Having hit the hay at 3 am (like most Russians), we had a massive sleep in (had to wake up before free breakfast finished at 12.30pm though!). the rest of the day we took it nice and easy to finish up some of the sights before we joined our sundowners group the following day.
St Issacs cathedral was pretty amazing to go up, great views of the city with its myriad of palaces and canals. Despite popular belief we felt Russia’s don’t due queues well, pushing and shoving their way around a confined space :). The inside if the cathedral was also spectacular; huge gold altars and details mosaics. It was nice that some of the restored ones were at ground level, so you could appreciate the colour and detail.
This weekend was high school graduation, thus thousands of students in their ‘finals’ outfits (very similar to military cadet outfits) were parading around town. It’s very fashionable to hire a stretch hummer limo, drive around town getting very drunk (again in uniform) and take photos at the various landmarks around town. It was hilarious to watch as the girls in high heels managed on the cobble stone foot paths with their tipsy dates.

That night was a massive concert in the square in front of the Hermitage for the students put on by the government. By 7pm the centre square of town was closed off by thousands of riot police, who had set up road blocks with armoured cars some blocks away; slowly checking people through security. We grabbed a coffee and cake; and simply people watched for the next hour as thousands streamed into town.
The next day we headed off to the ‘Peter and Paul fortress’, built by Peter the Great and from which the city derives its name. We jumped on the metro which was an efficient system and seems very very deep underground. The escalator going down a good 100m – the longest I’ve ever been on. The fortress is situated on an island in the middle of the Neva river, however has never seen conflict in any war that Russia has been involved in. It is more famous for housing political prisoners during the multitude of revolutions which Russia has had. It’s chapel was beautiful though; the burial place of many Tsars. The surrounding canals were coated in sunbathers, all in very revealing attire ( mostly bra’s and undies) making use of the warmth. Despite the water being unbelievably polluted, it still attracted many stoutly Russian men who decided that laps were a good idea.
Having had a massive four days, we headed back to our new hotel, to join our group for the next 3 weeks. Adventure on the Trans-siberian awaits.
St Petersburg has been great, a fantastically easy place to discover on your own. The church’s and museums are amazing and the architecture stunning. A top choice for anyone’s bucket list.