Today we did a tour of the city, we’d already been to a lot of the places but it was great to get more information on the numerous palaces and history of the city. Because the weather is so dreary in the winter, Peter the Great ruled that all houses must be coloured, ie pastel yellow, blue, green, cream to brighten the place a bit more. Because of this, the city looks stunning and very colourful. The bridges over the numerous canals were cool, many had statues of horses, soldiers, and lions. However the water in the canal left a bit to be desired, it couldn’t get any browner! We visited St Micheals Orthodox Church, where there was some beautiful acapella singing ( orthodox churches don’t use musical instruments as believe the greatest instrument given by God is the human voice) while mass was taking place. I had to wrap our tour leaders scarf around my waist as my short shorts wouldn’t get me in! I tried on a fox fur to further my Russian experience, then went and had a yummy lunch of pirogi which are pies filled with anything – we had a salmon one, pork, cherry and apple, it was so yummy!
A big bonus about joining a tour is the flash hotels and buffet breakfasts, endless fruit and cereal and salad, bath mats and our own room – luxury!
The following day we visited the famous Hermitage! It comprises of four palaces, but initially started with the Winter Palace for Empress Catherine the Great private art collection. She built another palace next to it for her growing collection and it has now developed into the State Hermitage Museum. I’m not sure where to with start with describing it, as there were so many different things to look at. The rooms were amazing, each had their own creative frescos and paintings on the ceilings. The Golden Room was literally covered in real gold, from the pillars to the walls – looked a bit garish but I’m sure it was modern and beautiful for the important balls and social occasions back in the day. The chandeliers around the palace were beautiful, made of crystal and looked so elegant in the large decorative rooms. The brass chandeliers definitely didn’t look as nice. My favourite room was Empress Catherine’s private terrace room with glass from floor to ceiling along parallel walls, that looked to either a garden or across the River Neva. The other walls were bright, amazing chandeliers and the overall simplicity compared to the other palace rooms made it very attractive. This was where she brought her lovers and the area where she had her bed is sealed off as it sat upon a huge floor mosaic she had custom made. Also in the room as a large golden clock given to her by one of her lovers, which looked like a forest scene with an owl, rooster, and peacock. When the hour came, the huge peacock on the top would lift its head, open its feathers and turn around to a reveal shiny silver tail. It was pretty cool, and I imagine was state of the art back in the day, but I told Scotty not worry as it’s just not our thing! We also saw rooms of fine art, including Monet and Picasso.

That evening we were packed and ready for our first overnight train! I was kind of nervous, probably because we’d heard stories of it being so hot, crowded, possibly no air conditioning and sometimes the windows are nailed shut! But we caught our train just fine at 0020hours, in a new train with air conditioning -bonus! There were nine berths on the carriage and each had two bunks (sleeps 4 people), two toilets either end (vacuum flush but still straight onto the tracks) and electric hot water boiler also. The cabins were small and cosy, just enough room to stand and get dressed, there is also a small table that folds out between the two lower bunks. I’d say the distance between the bunks is 80cm, not much for a full cabin! We were lucky we shared our cabin with our tour leader who is an outgoing kiwi girl about our age. We had a good sleep of 6 hours before being woken for breakfast of three fried eggs, some sort of meat, and of course a generous garnishing of dill – everything in Russia is served with dill! We arrived in Moscow at 9am, ready for a full day ahead!