St Petersburg

The city of St Petersburg has done a remarkable job of recovering after a spiteful Hitler did his best to flatten the place when the Russians had the nerve to resist his invading forces. Palaces and churches have been carefully restored and many turned into museums. The buildings are more colorful and street cafes more populated than I imagine they were during the Soviet heyday. Since the Iron Curtain parted traces of Western culture have seeped into the city. Logos of Coca-Cola and McDonald's abound, along with warehouse-sized supermarkets and tourist attractions. After cycling through a few names during the 20th century, Petrograd and Leningrad, the city has returned to its original one, coined by Peter the Great—not after himself, he humbly insisted, but rather the apostle St Peter. Nod. Wink.


Peterhof Palace, the summer palace of Peter the Great, was impressively restored since being nearly obliterated by Nazis during WWII. All the fountains on the palace grounds are powered solely by gravity.


Overlooking the Gulf of Finland.




One of St Petersburg's many canals.


The Peter and Paul Fortress.


A decorative rostral column which also serves as a lighthouse.


Lenin strikes a pose.


A meat-stuffed pirozhki.




Lenin. Grave. Turning.


St Isaac's Cathedral.




The ceiling of St Isaac's.


The Hermitage Museum and Winter Palace in Palace Square.


It is claimed that if you spent one minute looking at each exhibit on display in the Hermitage it would take eleven years to make your way through the museum.








This statue of Nicholas I is noteworthy because the horse is balanced on only its two hind legs. Usually when a statue of a horse is reared, the tail touches the ground as a third support.


Fyodor Dostoevsky lived in a six-room apartment in this building until his death in 1881. The floor is now preserved as a museum.


The Church on Spilled Blood, built on the site of Tsar Alexander II's assassination. Following six failed attempts on his life, a bomb was hurled under his carriage. Alexander survived but made the mistake of getting out to inspect the damage, at which point another bomb was tossed. His legs were blown off, but even this didn't kill him immediately. The mortally wounded tsar was taken back to his palace where he died later that day. Pretty church, no?