St Petersburg Russia on the Neva River

St Petersburg Russia – Arrival and First Impressions

Our first impressions of both St Petersburg Russia, and the Uniworld River Victoria are great!  Breakfast again is the buffet, with fantastic eggs, bacon, roasted vegetables, bacon, cereals, smoothies, bacon, yogurt and granola shots, fruits, cheeses & meats, herring with capers and onions and bacon on the side, breads, wonderful decaf coffee, and bacon.  The table service from the all-Russian crew is marvelous.

For the bus tour of St Petersburg Russia, our driver is Sergei and our guide is Ryesha.  We find later that everywhere we go, we will have personal (for the bus, anyway) guides, always carrying around a little flag so we do not get lost.  We are welcome to tip the driver and guide every day.  How nice!

Be ready to go at 7:45am; buses leave at 8am.

We’re given boarding passes – cards with our room numbers on it – which you keep with you and then turn back in when you return to the ship.  This way they can make sure that everyone is back on board.

When someone is missing, there is apparently a general alarm posted all over the city.  We’re also given a laminated card with a bus number – so they control the number that gets on each bus – and who gets back on when the activity is over – to come back to the ship.  These folks really have it down taking care of 200 sleepy-eyed Americans, Autralians, Canadians and a few New Zealanders.

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Interesting Facts about St Petersburg Russia:

  • The City was founded by Peter I (Peter the Great) in 1703 on the banks of the Neva River.
  • This is important because it gave Russia access to the sea, which it hadn’t had before.
  • St Petersburg Russia became the capital in 1712 and remained the capital until the Communist revolution 1917.
  • Only has 60 sunny days per year. Cloudy and rain can happen quickly.  Snow starts in October and lasts through much of May.  The River Neva freezes solid in winter – all boat traffic stops.  These all make living there more or less a show-stopper for someone from San Diego.
  • St Petersburg Russia is the second largest city in Russia – about 5 million people
  • Housing costs are going up though they are still low compared to an American city: A small apartment – 1 bedroom with a kitchen in city center is about $100,000 US.
  • St Petersburg Russia is built on 42 islands, has 350 bridges in the city center (800 if you include the outskirts of the city).
  • As you can see in the pictures, no modern buildings are allowed in city center – it’s an international heritage site – no signs, no billboards.  Most of the buildings are old and baroque, classical.  It is really a beautiful city.  Many buildings are in need of repair, but apparently they are making great strides in getting things fixed up.
  • There is minimal parking for cars, but it’s currently all free. They have been talking about paid parking, but haven’t done anything about it yet.  They can’t expand to parking garages below ground because it’s too swampy and anything they did would crack.  There is definitely a rush hour – lots of traffic.

First photo stop:  Smolney Cathedral (blue and white).  Was built by Elizabeth – originally as a convent.

Photo stop:  St Nicholas Cathedral (blue and white with bright gold domes – in the park)

Comfort stop at 10:10am – in Art Shop/Red October.  Matroshka dolls, wooden boxes

River/Canal trip of St Petersburg Russia:

  • Pink building – owned by Stroganoff’s.  Dish was invented because he had bad teeth and they had to cut up his meat into small pieces so he could eat it.
  • Yellow & Red building in the park.  Was the first Summer Palace of Peter the Great.
  • Michael’s Castle:  Orange with green trim.  He was assassinated by his son – after only staying there for 31 days.  He had built the castle so that he would be safe from assassins.
  • Very low bridges – you can’t stand up in the boat if you’re on the outside.  The markings on the bridges say 2.5 and 3.0 – that’s meters.
  • Brown building with gold letters – the names of the things they manufacture there.
  • St. Isaac’s Cathedral – in the square – where we started the river tour.  Many buildings are designed to be viewed from the canal, not from the street.  They have VERY low bridges – you can’t stand up in the canal boats.
  • Got back on the bus at noon

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The Winter Palace on the Neva River (now part of the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg Russia), Smolney Cathedral/Convent (Elizabeth started a school for girls), canal boats.

On our own for lunch – Quick Service Restaurant on Nevsky on/near? Prospect.  JB and I shared borsht, ham salad stacked with peas, other goodies, roast potatoes with dill, what was shaped like a hamburger, but tasted like meatloaf with a thin layer of mashed potatoes (with green peppers in it) on top and then cheese on top.  This was 350 Rubles or about $12.00.

Church of the Spilled Blood – entry fee:  250 Rubles each.

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This church commemorates Czar Alexander II and where he was murdered. The entire inside (every single surface) of the cathedral is covered with very small mosaics.  Really incredible.  Note the detail and shading on the man on the right.

Visit to Peter & Paul Fortress in St Petersburg Russia:  This was one of the first structures built here – a fortress to protect against the Swedes.  Peter had just recaptured these lands from Sweden.  This is now where all Russian emperors are buried; that includes Czar Nicholas and Alexandra and all their children whose remains are in a separate room.  It was also a political prison.

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See you soon,

Carol and JB

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Posted June 16, 2013 By JB Leep (Google Profile)

Original post May 31, 2012 St Petersburg Russia on the Neva River, JB Leep and Carol Martin

One thought on “St Petersburg Russia on the Neva River

  1. Aw, this was a very nice post. Taking a few minutes and actual effort to produce a great article… but what can I say… I hesitate a lot and
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