This morning was a
slightly later start with a walking tour beginning at 10.45am but the tour
guide didn’t show up until 11.30am. Not
to worry we were still in for a treat learning all about the history of St
Petersburg. This tour taught us more
about the Tsar, Emperors and development of the city. Taylor filled us in on more recent history
from her school lessons.
We covered some of the
same attractions that we walked past on our first day, but this time stopping
to learn about different stories and historical facts. The tour began at the Winter Palace/Hermitage
museum. We discovered that the Alexander
Column is one giant piece of marble that is sitting on no foundation. It is the biggest/tallest piece of marble in
the world. When it was first erected
people wouldn’t enter the square because they were afraid it would fall
over.
Next we moved on to learn
about Nevsky Prospect, The Admiralty, St Isaac Cathedral (covered in gold), The
monument to Peter the Great, The Stroganoy Palace and the Church of the Savior
on Blood.
It was amazing to find out
that during the Soviet Union reign all churches were converted into museums or
public spaces like swimming pools. One
cathedral was even turned into the Museum of Atheism; this was because during
communism they didn’t want people having religion. Many of St Petersburg cathedrals remain
museums, but some are beginning to hold services again.
Following the walking tour
we headed back to the hostel to get ready for the ballet. All cleaned up and looking good we arrived at
the Meriinsky Theatre to discover that our order for the tickets had not been
completed. There were still seats
available however if we wanted them it was going to cost $750 (NZ) which was
somewhat more expensive than the cheap seat we had wanted online!
With the ballet out of
reach we decided to head out for a meal.
Without realizing we left the restaurant without our camera! It was unbelievable to find a smiling
waitress waving our camera at us when we returned the next morning. We honestly thought it would be gone. I gave her a hug and Allan gave her a tip to
show our appreciation.
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