First of all we left the same day the temple closed for St. Petersburg, Russia. We traveled by ferry from the Helsinki harbor overnight and arrived in Petersburg the next day. In fact we arrived in time to go directly to church and meet with many of our temple friends. They have a really nice building in St. Petersburg. The Sunday after we got back we heard that they were made a stake, making it the second stake in Russia. Our tour guide was made the second counselor in the stake presidency. Anyway, we had a great time in Petersburg and were awed by many of the sight.
Picture above is the Hermitage and the Winter Palace. Our tour guide did an excellent job of covering both of them in less than 3 hours. There is so much in the Hermitage that you could spend the rest of your life looking at everything.
There is so much gold and silver and just so much other stuff that it is impossible to describe it all. You have to see it for yourself. Peter the Great played a big role in the life of Russia and they treat him like a God.
Not only precious metals but all kinds of paintings by the masters. Is this place for real?
We went for a walk in the evening and as we crossed the Neva River this sunset came into view with much of St. Petersburg in the background. It is an old town but they are trying to clean it up and make it more presentable.
Of course you don't go to St. Petersburg without traveling to Peterhof with all its gold and fountains. A beautiful place on the banks for the sea looking out over the water.
Just two old dudes in the picture with Peterhof in the background.
From there we went to Pushkin and viewed much more Russian history in the form of gold and castles.
One place that I really like was a monument and memorial in the middle of town honoring the people of Petersburg for their gallant efforts during the Nazi seige of their town back during WW2. It is almost a sacred place to visit because of all the death and destruction that it represents.
Back in town again we visited Peter and Paul Fortress and much inside.
Driving around town we stopped and toured the Church of the Spilt Blood which was fantastic. Not one single painting in the entire church. There no paintings in this church at all, but there are hundreds of mosaics depicting the Saviour's life and all the bible stories that go along with it. One of the highlights of the trip, totally awesome.
Believe it or not. This is a large dome in the church and this is a mosaic made inside the dome. Unreal with all the work that it took.
Another church, St. Isaccs's Catherdral is a famous tourist place in Petersburg. Again, fantastic Christian artwork in every form.
Wonderful day in Russia looking down the water canal.
We enjoyed our trip to St. Petersburg very much. The boat trip there and back was not bad and the two nights in our hotel room there went very fast and we were able to see much. City is about 5- 6 million inhabitants and the food was really good especially the borsch. Driving in the city is crazy and no one in their right mind would even think of renting a car. It was great to mingle with the church members there and just look around the town.
We left there in the evening on a cruise ferry and arrived home the next morning. We took a day off and left for Norway the next day. That trip will be on the next blog.
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