After a day of exploring Peterhof and the Catherine Palace at Pushkin, I’m ready to delve into St. Petersburg proper. After dropping the rest of the tour group back at the port, mum and I are taken to the metro at Primorskaya where we are handed over to another guide for the evening. We jump on the metro and emerge at Gostinyy Dvor and out onto Nevsky Prospect and now, finally, we’re really here.
We wander along Nevsky Prospect for a little taking it all in. Nevsky Prospect! It sounds so foreign, so exotic! Nevsky Prospect is St. Petersburg’s famous main road, running right through the centre of the city and in many ways it is the centre of St. Petersburg. This grand avenue, designed by Peter the Great as the heart of his new city, dissects the Tsentralny District through to the Neva River.
It’s still reasonably early but the shadows are long and the light has a fierceness about it in this clear, cool air of the evening. Our guide points out a long shopping centre, the Gostiny Dvor Mall, amongst the evening bustle. It’s one of the historic buildings in the area, an early 19th century department store. Even the historic Russian phrase ‘Gostiny Dvor’ translates to ‘indoor market’ although the term more literally means ‘guest court’ or ‘merchant yard’. Along the grand facade are all manner of luxury shops. Best not to wander too close.
On the other side of the street we come across another grand facade. This Emporium offers indulgent delights of the mouthwatering kind. The chocolates are handmade and the tiny, delicate fruit shaped marzipans catch my eye. The look too good to eat!
Back outside and we reach Anichkov Bridge. This bridge spans the Fontanka River with four horse sculptures and is one of the oldest bridges in the area. One of its iterations was a stone draw bridge. We take a closer look and admire the view from here before doubling back along Nevsky Prospect. We take in the Anichkov Palace before coming across Ostrovsky Square with its monument to Catherine II sitting majestically in front of the Alexandrinsky Theatre (opened in 1832). We pause for some photos, despite the poor light.
Walking some more we enjoy the atmosphere of the streets, the beauty of the architecture and the crisp evening air. We’re ready for a little rest and suggest a coffee and as a result we’re led off the Prospect to a cafe on a side street with a mouthwatering selection of pastries that are impossible to resist.
Mum and I settle on a raspberry danish to share and invite our host to choose something also. When our order comes it seems that there has been something lost in translation and we have a giant pastry each. There are no complaints. I’m in raspberry heaven.
After our refreshments we head back to the metro to travel a couple of stops and emerge again at Vasileostrovskaya metro, after which we walk about 20mins to the Rostral Columns. In hindsight if I’d had a map, I would have chosen to walk to here along Nevsky Prospect and over The Palace Bridge past the Winter Palace. Our guide is lovely but unlike Maria, our incredibly knowledgeable guide from today, she is young and inexperienced and her English is halting. She doesn’t really understand our questions and perhaps her recommendations aren’t well considered.
Still, we find ourselves emerging onto the River Neva at the Spit of Vasileostrovsky Island. Here stands the Rostral Columns and the grand Old Stock Exchange building.
The Neva River runs from Lake Lagoda through western Russia and the heart of St. Petersburg, out into the Finnish Gulf. I try to imagine it frozen and covered in snow in the winter time with people walking around swathed in fur. I can almost picture it in this brisk wind with the shining Winter Palace across the rough, wind whipped water.
By now it’s after 8pm. We’ve been walking since 9am and besides this, our extra tour time is up and our day has come to an end. Our tour guide, by virtue of the rules of our visa, is obliged to return us to St. Petersburg’s port so she orders us a taxi and half an hour later we say our ‘goodbyes’ and ‘thank yous’ (blagodaryu vas) and exit through customs back to the ship.
Back on board we head to the restaurant and enjoy a glass or two of Californian Zinfandel as we reflect on the delights of the day and what tomorrow might bring with our view of Vasilevsky Island out the window.
Good To Know
All visitors to Russia require a visa to visit, however, cruise passengers can get special visas for up to 72 hours. The benefit of these special class visas is that when you book a tour, the tour operator arranges it for you. Documents are provided to the tour operator and the visa fee is often included in the tour price (check the fine print).
Would I Return?
Yes. St. Petersburg is a fascinating city full of history and culture. However, if there is something that you really want to see or do outside of your main tour, be very specific when you request the ‘extra’ or ‘optional’ time.
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