Day 184-186, 26-28th November, Novgorod, St Petersburg

On the 26th, we drove over 300 miles to Novgorod and, after getting lost because it was dark and I failed to notice that we had crossed the river, finally found the Intourist hotel. Too late for a meal but they made some delicious soup. The next day we visited Novgorod Kremlin which was covered in beautiful frescoes and then drove to St Petersburg, finding the hotel without too much difficulty. It was actually an apartment with no-one there but, eventually, a girl came running up the five flights of stairs and told us the room wasn’t ready. With admirable efficiency she put clean beddingdown and our little room, costing £6 a night each, was perfect. Clean, comfortable, warm, excellent shower, kettle, microwave. It was in the centre of the city and it was rather sad to think that people probably froze/starved to death in that room during the 1941-1944 siege in which 1.6 million people died. We found a fantastic little Georgian/Azerbaijani restaurant near the hotel and had a delicious meal of Shashlyk and Khachapuri,
The next day we walked the 2 miles to the Hermitage and spent all day there. The pics speak for themselves. We also crossed Palace Square to the General Staff building to see a huge number of pics by Impressionists and post-Impressionists; Picasso, van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Cezanne, Gaugan, Lautrec, Seurat, Kandinsky etc.

Birch trees on way to Novgorod
Novgorod Kremlin, monument for 1,000th anniversary of founding of russia in 842
Cathedral in Kremlin
Wooden church
Tomb of founder of Novgorod
Inside the cathedral
Cathedral
Novgorod bell
Lake Ilmen from the Kremlin
Kremlin walls
The Hermitage
River Neva from Hermitage
Palace Square
Hermitage staircase
Throne room
Banquetting hall
Reception room
Part of reception room
Poster exhibit
Photoes of the siege. Taking a corpse to the cemetery
The Malachite Room
Painting by Vermeer
Golden bird
Frescoes from Turpan (China) from 8th century
Fresco
Buddha from Turpan, 6th century
Tibetan tapestry
Tibetan scripts, 6th century
Victory Arch in Palace Square

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