St Petersburg - Day 2

We'd set our alarm clocks early and were down for breakfast just after 0700.  Luckily breakfast was served just one flight of stairs down from us as the lift is tiny, not much more than 1m².  Champagne was on offer again but a little too early for us, the breakfast was adequate with a selection of hot and cold but sadly for Ian there was no marmalade or jam for his croissants.

I'm often teased by Ian for my kleptomania when toiletries etc are on offer (although I have curbed this in recent years due to the vast collection sitting in my wardrobe) but he was more than pleased when I told him I'd pocketed my unused jam from the plane's breakfast tray.

Today was the only day we could visit the Hermitage Museum (closed Mondays and the other days we didn't have enough time - min 3-4 hours needed to see just the main highlights).  As it didn't open until 1030 we decided to take a tour of the metro stations.  Although apparently they aren't either as old or as ornate as the Moscow ones, there are a few particular ones that are worth seeing.

Luckily the weather was bright and sunny, although quite cold and it was nice to be out while the streets where still quiet.

And walk past some of StP's most iconic sites, which we plan to visit another day.

Church on the Spilled Blood aka Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ.

Kazan Cathedral

There are many hazards on the streets of StP, uneven pavements, steps to fall down, signs to walk into and there were a lot of these around, presumably once containing glass, the empty frames are very easy just to walk into.

Also fascinating are the huge drainpipes - at the bottom of the pipe is a concrete "plate" presumably to protect the surface underneath from erosion but which just serves to shoot the water out on unsuspecting passersby.

You do question the efficacy of some though!