Pics from Russia

[Matata]

Just returned from St. Petersburg Russia with a short stay in Helsinki and a one day trip to Estonia. Didn''t take many pictures this time. The sheer grandeur of St. Petersburg can''t be captured in pictures. Every single Russian we met was friendly beyond belief. Estonia is a republic a short ferry ride across the Bay of Finland. Tallinn is its largest city and within it is preserved the medieval walled & turreted original town.

Church of the Spilled Blood where Emperor Alexander was slain in 1881.

 

[Matata]

another aspect of church

 

[Matata]

Summer garden of Peter the Great. His summer palace is quite a modest place.

 

[Matata]

St. Peter''s is called the Venice of the north. It''s built on several islands surrounded by rivers.

 

[Matata]

Neva River and view of the area where the Hermitage is located.

 

[Matata]

The Hermitage. Incomparable works of art within. And the architecture and majesty of the interior rivals the great works of art. Unbelievable. We didn''t pay the extra fee to take pics of the inside so ya''ll will have to do a Google

 

[Matata]

Walls & turrets surrounding the medieval town of Tallinn

 

[Matata]

Tallinn view

 

[Matata]

Church in Tallinn

 

[Skippy123]

Such beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing! Wow, what they call Venice North does sort of look like Venice.

 

[kcoursolle]

Incredible pictures, thanks so much for sharing!!

 

[akmiss]

Your pictures are fantastic. Everything looks so romantic.

 

[KimberlyH]

Matata, your pictures are always so gorgeous! Thank you for sharing. A friend just returned from a business trip to Finland and Estonia and she was stunned by the beauty of Finland and really enjoyed her time in Estonia, except the language barrier marred the experience a bit. I know this has nothing to do with your pictures, except that you mentioned it in one of your posts.

 

[diamondfan]

Wow, what amazing photos.

I saw an exhibit that traveled from the Hermitage and was all about the Czar Nicholas and his family and the Bolsheviks and the Russian Revolution and Rasputin. There were jewels and Faberge eggs, it was amazing. It will never likely leave Russia again.

St Petersburg was formerly Leningrad, right? It looks lovely, less dark and forbidding that I would image Moscow to be. Did you feel safe there? I know some Americans who went there in spring and had some issues so I am curious.

 

[LaraOnline]

Amazing! Thanks so much for posting.
My husband would very much like us to visit Russia... after looking at your photos, I''m interested!!!!
Coming from Australia''s north, I constantly refer back to the state of the weather whenever I think about venturing too far north...

crazy I know... my time in the UK was marred by my constant evaluation of how cold I was! However, I will promise to be brave next time!!
Thanks again for the pics, they are fabulous!

 

[Linda W]

Thank you for posting those beautiful pictures Mat!!! How lucky you were to visit there.


Linda

 

[Isabelle]

Matata, I was in St. Petersburg in June 1991. I was there the day the city voted to change its name back from Leningrad to St. Petersburg. There were people marching in the streets and Eurpean TV and American TV crews were everywhere. Boris Yeltsin marched a few feet away from where I stood. It was an incredible time to be in an incredible, beautiful city. The sun stayed out until 3:00 am every day. It''s one of the best memories of my life. Your pictures brought it all back to me.