Picture Gallery - images of trip - WESTERN RUSSIA
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WESTERN RUSSIA : Images from left to right:
ST PETERSBURG - We made it into St Petersburg and our hotel – Elizar Hotel, staffed by some lovely girls, especially helpful were Katrina and Natalie.
St Petersburg is full of many wonderful and spectacular buildings – none more impressive than the Blood Church; our group in front of the Blood Church; the boys in front of just one of the 80 odd statues in the Summer Gardens – they wish!!!
Just a small selection of the wonderful, decorative and amazing buildings that abound throughout St Petersburg, including St Issacs Church.
Russia is famous for its amber, Russian Dolls - Matryoshka - a set of brightly painted hollow wooden dolls of varying sizes, designed to nest inside one another, and Faberge Eggs (or copies like these).
You can also buy lots of fur hats and the like – Rod was particularly taken with this one; Helen especially loved the handmade Russian Dolls and brought one from this Russian women who was selling them outside the St Issacs Church; it was hot walking around so a cool drink was needed; local women enjoying one of the parks.
The famous Hermitage – we joined the long queue and then spent a few hours wandering around the hundreds of rooms (well some of them anyway) – it's hard to describe the pure grandure of this place, not to mention the fabulous art of the old masters. The girls stand on the GRAND staircase; Viv beside what is obviously a very famous painting (just can't remember who the artist is).
The famous Hermitage - Ron & Rod with the Roman God of Wine (typical); Gay in the malachite room (it had to be seen to be believed); just one of the many, many rooms of famous paintings, these were especially large and very detailed showing hunting and village scene; back outside in St Peter's Square, Rod tries vainly to take a picture of Kate ‘holding' the statue aloft.
From one grand and amazing palace to another – the Summer Palace, with its beautiful buildings and famous fountains – Gay in front of the fountains leading up to the Grand Palace; Kate, Rod, Helen & Neil, as well as Viv & Ron in the same spot.
While not as large a scale as The Hermitage, the Grand Palace was still elaborate and ornate inside, while outside gold domes caught the eye.
TO MOSCOW - Golden Ring route.
We drove from St Petersburg to Moscow around what is known as the Golden Ring; our camp in the only camp ground we've seen since entering Russia; the route takes in quite a few very traditional wooden houses and small villages; we stopped for a look around one of the bigger towns of Rostov – Veliky and visited its famous churches and Kremlin; the girls had to put on skirts and scarfs provided to enter one of the churches.
MOSCOW - On the outskirts of Moscow – we parked in the late afternoon, had some tea, and waited for the traffic to subside a little before battling our way into the centre of town – here the boys mull over the maps and try and find our way in; the view from our apartment – across a very busy construction zone (and very noisy); Rod, Kate, Viv & Ron got stuck in the small (very small) and very hot and stuffy lift on the way up to the apartment – 1 hour later, a couple of beers and a gin & tonic we had in our bags, and we were rescured by the Emergency Services.
The weather was very hot and humid in Moscow during our stay and this is the way the locals cool off in front of the Kremlin (it beats the Moscow River which you wouldn't put your big toe in!!); the underground Metro rail system is excellent, and some of the stations are adorned with the most amazing facades such as these. (The first one being mosaics, and the other stain glass.)
In the heart of town is the Kremliln and famous Red Square, as well as the Gum Building, which is now a very fancy shopping mall – the girls just had to have a look through – at least it was cool inside.
The view from one of the bridges is a good one of the Kremlin – you can see the extent of the complex from this vantage point; a closer look at the beautiful buildings inside the Kremlin red brick fortress walls; the famous Red Square; Lenin's tomb in the Red Square.
Gay, looking back to one of the 17 towers that make up the outer walls of the Kremllin; The bell tower of Ivan the Terrible within the grounds of the Kremlin; the cannons taken from Napoleon when he tried to invade Moscow in 1812; Ron standing beside the mammoth gun, the Tzar's Cannon, cast in 1586, in the grounds of the Kremlin.
The very impressive statue of Peter the Great which stands on the Moscow River; the beautiful Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, which was rebuilt in the 1990s for a mere $350 million.
The stunning and sensational building that is St Basil's Church; a small choir sings within one of the domes.
After a long and exhausting, and hot, day exploring and walking around Moscow, it gets a bit much, as Neil found out trying to work on his computer after a long day; Rod yet again on Skype keeping in touch with family and friends; Viv hard at work on the computer on the balcony (the only place she could get wireless internet access), checking emails, etc.
Ron about to restack his beer supply in the fridge – 2 only though allowed in the fridge at one time!!! He liked the Russian beer.
We were stopped at quite a few police road checkpoints – most of them just to check out our passports and vehicle insurance and while they were usually officious they didn't give us any trouble. These 2 policemen were especially friendly and were happy to have their photo taken with us. They were looking for some vodka, or whiskey, but a couple of small souvenirs made then smile. (They weren't the lest bit pushy about the vodka though.)
We missed the turn off to by-pass Samara but took another road and found an excellent waterpoint at a roadside well on the outskirts of the town. We filled up here with beautiful clear cold water. Wells like this are common.
We stopped for lunch beside the Volga River, near the very big town of Samara. It was Sunday and hot, so many of the locals were out swimming – and this sandy bay was very popular. Not that we were tempted – the water didn't look too clean.
Many of the buildings of the towns and most of the smaller villages are made of wooden houses – some painted, most not and looking like they are about to fall down. Most houses have a small plot of land behind them and they grow all sorts of vegetables for themselves – any extra is sold from a stool on the side of the road.
Kazakhstan Border Next.
