It is May 5 & 6, 2018 and we are at the port in St. Petersburg, Russia. Our excursions included a very nice bus that took us around St. Petersburg. We had the opportunity to go on a canal tour followed by a very nice lunch that included a local favorite of cabbage soup.
One of the national holidays is Freedom Day on May 8. There were a lot of military personnel and equipment all around town. I would guess 3,000 soldiers were in town for Freedom Day. They were busy cleaning equipment and getting ready for the parade.
The largest museum of art and culture in Russia, the State Hermitage Museum boasts more than three million items, including the world's largest collection of paintings. The collections occupy six historic buildings, five of which are open to the public, but most of the highlights are housed in the Winter Palace of Empress Catherine the Great. The palace has more than 1,500 rooms.
Peacock Clock was commissioned by Prince Grigory Potemkin, who is believed to have been the secret husband of Catherine the Great. The clock was built in England between 1777 and 1797, and it is now the only surviving large piece of 18th century robotics to have made it to modern times without alteration.
Peterhof Palace water gardens are impressive. Upper Gardens, Lower Gardens, Alexandria Park with the Gothic Chapel, and the Grand Cascade that is seen by millions of tourists each year. The fountains operate from May to Mid-October.
Smolny Convent was designed by the famous Italian architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (the same who designed the Winter Palace or Peterhof).
The Nevsky Prospect is a 2.5 mile avenue at the very heart of St. Petersburg. There are quite a few shops, palaces, churches, and luxury hotels that line the fabulous street. This picture of the Singer Building is a good example of what can be seen in this area.
