Palace Embankment

St. Isaac's Cathedral

View from the top of St. Isaac's

On my fourth weekend living in St. Petersburg, I chose to do one of my favorite tourist activities. I love to visit places of worship, the older usually the better. Religious art pieces and icons are some of my favorite works of art. And there is no lack of churches here in St. Petersburg! Due to the closing down of public transportation on Nevsky Prospekt for the weekend (the equivalent of stopping all cross-town buses in Manhattan on a weekend, unthinkable I know) I had to walk to all of my desired locations. A fate not too bad since luckily as large as the city is, everything is still relatively close to each other. My first stop was the furthest out, St. Isaac's Cathedral. A massive and iconic church in St. Petersburg, the columns surrounding the entryway still hold marks from bomb shells during WWII. This was my personal favorite, the inside resembling a more Western European style. I was able to tour both inside the church and climb to the top of the cupola. That is one thing that is so special about all of the grand churches of Europe. Climbing to the top, although some could be several hundred steps high, is such an amazing experience. Seeing that aerial view of the city you are in is breathtaking, and most definitely worth the hike! Later in the day I also visited the inside of Kazan Cathedral and the Church of Our Saviour on Spilled Blood. This church bears the name of "spilt blood" since it was built on the site where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated. With its iconic colorful onion domes, this church is built more typically in the Russian Orthodox style.

Winter Palace, view from Palace Square

Inside The Hermitage

Later in the evening I also had the opportunity to attend an opera at the famous Mariinsky Theatre. I watched Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karmazov" and enjoyed how truly breathtaking the opera house is! The next day our group had a tour of the Hermitage. This is one of the things I was most excited for in Russia. The Winter Palace is an iconic symbol of St. Petersburg, and each day I pass by it I realize more and more how beautiful it is! I was right to look forward to the Hermitage museum, it was by far the largest museum I have ever been to in my life (and I like to think I've done my fair share of museum tours!) There was no way we could see everything in one day, let alone the few hours we had set out for the museum. Luckily we had a great tour guide who showed us around, explaining each of the most important rooms and pieces to us. I was shocked by how many iconic works of art where located here in Russia! It definitely reminded me of how truly "European" St. Petersburg is as a city -- Peter's window to the west!