St. Petersburg: Tuesday, Sep 25

           We’re in St. Petersburg!  What a wonderful city!  We started off with a bus tour of the city.  The first stop was the Church of the Spilled Blood which we saw only from the outside.  Then similar stops at St. Issac’s Square and Vasilievsky Island. 

After lunch came what was certainly a highlight of the trip – several hours in the Catherine The Great’s  Winter Palace and the Hermitage Museum.  Our guide was very good – walking us through parts of the buildings and talking about selected items.  We were most impressed by the interiors, but enjoyed the works of art as well.  We stayed on for an hour or so after the tour, then struck out looking for dinner with Maria-Angelica.  We didn’t find anything in the first few blocks of the Nevsky Prospect, so grabbed a burger at MacDonald’s and then strolled back through parks and squares to the banks of the Neva.

          We sat on the river wall across from the Hermitage Theatre until others began to arrive, then joined them for the ballet, Giselle.  It was the first ballet we’ve seen in years, and really enjoyable.  The theatre is beautiful but not too comfortable.  The crew provided a late snack for us when we returned to the boat.  What a lovely day.
 
Photos 25 Sep St. Petersburg