Standing along the Neva River and the wall of the Peter and Paul Fortress, we could see St. Isaac Cathedral, the Hermitage, and even the top of the Church-of-the-Spilled-Blood (to the left of the old sailing ship). But wait, I am getting ahead of myself, so let's start over.

On the third morning we stopped first at a farmers market. Fruits and vegetables outside, meats and deli inside. Other than the pig head and three bowls of red caviar, we did not see anything out of the ordinary; it was certainly clean and neat looking.

I should have asked Irena what the price of the caviar translated to in US dollars. But after Sharon was finished with her discussions about flowers, we drove past the statue of Alexander Pushkin (the greatest Russian poet of the nineteenth century), past the Rostral columns (with fires on top as beacons for the navy ships in the harbor), and along the granite banks of the Neva River. We crossed a bridge, took a short walk and arrived at one of the gates. This was the fortress and cathedral of Saint Peter and Paul.

Inside the cathedral are the tombs of Peter the Great and many of his descendants. The plaques commemorate some; the solid red and purple granite stone is for Peter.

Outside is an unusual statue of Peter. Why the small head??? However, sitting on his oversized lap is a favorite thing for girls to do. Maybe that is what the sculptor had in mind.

Underneath the thick wall at the Neva Gate is a small printing shop and gallery with interesting souvenirs. After a look around, we passed through the main gate to the waterfront, when suddenly, in front of the Hermitage, a huge fountain erupted in the middle of the river. This was followed later by fire works and canon sounds. It was Sunday and the Russian navy fleet was the center of attraction.

However, our itinerary called for us to go to the Church-of-the-Spilled-Blood. This a very ornate church that was built between 1883 and 1907 in honor of Alexander II who, in 1881, was killed by a bomb detonated by terrorists. Hence the name of the church. In fact, the church was extended over part of the canal to the left in order to have the exact spot of the assassination inside the church. Later I will show the niche where it took place. But first a couple pictures of the outside.

We still had the afternoon to see part of the Hermitage. Beforehand we had told Alla that we wanted to concentrate on St Petersburg in general and not dwell too long in any one museum. Others may differ, but that is what independent travel is all about. We decided to visit the Hemitage on our last day because we wanted to visit the buildings, see some of the magnificent architecture and some well known art pieces; but we might come back some other time and see the treasures inside at our leisure. So, after Oleg dropped us off, we walked along the back side of the Hermitage and entered along the main square.

As soon as you enter the building you notice the long hallways to both sides. There were a lot of people here and we were glad that Irena suggested to start upstairs. To be sure, the individual art works are magnificent, but so is the architecture of the Hermitage itself. We enjoyed that. So let me show you a few of the features before we went to see paintings by Rembrandt, van Gogh, and others.

For example, how many people look up to see the giant vases and chandeliers or look down to see the exquisite parquet flooring? How many, indeed, would walk by this kneeling figure and realize it was carved by Michelangelo many years ago and is the only one in all of Russia? There is so much to see but not enough time today.

I told Irena one thing that I had to explain to her. I said, "My mind is super-saturated."
"Like adding too much sugar to a cup of milk and the milk becomes super-saturated. My mind cannot take any more right now."
We had to say goodbye to Irena and Oleg; goodbye and 'tot ziens' to St Petersburg. Thank you all. It was a wonderful and worthwhile trip and you are our dear friends. Tomorrow we'll be in another country, Estonia.