St. Petersburg in the spring

St Petersburg

"There is something about St Petersburg that gets under your skin. Despite preferring Moscow when I first came to Russia almost two decades ago, St Petersburg lingered; its colours and incredible light stayed with me, and its history haunted me. " - Tom Masters (writer)

Though I knew it was within reach, Russia always seemed like it should be avoided. The current tension between Russia and the U. S is a bit unnerving. I’ve heard mixed reviews about St. Petersburg, but the fact that I was American didn’t bode well with my motivations to venture into a country that most likely wouldn’t take kindly to my presence.

Upon my first impression, St Petersburg seemed like a mix between Berlin and Paris, but after embarking from our shuttle in front of St Isaac's cathedral, I realized it was really in a class of its own based on the grand magnitude of its architectural splendor. Our tour, or unstructured meandering, led us through all the major landmarks throughout the city that our map highlighted. We filled our camera's memory cards and entered some of the more astounding structures for a better view at the detail that went into their construction. The art was more than impressive. The language was also beautiful yet indecipherable from my perspective. Communicating was an ordeal and we had to act out our needs at various instances when asking for directions for ordering food in Restaurants.

The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great back in the 18th century to rival other European cities. Spectacular palaces, museums, churches, statues and monuments were around every corner. I eventually got tired of being mezmorized by all that I viewed - it became exhausting to be exposed to so much beauty. Even with our hustle though, we were unable to see everything our tourist map recommended. The Church of the Spilt Blood was by far the most impressive with its fairytale architecture and impressive mosaic artwork inside and out. Honorable mention to the Hermitage museum.

Our trip back to Helsinki via Fary was all about sleep as we must have tallied well over twenty miles of walking over the course of our two day excursion. We ate interesting food, saw enough art to satisfy us for the year, and witnessed almost all of the amazing monuments that make the city unique. It was a trip that went better than expected and all of my anxieties and predispositions about confrontational scenarios were in vain. Our encounters with Russians were nothing but pleasnat even when asking for directions. It was an unforgettable experiences that make me more than grateful to have been able to visit, and experience a city as grand and inspiring as St. Petersburg.

Спасибо St Petersburg..