July 17, 2007

The first photo was taken from the canal – the Church of the Savior on the Spilt Blood.  The second photo is of Smolny Convent and Cathedral.

Peter the Great’s tomb.

The first photo is Peter & Paul Fortress.  The second photo is me on the Canal trip.

It was a beautiful day in St. Petersburg today.  The sun was shining.  Not too warm.  Perfect!

Our first stop was Smolny Convent and Cathedral (see photo above).  The convent was founded by Czarina Elizabeth and the intent of the convent was for young noblewomen to be educated.

We made our way to Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral.  The fortress was built in 1703 by Peter the Great.  The prison here was used to torment and torture political prisoners (see photo above).  We also visited the Cathedral which houses the tombs of the Romanovs (from Peter the Great forward).  The Cathedral was absolutely beautiful – gold everywhere!  I actually saw Peter the Great’s tomb (see photo above).  Some of the remains of Czar Nicholas II and his family are also buried in a seperate room.  The remains were moved here in 1998.

We then boarded a boat to take a boat trip on the Neva River and the canals.  The incredible architecture of the bridges and buildings here are so amazing!  I had Tom take a picture of me (see photo above).  Again, we lucked out with the weather!  I acutally got a little bit of a sunburn! 🙂

Our boat dropped us off near the Hermitage.  The Hermitage collection was started in the 18th century as a private collection of Empress Catherine II.  The tour guide at the museum gave as a tour from the czars perspective so we viewed artwork and paintings of the Czars and visited the rooms of the Winter Palace. 

Afterwards, the group wanted to venture off on their own for the evening.  We were given 400 rubles (about $16.00) for dinner.  A few of us went to a beer tent to have a beer and eat some dinner.  I also did some shopping – found a really cool book store that sold books in English. 

A group of us met around 8:00 pm to take the Metro back to our hotel.  I have to admit we were being loud Americans as we took the escalator down to the Metro.  We waited for the next train and began to board it.  The next thing I knew I was being shoved (hard) into the train.  I felt someone go into my back pocket.  Mike, one of the teachers in my group, was the one who got his wallet stolen.  He ran off the train just as the doors were getting ready to close.  I think he thought he could catch whoever it was that stole his wallet.  Of course the police were NO help at all.  Karen, Kay, Stacy, and I were worried and sorta freaking out over what just happend.  E.B. kept reassuring us that Mike would be fine and he would find his way back to our hotel.  As soon as we got back to the hotel, we told Ron what had happened.  Meanwhile, Mike arrives to tell us that his wallet was stolen but not his passport.  He was VERY lucky because his passport was in his OTHER back pocket.  The organizers of the trip had been warning us to not keep any money or personal belongings in our back pockets.  I think Mike figured that folks would leave him alone – Mike is very TALL & BIG – imagine NFL player!  They stole his cash and all his credit cards.  The hotel allowed him to call his wife in Maine so she could cancel his credit cards.  Some of the American teachers ended up loaning Mike money for the rest of the trip.  I believe the total cash stolen was around $150.00.

It was a very scary experience!  Karen and I went back to our room a little shaken over the experience.

Добрый вечер (Good evening)