Wednesday, September 15, 2004
St-Petersburg
So now, serious travelling starts as we leave the European Union for Russia.
St-Petersburg, the capital of the tsars, is an amazing city. It's huge in all senses of the term. Majestic boulevards, imposing buildings, palaces, canals... During our 4 day stay, we could barely see a fraction of it.
On the first day, we walked across the center. Kilometers of boulevards and streets to explore.
...another horse statue:
On the second, we visited the summer palace in Pushkin, with it's famous amber room. A good half day was needed to explore the palace surroundings: the hanging gardens, the sculpture gallery, the park, it's big pond, kitchen, bath, temple, dog burial pyramid, etc. The palace in itself was impressive, although slightly crowded...
On the third day, it rained. So we took this opportunity to stroll across the hermitage state museum, which is in the big green winter palace.
The museum is so big, one can easily get lost, carried away by the beauty of the rooms. Else, paintings and sculptures gathered by the tsars before the revolution, or looted by the Soviets in Germany.
Besides, we also got our first train tickets from the central booking office. To Moscow. Quite an experience!
St-Petersburg, the capital of the tsars, is an amazing city. It's huge in all senses of the term. Majestic boulevards, imposing buildings, palaces, canals... During our 4 day stay, we could barely see a fraction of it.
On the first day, we walked across the center. Kilometers of boulevards and streets to explore.
...another horse statue:
On the second, we visited the summer palace in Pushkin, with it's famous amber room. A good half day was needed to explore the palace surroundings: the hanging gardens, the sculpture gallery, the park, it's big pond, kitchen, bath, temple, dog burial pyramid, etc. The palace in itself was impressive, although slightly crowded...
On the third day, it rained. So we took this opportunity to stroll across the hermitage state museum, which is in the big green winter palace.
The museum is so big, one can easily get lost, carried away by the beauty of the rooms. Else, paintings and sculptures gathered by the tsars before the revolution, or looted by the Soviets in Germany.
Besides, we also got our first train tickets from the central booking office. To Moscow. Quite an experience!
