Friday, August 26, 2005
Today's Trip Pic
And at last we arrive it the crowned jewel of our travels -- St. Petersburg, Russia. There is so much I could and likely will say about this place that I will probably post about it, move on and come back.... I'm not quite sure how to describe StP. It is light, airy, beautiful all HUGE, and all with a Russian accent. 
This is Palace Square -- there on your left is the Winter Palace of the Romanovs, now part of the "State Hermitage Museum." My wife, a connoisseur of palaces and accompanying squares, was overwhelmed by the size of it. And yet, with all that size it contains a sense of delicacy that is hard to imagine. It is cliche', but the place makes the line "It's good to be the Tsar" fall out of your mouth.
StP is, by Russian standards, and enormously European city. When I was there in '91, it was the last city I visited and entering was like having a weight lifted from your shoulders after Moscow and Kiev. And yet, things like this reveal it as defintiely Russian. This spire is from a church dedicated to sailors, a mere bauble by StP's measure, but a stunningly beautiful building nonetheless.
