The 9th June was a washout because it rained all day. The next day we went to see St Issacs Cathedral, which was closed during the Soviet era and turned into a museum. It is still primarily a museum although a side chapel is used for services and Jennifer had to put on a paper headscarf to go in. We then went through a small park to see the “Bronze Horseman”, a huge statue erected by Catherine the great in memory of Peter the Great. Finally we went on a boat ride from a jetty near Palace Bridge up the River Neva, under the Palace Bridge and then up the Fontanka Canal before turning round and returning past the Aurora cruiser, from which a gunshot marked the storming of the Winter Palace and start of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.
Saint Isaacs
Model of the cathedral
A painting on display in the cathedral. Called “Two Worlds”, showing children playing and the cathedral during the siege.
Malachite and porphiry columns in the cathedral.
The side chapel used for religious services
The Bronze Horseman
The Cathedral from the Neva Embankment
St Petersburg University on Vasilievskii Island
Petropavlovsk Fortress
A sailing ship on the Neva
A bridge over the Fontanka with the Summer Gardens in the background
The cruiser “Aurora”
Front of the Aurora showing the gun from which the shot was fired
The Rostral towers on Vassilievskii Island
The Stock Exchange
Meal at the Abrokosov restaurant. I had Russian salad and Jennifer had pelmeny (dumplings).