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Tag: St. Petersburg

People Along the Way

People Along the Way

A lot of the joy of travel is the various people you meet. This guy serenaded us with his delightful bagpipe while we were in London. While we were in St. Petersburg on a tour from our ship we ate lunch in what used to be a ruler’s stable. Now it is a very lovely restaurant with marble floors and fancy bathrooms.   I can’t speak too highly of the food, however. This was their rendition of Beef Stroganoff. We…

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Russia Part II

Russia Part II

Our first tour began at 8:30 a.m. After an extended walking tour we passed a basement with a sign outside that read, “TOPLESS BAR”. Around the corner we could see the Church of the Spilled Blood with its lovely multi-colored onion domes several blocks ahead. This church was ordered to be constructed by Tsar Alexander III, on the spot Tsar Alexander II was assassinated on March 1, 1881. Unfortunately, the tallest spire is under renovation. As we approached a bridge…

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Trippin’ in Russia, Part I

Trippin’ in Russia, Part I

How does one spend two days in Russia? There was so much to see and so little time. I found it to be a land of great dichotomy. Everywhere you looked there were grand palaces built for the Tsar and his family members. One palace, the Hermitage, winter palace of the Tsar, originally contained 1,000 rooms (pictured above). Each room is the size of a large home with elaborate inlaid floors, Each room had 30-foot ceilings, priceless paintings on every wall,…

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