deal with. Otherwise security seems to be mostly for show. In many places (including the Hermitage) the metal detectors are for decoration only and we walk through them with our bags in hand. There are plenty of signs prohibiting photography and some places sell photo licences for an extra fee. Except for a couple of exceptions though this does not seem to be enforced at all. In the Hermitage everyone is taking pictures everywhere, in full sight of the guards, and it seems perfectly fine.
The Hermitage has an amazing collection of world-famous art. Living in Paris, however ,we feel that we have plenty of opportunities to see amazing art whenever we want, so we decide to spend our limited time mostly on the building itself. The free color map we pick up shows clearly the rooms to see for "palace interiors" and we head straight for these. The famous art we see on the way is a bonus.
Given the mustard-color gold on the exterior of the palace I am a bit worried that the interior will be a letdown. I have heard so much about it, but is it really so amazing? Will it be able to compete with what I have seen in Versailles? The short answer is: absolutely! All the truly golden-looking gold I have been missing on the outside seems to be have been used inside. Never thought it was possible to outdo Versailles in lavishness, but the Winter Palace manages to do that. The French influence is noticeable, but all this shiny gold would give a headache even to Louis XIV.
 |
| This is what we see when we enter |
 |
| Just one of the lamps |
 |
| And another one |
 |
| And how about this one |
 |
| Just a simple door |
 |
| A music room |
 |
| White and gold |
 |
| Red and gold |
 |
| Yes, golden walls |
 |
| Even the dumpsters have statues to look at |
 |
| I wonder if Champagne was flowing from this at any time? |
 |
| Crystal and gold, a beautiful combination |
 |
| Red and gold again |
 |
| And white and gold again |
 |
| And ....yes, red and gold again |
I think the most outrageous thing in the whole place is the giant glass display case with the golden peacock (and other golden creatures). It is breathtakingly beautiful and in all it's uselessness and shine it is such a perfect symbol of the "just because we can" luxury of the place. It doesn't take a vivid imagination to understand why the revolution broke out exactly here. The contrast between the extreme poverty of ordinary Russians at that time, compared to all this, must have been mind-boggling.
 |
| Golden peacock |
When we exit the museum, heads still spinning from all we have seen inside, we notice something interesting on the square. A hotel on wheels (or rolling hotel, or Rotel). I have seen all kinds of hotels on my travels, but haven't seen a Rotel yet so I Google it when I get home. Interesting concept.
 |
| Das Rollende Hotel |
After a quick lunch we head to another of St Petersburg's must-see sights, the Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral. It is not exactly walking distance, on the other side of the Neva River, so we opt for the hop-on hop-off bus. We don't have time to do much hopping off, but hope to at least catch a glimpse of a couple of sites on the way.
We drive by the bizarrely named but beautiful Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood (more about it later). We pass Mikhailovsky Castle, built by Tsar Paul I , who feared assassination so much that he even surrounded the castle with a defensive moat. Moat or no moat, he was assassinated anyway, shortly after moving into his new home. Later it became an engineering school, and is today referred to as Engineer's Castle. We pass between the beautiful Summer Garden and Mars Field, then we are finally crossing to the other side of the river.
 |
| Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood |
 |
| Tourist trap alert! - locals in period costumes |
 |
| Mikhailovsky Castle (Engineer's Castle) |
 |
| Crossing a bridge over the Neva, Peter and Paul Fortress in background |
One of the things I have been looking forward to very much is seeing the Cruiser Aurora. Growing up in communist Czechoslovakia, celebrating the October Revolution was a must. Every year, come October, we would be working in our art classes on artwork depicting the Aurora, the ship whose shot started the Revolution. While all the ideology of those times is long gone from my head, my fondness for the Aurora remains. I am looking forward to seeing it with the same childish excitement one would feel when finally visiting Disneyland. Needless to say it's a complete letdown. It's just a ship after all. It is smaller than I imagined, less majestic. Perhaps what bothers me is that it has been restored to such perfect shininess that it doesn't look terribly historic. I am still happy I have seen it though.
 |
| The Aurora |
 |
| I wonder if Comrade Lenin would approve of all the souvenir stands alongside the Aurora |
Another famous site the bus will be passing is Peter's Cabin, St Petersburg's oldest surviving structure. Peter the Great lived in this house while he supervised the building of his new city. Too bad we don't have the time to visit the interior, as there are some of his original belongings on display. I am happy I will at least see the outside. My happiness doesn't last long however, as Peter's Cabin is hidden inside a red brick pavilion, so I can't see it at all. Seems like a reasonable thing to do, to protect the cabin from the elements, just disappointing to hurried tourists like me.
 |
| Somewhere behind those trees, inside the red brick building, is Peter's Cabin |
We arrive to our hop-off location, the Peter and Paul Fortress,built by Peter the Great. We head straight to the biggest attraction here, the Cathedral. On the way there we finally cave in and let our daughter take a picture with some people in period costumes, who in turn try to rip us off (no, just because I agreed to pay for one picture doesn't mean you can force me to buy two pictures for double the price!).
 |
| Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral |
 |
| My daughter's favorite artwork in St Petersburg, at the entrance to the Fortress |
 |
| A gate in Peter and Paul Fortress |
The Cathedral is one of the symbols of St. Petersburg. It is significant for a couple of reasons. Peter the Great has outlawed the construction of any building higher than the spire, so it is still a very dominant feature of the skyline. It's European look marks a departure from the usual Russian Orthodox Church designs. The Cathedral is the final resting place of many of Russia's rulers, including Peter the Great himself. The most controversial additions were of course the last of the Romanovs, Nicholas II and his family, who have been reburied here as recently as the late 90's. The Cathedral is beautiful, but impossibly crowded, so we don't stay for long.
 |
| Peter and Paul Cathedral |
 |
| Interior of Peter and Paul Cathedral |
 |
| Interior of Peter and Paul Cathedral |
 |
| Interior of Peter and Paul Cathedral |
 |
| Peter the Great's Tomb |
 |
| Burial site of Nicholas II and his family |
Not sure if it is just due to fatigue, but we don't find the rest of the fortress that amazing. So we wonder around a bit, get an ice cream, admire the view of the other bank of the Neva, then hop back on the bus.
 |
| Peter and Paul Fortress |
We drive by the Artillery Museum, then cross over to Strelka, a very pretty spot recognizable from the distance by it's two Rostral Columns, which were built as navigation beacons. From here there is a beautiful view of both banks of the Neva.
 |
| Strelka - one of the Rostral Columns |
While in St Petersburg we notice that taking wedding pictures at tourist sites seems to be a tradition here, together with what seems to be a competition of having the coolest/fanciest wedding car. There are places where members of wedding parties almost outnumber the tourists. There are so many of them that I nickname this phenomenon the "invasion of the bridezillas". It will follow us everywhere we go in this part of the world. Strelka is no exception, there is a wedding group right next to our bus, and they have a really cool car.
 |
| A wedding car |
Once we cross the river we could get off the bus, as we are quite close to our hotel. But we decide to ride the entire circle route, so that we would get a better look at Nevskij Prospect. We definitely get a very good look. Too good in fact. Traffic is completely stuck, and we travel the entire length of the avenue in snail pace. So we get to admire, in great detail, the exterior of the Kazan Cathedral, the statue of Catherine the Great on Pl Ostrovskogo (contrary to what the guidebooks say, I don't see any chess or backgammon players on the benches), the famous Horse Tamers statues on Anichkov Bridge and an assortment of various palaces and nice buildings. Traveling at a normal pace this would have been nice to see, in stop and go traffic it's a complete torture and we can't wait to get off the bus.
 |
| Stuck in traffic on Nevskij Prospect |
 |
| Kazan Catherdal |
 |
| Pl Ostrovskogo with the Statue of Catherine the Great |
 |
| One of the Horse Tamers statues |
To recover from the bus ride we treat ourselves to a wonderful afternoon tea at the hotel. And by afternoon tea I mean the whole tea+sandwiches+scones thing. Lovely.
 |
| Tea time |
After tea it's off to a large souvenir shop, where we spend hours choosing the right matriochka. St Petersburg is such an expensive city, and the price of matriochkas shocks us. After some negotiation we do walk away with a beautiful set.
Day 3:
Today we are planning to see two must-see sights outside of St Petersburg, Catherine Palace and Peterhof, Peter the Great's "Versailles".
We plan to rent a car, but, to use the concierge's own words: "That is very difficult in our country". Instead, she recommends that we rent a car+driver+guide. We don't like guided tours, so we decide to go for car+driver (no guide). We think we are very clever, as this way we are in charge of our own time, plus we save money. It turns out to be a mistake.
Catherine Palace is part of a complex called Tsarskoe Selo, in the town of Pushkin. It also includes Alexander Palace and Park, where the last of the Romanov family lived, but we only have time to see the most beautiful parts of the complex, the Catherine Palace and Park.
We arrive a little after opening time.We are happy as we are able to get tickets at a little kiosk without waiting in any line. Then we realize that these are only tickets for the garden. One needs to get a ticket to get into the garden. One needs to get into the garden to buy a ticket for the palace. Have they ever heard of combined tickets? But we are not complaining, as the exterior of the palace promises that we did not come in vain. This looks even more luxurious than the Hermitage! Most of the gold is as mustard-colored as on the Winter Palace, but the cupolas couldn't be shinier.
 |
| Catherine Palace |
 |
| Catherine Palace |
 |
| Catherine Palace |
 |
| Catherine Palace |
 |
| Catherine Palace |
As soon as we enter the garden we guess where the palace entrance must be as there is already quite a long line. With fast growing lines our motto is: "act first, ask questions later". So we quickly join the queue without knowing if it is the correct one. There are a couple of things which are suspicious. First of all, our line doesn't seem to be moving at all. Second, there is another entrance where people are going in and out without any delay. So I decide to investigate. With my limited Russian and the locals' limited English I figure out the depressing news. People who come with hired guides are allowed to go in as soon as the palace opens in the morning, no wait. People with no guides can only enter at noon... or, due to the long wait, even later. I am suddenly not that proud of being so independent and guide-free.
 |
| The huge line to get into the palace |
There is nothing we can do now but wait. We decide to alternate in the line, and explore the garden one at the time (or rather two at a time, as my daughter, not surprisingly, always opts for the company of the parent walking in the garden). Most waiting groups seem to be doing the same. The garden is beautiful, with some lovely buildings, a picturesque lake and even a couple of squirrels.
 |
| Catherine Park |
 |
| Catherine Park |
 |
| Catherine Park |
 |
| Catherine Park |
 |
| Catherine Park |
When they finally open the entrance it takes us about 30 minutes to get in. Then another line to buy the tickets. Then another to check-in the backpack (why did we bring it?). It's extremely crowded inside and Russian tourists must wait in groups for a guide to take them in. Foreigners are allowed to enter on their own, what makes me happy because that makes it easier to try to steer clear of the crowds (almost all visitors are Russian). The downside is that, there being no clear markings, we get lost a couple of times. We almost leave without seeing about third of the place, luckily we realize in time.
The interior is just as lavish as the outside suggested. We are completely blown away. There is even more gold than in the Winter Palace - is that even possible?
 |
| Gold, gold, gold |
 |
| One of the beautiful fire places in Catherine Palace |
 |
| Gold, gold, gold |
 |
| Lots of gold and lots of tourists |
 |
| Gold, gold, gold |
 |
| Interior of Catherine Palace |
 |
| A little green mixed into the gold |
 |
| Interior of Catherine Palace |
 |
| Interior of Catherine Palace |
 |
| Interior of Catherine Palace |
 |
| A little green to calm the eyes |
 |
| And a little blue (with gold of course) |
 |
| More gold |
 |
| Interior of Catherine Palace |
 |
| Interior of Catherine Palace |
The most amazing is of course the Amber Room, which, as the name implies, is a room made of amber. It was given to Peter the Great by the Prussian emperor Friedrich Wilhelm I, but was disassembled and shipped to Germany during WWII. It has then disappeared without a trace, making it a dream of modern day treasure hunters. The current room in the palace is a reconstruction of the original. The Amber Room seems to be the only place in St Petersburg where the ban on photography is actually enforced, but I manage to take a couple of pictures through the door of the neighboring room. Unfortunately these are not good enough to make out the individual pieces of amber which cover the walls.
 |
| Amber Room |
The palace is extremely crowded, so we are surprised to find the cafeteria almost empty. It's not great but we are hungry and who could resist not having to stand in line for the food.
By the time we leave Catherine Palace it's pouring. But we are determined to visit Petrodvorets (Peterhof) anyway. It is the "Russian Versailles", with a grand palace and cascading fountains and my only worry at this point is that perhaps the fountains will be turned off because of the rain. Turns out that that should be the least of my worries. On the highway we get stuck in a horrible traffic jam and, after we barely advance for about an hour, we ask the driver to take the first exit and somehow get us back to the hotel. At this point I am so fed up by sitting in traffic that I don't even feel the disappointment I should be feeling at not seeing Peterhof.
At the concierge's recommendation we are eating at an Italian restaurant tonight, not far from the hotel. On the way there we walk by the house where the great Russian poet Pushkin once lived and, after a dramatic duel, died.
 |
| The building where Pushkin lived and died |
 |
| A plaque commemorating Pushkin's death |
The restaurant has a supervised childrens' corner, which makes our daughter happy and our meal more peaceful. It also has some interesting house rules. Bodyguards are more common in Russia than what we are used to, and the restaurant's number 1 rule says: "Please check your coats, and leave your bodyguards outside". We get a good laugh out of that one.
 |
| Restaurant rules |
Day 4:
It's pouring today, but we are off to do sightseeing anyway. We have been looking at the bizarre but beautiful Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood from various angles and now we are finally going to visit the inside. The gory name is based on gory reality, as the church was built on the site of the assassination of Emperor Alexander II. There were a number of attempts on his life and the one here succeeded. The story is a bit strange, as he actually survived the original bomb attack, after which he got out to inspect the damage on his carriage (today's secret service would get a heart attack) when another bomb was thrown at him, mortally wounding him. The church marks the spot of this attack. Some people hate the church but I think it's interesting. On the other hand, even by St Petersburg standards it is very crowded, so we don't stay for long.
 |
| Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood |
 |
| Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood |
 |
| Interior of the Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood |
We are planning to take a walk in the neighboring Michael's Garden, but it's still raining, so we head for another indoor attraction instead. We walk to Nevskij Prospect, to the large Kazan Cathedral. It's not as interesting as the others, but people are praying and singing inside as we enter, which gives it a nice atmosphere.
 |
| Kazan Cathedral |
 |
| Interior of Kazan Cathedral |
We have quite enough of sightseeing at this point, but we can't miss one of St Petersburg's biggest attractions, a cruise on the canals. There seem to be an infinite number of tour boat operators in the city, and their main marketing strategy seems to be based on loudspeakers. They are basically trying to outshout each other, so in some tourist hot-spots the noise is absolutely maddening. We wait until the rain stops and then we hop on the boat closest to the hotel. We see a lot of the same sights as before, just from a different angle, so it is a nice way to end the visit. And the price of the ticket includes a glass of champagne.
 |
| One of the many tour boats |
 |
| Going under one of St Petersburg's many small bridges |
 |
| Passing between the buildings of the Hermitage, out to the Neva River |
 |
| Peter and Paul Fortress again |
 |
| Winter Palace again |
 |
| Rostral Column again |
 |
| Admiralty again |
 |
| St Isaac's Cathedral again |
We also see a couple of new things, mostly a variety of palaces. Among them the Marble Palace, originally built for Catherine the Great's lover.
 |
| From more recent history (on one of the bridges over the Neva) |
 |
| Marble Palace |
By the end of the day we are exhausted and feel that we have seen so much here. Yet we barely scratched the surface. St Petersburg has so much more to offer. Plenty more gold and marble, but also so much more history. Mendeleev invented his periodic table here, and this is where Pushkin lived, wrote and died. And the list goes on and on.
The city has one more surprise for us. We are too tired to eat out, so we decide to have dinner at the hotel restaurant. It is on the top floor and the view is breathtaking. I forget my camera in the room but it doesn't matter, I am just enjoying the sunset over the city. I finally get to try Borch, the beetroot soup typical for this region. I absolutely hate beetroots, but I must admit the soup is quite pleasant.
Day 5:
Today we are leaving for Moscow. Instead of an internal flight we opt for Russia's new high-speed train, the Sapsan, which will get us there in about 4 hours. It leaves, very logically, from the train station called Moscow.
 |
| Moskovskij Vokzal (Moscow Train Station) |
The train station is a bit hectic and we are worried about not finding the correct track. We needn't worry however. One can't miss which one of the trains is the Sapsan.
 |
| Sapsan |
 |
| Not Sapsan |
After the tiring sightseeing days in St Petersburg I am looking forward to a couple of hours of calm and quiet on the train. With our luck we are sharing the wagon with a big group of Brazilian 60-somethings. They are a lovely group, and they are a lively (as in loud) group, so soon I have my headphones permanently stuck in my ears. The ride is not terribly interesting, but it is nice to see at least a little bit of the Russian countryside. And it is fun to follow the train's speed on the overhead display. It goes up to 200 km/hr (later perhaps even higher)! The ride is so smooth that without the display I wouldn't have an idea that we are traveling so fast. This definitely beats the hassle of airports.
 |
| Display in the Sapsan wagon |
 |
| We are at 200 km/hr |
