Smolny Cathedral - St Petersburg
Saviour on Spilled Blood Cathedral - St Petersburg
Inside the Hermitage - St Petersburg
St Isaacs in the snow
Saviour on Spilled Blood - St Petersburg We had a fantastic 10 days in Russia - took in most of the major sites in Moscow, Pskov and St Petersburg, so a bit of a whirlwind. And we were travelling with a great group of people which made it even more enjoyable.
We were slightly disappointed not to get a white Christmas...in Russia! What more could we do?! But we did get a couple of days of snow at least. A definite highlight was the Russian banya - involving a traditional sauna, a bit of a spanking with birch leaves, then jumping into a lake through a hole in the ice. Highly recommended...although probably not if you're of weak heart.
The architecture is stunning and the history really fascinating. We could've happily spent a lot longer there - particularly St Petersburg - although we're decidedly over cabbage...especially for breakfast. Russia's certainly not a place to go if you're strenuously opposed to fur-wearing though (by anyone other than the animals to which it's attached). I must admit it is deliciously soft and warm - which I discovered when chased through a market by a man keen to sell me a white mink hat. I don't think his english vocabulary extended much past counting from one to twenty in US$, as he wasn't able to address my concerns about whether the animal had lived well and died without cruelty. I think we parted, me hatless, on quite friendly terms though...
Ness x
No comments:
Post a Comment