Saint Petersburg stories
We spent only a week in Moscow, when suddenly the opportunity to visit Saint Petersburg appeared miraculously. Andrei — a friend of Sasha — decided to visit Saint Petersburg.
Andrei planned to visit his acquaintances there and invited us with him.
In every old town, there is the main street. In Saint Petersburg, this is Nevsky Prospect. However, unlike other cities, the main street in Saint Petersburg is huge — four and a half kilometres long.
Even if you decide to just walk along the right side of Nevsky at one end and then along the left side at the other end, you will have to walk nine kilometres, which not every tourist can do.
Our first stop took place in Kazan Cathedral, which is located approximately in the middle of Nevsky Prospect. I was completely shocked by the Kazan Cathedral!
Sure, there are ancient temples in India; I have something to compare with. However, this cathedral was so majestic and perfect that it eclipsed everything I’ve seen before.
As soon as I left Kazan Cathedral, I saw something that attracted me like a magnet. Near the Griboyedov Canal, I saw a church, which seemed to me from afar Saint Basil’s Cathedral.
At first, I thought that an exact copy of the Moscow cathedral had been built in Saint Petersburg. Just coming closer, I noticed that these are still different cathedrals.
The Church of the Saviour on Blood is located near the embankment of the Griboyedov Canal. The whole centre of Saint Petersburg is a solid river and canals; therefore, it is called the North Venice.
It is interesting to see this city from the water taking advantage of numerous excursions. One of them sails directly from the Church of the Saviour on Blood. We went on it. A small boat rushed us along the waterways of a beautiful city.
From the cobbled streets of the city, we unexpectedly fell into the very centre of the Neva River. It was cold from the water; hence, we wrapped ourselves in warm clothes, however, the cold struck through them.
Our attention was drawn to the spire and walls of the fortress (with a flag, i. e. a symbol of the Russian navy, on its fa?ade) on the opposite side of the Neva River.
We continued to sail. An old-style schooner caught my attention. I thought it was an operating ship; however, it turned out to be a floating restaurant. I told Sasha about my dream of going on a trip on such a ship.
Sasha did not take my words seriously. And how wrong he was! My desires tend to be fulfilled. Two years later, we really took a cruise on a similar ship in the southern seas, on the islands of Indonesia.
Immediately after we returned to the pier on the Griboyedov Canal, I wanted to go to inspect the interior of the Winter Palace, in which the Hermitage Museum is located. However, Sasha dissuaded me.
We had only two days to stay in Saint Petersburg; now it was one and a half. Whereas, according to Sasha, it is necessary to allocate a full day for a visit to the Hermitage Museum and nothing can be planned for this day anymore.
The pleasure boat brought us back to the pier of the Griboyedov Canal near the Church of the Saviour on Blood. We walked along the quay, turned right, and continued driving along Nevsky Prospect.
Soon, from the opposite side, a street of fabulous beauty — Bolshaya Morskaya — beckoned us.
In about an hour, a bus from the Palace Square took us to Petergof. We arrived at Petergof at the height of the day. By this time, the sun had already warmed the air so much that it became hot.
I gladly took off my warm jacket and stayed in a short dress. Sasha also got rid of unnecessary windcheater and folded clothes in our travel backpack.
We landed from the “Rocket” right at the Winter Palace and again went to Palace Square. At seven o’clock in the evening, it was also as light as in the day. On the way, we met the actor in the image of Peter the Great and the actress in the image of his wife — Catherine.
For USD 3, we purchased photos of Russian tsars. We again went to Palace Square where we admired the coach of the Russian aristocracy.
From the Bronze Horseman, we went to Saint Isaac’s Cathedral. This cathedral has eclipsed all the temples that I have ever visited. Seeing Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, I gasped and was bereft of the power of speech for some time being unable to cope with my emotions.
The cathedral not only surpasses the temples but also any structures created by people.
Late in the evening, we arrived at an apartment on the very outskirts of Saint Petersburg, in a new district, whose owner — Kostia — kindly invited us to stay with him. We have never met Kostia before.
He knew Sasha thanks to his website www.maharaja-house.ru, which was popular among Goa fans.
In the evening, we briefly went out on the errands but at night we met again. The place of our gathering was the bank of the Neva. In addition to people already familiar to us, other Kostia’s friends came here.
Many of them brought outlandish musical instruments. Earlier I met such instruments as pipes, tambourines, drums, and flutes only in Goa.
