St Petersburg, arriving at 8:30am. We arrive right at the height of the White Nights Festival, when the skies scarcely darken overnight. Lots of things to do!
After having breakfast on the train, we got into St Petersburg on time, and were met by Vera, who made sure we got safely to our hotel. And there's a problem — arrive at hotel at 9am, room not available until 2pm. What to do? The ever-resourceful Hams decided to take a long exploratory walk. Leaving our luggage behind, we set out.
Walked out north and westwards, went along Kirochnaya ul., stopping only for morning coffee at Tsekh 85, a small bakery, part of a chain we noticed in various parts of the city. Good bakery! We got to the Tavricheskiy Garden, where we relaxed for a while, and orientated ourselves a little to a new city. We sat and watched the locals thoroughly enjoying the summer weather which, let's face it, is so short around here. Then we set off northwards towards the Neva River.
The Neva is a wide, fast-flowing river with a lot of traffic — mainly small tourist craft. Shortly after turning to follow the river downstream, we came across a magnificent statue of a sailing ship. This is the monument to the Poltava, the first Russian naval ship, a 54-gun ship of the line, launched in St Petersburg in 1712.
We noted what seemed to be a rather graceful tall ship moored near the northern bank — well, it used to be a sailing ship, but is now the permanently moored restaurant Fregat Blagodat.
Also permanently moored nearby is an old 1900 cruiser 'Aurora', which is now a floating museum. During the October Revolution of 1917, 'Aurora' apparently fired the first shot, signalling the start of the attack on the Winter Palace. Ironically, she is now moored almost opposite the Winter Palace (now the Hermitage Museum).
At 12 noon EXACTLY, we head a loud report. The noise comes from the Peter and Paul Fortress on the northern bank of the river. The 12 o'clock gun is fired every day, and you can set your clocks by it!
We walked along the river, and passed one entrance of the Summer Garden, another place we will be visiting in the next few days.
We went round to the square (Dvortsovaya Ploschad) in front of the Hermitage and got our bearings there. We would be returning here in a couple of days! The huge Alexander Column in the middle of the square is quite a landmark!
We then went into the Metro at Admiralteyskaya Station and took the train to Chernyevskaya Station. Our first encounter with the St Petersburg Metro was a total pleasure — but I suppose we had already become Moscow Metro regulars. With only a couple of blocks then to walk back to the hotel, we got there at one minute to two. We had been told our room would be ready at two! You can't say the Hams are not punctual.
By this time we felt we had done enough, so we settled in for the day. Warren got some blogging done, and we watched a little TV before we went out to the Montana Steakhouse in Kirochnaya ul., near the Chernyevskaya Station, for a very nice steak meal. Then back home to the hotel and a very welcome bed!
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