Days 28-29, July 8 & 9 a Saint Petersburg, Russia

Tonight, July 9, marks the end of our Silk Road Trip.

July 8 - We arrived in Saint Petersburg yesterday morning at 9:00 am. The train from Moscow was a private British Railcar, and the best one yet. The air conditioning actually worked, there was toilet paper in the bathroom, the windows were clean so we could see out and enjoy the scenery, and breakfast was served up and sent to our compartment at 8:00, three fried eggs withs chive and bacon bits, bread roll and coffee.

As soon as we arrived, we were met by our driver and local guide Elana. Our morning was filled with churches, monasteries, and forts, all beautifully restored.




 Our hotel is near the university and is old, but quaint. We checked in at 2:00 in the afternoon, cleaned up, and were back out by 5:00 pm for a canal ride, dinner, and climb to the top of Saint Issac's Cathedral colonnade to watch the sunset...at 11:00 pm.

 No wonder I'm so tired, we are staying up way too late! by the time we got back to our hotel at 11:30, it was dusk but not dark.

July 9 - Our local guide and driver picked us up at 10 am and we went directly to the Winter Palace of Catherine and Peter the Great, known now as,the Hermitage. Wow! unbridled splendor and wonderful art collections of master painters. These buildings are kept in beautiful condition. We spent the morning and early afternoon at the Hermitage, and saw only a fraction of the collections. It is said that it would take a person nine years to see everything if they were to spend 1 minute learning about each exhibit. Magnificent.

On our way back to the hotel

Russ and I returned to the hotel around three, took a rest break, and went for another long stroll and farewell dinner which included borscht and stroganoff. Yum.

Our traveling companions will begin to leave Russia through the weekend. We will be the last to leave on Sunday. We have planned some post trip excursions with our buddies including a trip to Catherine's summer palace and gardens, Peterhof, and ballet on Friday night.

All is well with the Worrall Travel R's....From Russia with Love