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The above photo is a panoramic shot of Peterhoff I did with my new digital camera.

This is Christina in our private train compartment as we took the overnight train from Moscow to St. Pete. The train left at midnight and arrived at 8:00 a.m.

This is a photograph of Christina in front of one of the rivers in St. Petersburg (Fontonka). What is most interesting about this is that it was taken after 11:00 p.m. at night! During this period, you would never know that it was night time. Construction crews are building buildings, cafes are still open, families stroll down the street -- all as if it was 3:00 p.m.

This is Our Lady of Kazan. Originally designed to look like St. Peters in Rome, it is showing a lot of wear. During the Soviet period, this was converted into the Museum of Atheism.

This is the Peter and Paul church inside of the Peter and Paul fortress. All Russian Tzars up until Peter the Great are buried in St. Michael's in the Kremlin. Peter the Great to Nicholas II are buried here.

Here is Peter the Great

Here is Nicholas II and his family. Since he abdicated his position as Tzar, and since his remains were thrown in a common grave, they couldn't officially burry him in the Church so they build a special room off to the side. Buried with him are his wife, kids, and some loyal servants who stayed with him until the end.

This is the Church of the Spilled Blood -- built on the spot where Alexander II was assassinated. Interestingly enough, Alexander II wanted a constitutional monarchy but his murder pushed the next Tzars to be extra harsh.

One of the conspirators in the plot to murder Alexander II was the brother of a college student who wasn't politically motivated one way or the other. When this person was caught and killed, the brother took it personally and became a significant political leader -- Vladimir Lenin.

There has been a 20 year restoration project with this church, and it just re-opened within the past few years. Every "painting" is actually mosaic. See below for some examples:

Christina and I went to see a folk dance performance and saw this sign in the theater.

It must be a Russian tradition to eat ice cream cones while waving sparklers during performances :-).

My favorite place in St. Petersburg was Peterhoff -- one of the many summer palaces used by the Tzars. This was designed to rival Versailles. Interestingly, all the fountains are naturally powered by channeling an underground river.

Here is a picture of Christina and me at Victory Square in front of the Hermitage. The Hermitage was the home of the Tzars and is now one of the worlds largest art museums. This square was where the revolution started in 1917.

Another view of Victory Square.

One of our favorite churches in St. Petersburg was St. Isaacs. The inside is both spectacular and sad. There is one portion of the church that is 'active' and the rest is just a museum. Right in the middle of the church was a vendor selling watches.

Below are some samples of architecture in St. Pete.

These buildings on Leninsky Boulevard look like they were built in 1945. They were actually built in the 1980s! There were many buildings of the exact same design, one after the other, lining this street.