May 30 St. Petersbug Day 2

I finally discovered where all the tour buses have benn; right here in St. Petersburg. There is a multitude, it's like mating season for tour buses.

I did a lot of walking, seven hours on my feet, and I felt it last night.

I started off by visiting two churches. But they are unique. The first one was the Church of the Saviour on the Blood. This is the Russian Orthodox structure that's on all the brochures about St. Petersburg. It is a multicoloured, over the top, sight, with onion domes. The interesting thing is that's it Steve's no religious function. It was built on the spot where Alexander II was assassinated, and even though the inside has many religious figures, and an altar, it is not used as a church. The inside is also spectacular. There are numerous mosaics of saints, all large, all made up of tiny tiles. Spectacular. The only thing more numerous than the mosaics are the tourists. EVERY tour group HAS to see this church. At any one time there are, at least a dozen tour groups inside. I saw Japanes, German, Russian, and English groups.

The other church I visited was Kazan Cathedral. It is the largest Russion Orthodox Church in the city, but it doesn't look like a church. When I first saw it I thought it was a museum, there are no church towers, no onion domes. It was built to commemorate the Russian victory over Napoleon, in the War of 1812. Now this was a real war, no Laura Secord, but real armies, and typically brutal. 

The church, inside, has no pews, like all Russian Ortodox churches, just huge marble columns. It looks like a military palace. There were no tourist groups, but quite a few locals, worshipping at the side altars.

After a coffee break I visited the State Russian Museum. It is site of the largest collection of strictly Russian art. It starts with some beautiful old icons, and then has famous Russian paintings. Famous in Russia, because I didn't recognize any of the artists. There were some individual pieces that were excellent, but it was mostly unimpressive, to me anyway, but I am no art expert. There were some modern art pices, but I still don't get a black square on a white background as art.

 My favourite part, aside from the icons, was the folk art section. Some beautiful lace work, wood carvings, enamel pieces.

The other things I liked were the museum itself, a beautiful palace, and also the fact that you were allowed to take "no flash" photos.

Another aspect of St. Petersburg that I enjoy, are the number of parks, very large, very beautiful, very clean. And there are a lot.

I did encounter an interesting Russian. He was sitting on the sidewalk, with a sign, in English, "Need money for beer and vodka". I wonder if honesty pays?

Time to rest my weary bones,

Ralf