a baltic journey
/Best of St. Petersburg, Tallinn & Helsinki in 9 Days, a Rick Steves Tour
/st. petersburg
day 5 - train to st. petersburg
To be honest, I was a little nervous about travelling into Russia. I had no idea of what to expect and it didn't help that there was current conflict happening with Russia and Ukraine. Actually the Malaysia airplane had just been shot down a few days prior. That was a little unsettling for me. But once we were in St. Petersburg you wouldn't have known that anything unusual was happening in the world.
I was also nervous about the train ride into Russia and having to give my papers to customs. But after finding out one of our tour members glued his passport picture to the Russian visa, I worried less about me and more about what was going to happen to him. Thank goodness for Elteka and her wonderful smile. All tour members made it into Russia!
Before checking into the hotel, we got a quick city tour via the bus and had a local guide take us to some pretty amazing sights. I think I had a feeling of being overwhelmed. The city blocks seemed to never end and the buildings were so grand, I will say that, it took four days to appreciate and understand St. Petersburg, I wish I knew everything I learned by day four all on the first day. I also wish I had travelled on to Moscow after the tour.
peter and paul fortress
The Cathedral, the final resting place of various Tsars and their families, was beyond beautiful, peaceful and yet impressive. I loved the romantic details of the interior; pink, green, gold and crystal. Who wouldn't want to end up here!
Can there ever be too much gold? Me, I think not. But others thought it was over the top everywhere. There is so much gold detail in St. Petersburg & surrounding that you almost stop noticing how spectacular everything really is.
This was a great introduction to the city and to think we have only been here for like 45 minutes.
church of our savior on spilled blood
Hands down the top reason I booked this tour. I really wanted to see a colorful onion domed cathedral in person. I was not disappointed. The detail in real life cannot be captured in photos. The interior was just as impressive with all the small mosiac tiled detail.
It was also a place that you had to watch for pickpocketers. When everyone is busy looking up, all you have to do is look around and watch who is looking at bags and who is looking at the beauty above.
I loved how you would be walking down the street in the city, glance down a canal and see this sight. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
hotel pushka inn
I don't think we could have had a better stay in St. Petersburg; Hotel Pushka Inn was amazing! Located right around the corner from the Winter Palace and across from a main canal. It also had a good restaurant for our included breakfasts as well as served lunch and dinner. Some of the best food I had in the city was at this restaurant.
I felt like my room was the penthouse suite with all the space, big bed and floor to ceiling windows. I slept like a kitten every night!
walking tour to group dinner
Wow! My first Russian meal was fantastic....even if there was herring in my appetizer. We were served borscht, a beet/herring/potato terrine, beef stroganoff and a crispy layered creme pastry for dessert.
I remember being forced to eat borscht as a child and hating it. This borscht was very tasty; a life changing experience for me. I will even attempt to make my own now. I had tried herring for the first time in Sweden and did not like it then and still did not like it in Russia. Just not my thing. But a surprising 'like' was the shot of vodka. I don't ever drink straight vodka, but now I will only buy Russian vodka. Very flavorful and smooth.
On the otherside of the restaurant there was a wedding disco party happening. Everyone looked like they were having a great time so one of our tour members decided to join the fun. It was a good laugh.
Afterwards we had the choice of joining Elteka, she was going to her favorite bookstore, or go back to the hotel on our own.
