St. Petersburg - The Venice of the Baltic

Saint Petersburg, It is located in the European part of Russia, across the Gulf of Finland, the banks of the Neva River, no Baltic Sea, because of this location in rivers, Sea and the Gulf, many call the North Venice city. Just as it is known in Venice Italy, the city of St. Petersburg is cut by several channels.

The city was once the capital of the Russian Empire for more than 200 years, currently it is the second largest city.

This city has many channels can ride various types of water transport, there is a boat that makes a ride with incredible rapidity, much of it is out of the water, see image below:

We had never thought of going to this city, until the creation of a roadmap for Eastern Europe, They left over a few days and chose to go there and do not repent, It was a great choice.

If you are close by, put this town in your script, vale a pena, only very careful if in winter, there reaches freezing temperatures -35 ° C!! A day that started strong rain, We stopped at a gallery to wait for the rain to stop and decided to try some hats that they wear during the winter with bearskin (for them is super standard) and the business is sooo hot, only that in the midst of our trials hats, We started laughing too, because for us it was very funny, you're looking kind of bear, dog through whatever lol, just I know that the sellers were glaring at us, we better get out. These hats because skin, They were a fortune, something around of 2 a thousand euros!!!

As Saint Petersburg It is too far north, during the summer in addition to making a good heat, neither night falls, We find it too !! 2 am until 4 am, the sky is as if at dusk, that's a crazy thing, He left us very confused, It was the second time I witnessed this, I had seen this phenomenon in the city of Jönköping in Sweden (I tell more in another post), one day would like to see an aurora borealis, but think how cold it is!!

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Directions St. Petersburg

Airplane, this was our option, it was faster than the train and we had little time to explore the city, we only 2 nights there.
Train, before arriving in St. Petersburg we were in Moscow, We had bought the train ticket, only we saw that it would take too long to get (I turn to 5 hours) and as we had little time, cancel the train going;
Ship, from the Nordic countries;

Comer
The other day we had dinner at a restaurant that is on the same street of the Cathedral of the Spilled Blood, na rua Neberezhnaya Kanala Griboyedova, there are several bars and restaurants, They are very close church, this road is very long.

We only had two days in the city is not had time to do much gastronomic tour, beyond the Ship Ride, the other day ate at McDonald's that there written in Cyrillic alphabet, very funny.

In this town also did a boat trip with lunch included (pretty). We also made a walk through the city's canals and the Gulf of Finland, It is a different tour, but it is normal, if you have time do, but nothing must.

Where to stay We stayed in a small hotel and cuddly, but simple call Good Night, with breakfast included (I had no table for everyone, there had to eat in the reception room), the reception was 24 hours (one of the receptionists did not speak English, but she was very solicitous, then she used google translate to talk to us, It was pretty funny our communication). We had wi fi, good location, but I confess that when we thought we had wrong, because we had to ring the bell of the building that was horrible, super old, He had no lift and seemed entrance of a residential building and up an old mega staircase, poorly maintained and the hotel was in a small door on the second floor, the bad was up with the bags that were large, but still we recommend it highly, as well as being inexpensive to the high prices of hotels in Russia.

Things to Do in St. Petersburg and what are the main tourist attractions of St. Petersburg.

Hermitage city ​​postcard

Peter and Paul Fortress and Peter and Paul Cathedral, the fortress is among the Neva River and the Gulf of Finland, It is a very beautiful building, his best view is from across the river. (We do not enter it).

Kazan Cathedral of Our Lady, It is a huge cathedral and very pretty

Church of the Savior on Blood, much like the St. Basil Cathedral in Moscow. (not enter this), but beautiful on the outside.

Catedral de Santo Issac, the most beautiful city and still has a lookout at the summit, where you can see the whole city, It has a beautiful view, to enter the church have to pay, I do not remember exact amount but it was not expensive, another observation that is important to stress, in most churches of Russia can not come in shorts or short clothes.

Winter Palace Square

Catherine Palace

Walk Neva River, are the city's canals, during the boat ride we passed in front of several monuments.

Bronze Horseman

Alexander Nevsky Lavra
Moika Palace
Marble Palace
Mosque of St. Petersburg, that even in Russia there is mosque, It was one of the largest mosques in

Catedral Smolny