Moscow & St Peterburg : May 1-9 2014

I really need to get back to my blog and write these before they are lost in that complicated confused brain of mine..

Another country, or should be more aptly,,,,citites .. from my bucket list -

Mosow ..ya land of KGBs and cold wars and espionages.. 

Flew Etihad on their red eye flight , transit at Abu Dhabi 2 hours and we landed at Moscow in the early afternoon..

Our guide...was there to meet us ..

First stop - not the loo...

Gas station...

wanna show their fuel prices (as opposed to ours) but cannot find the photos.. too bad

Our first day - where we went 

Christ the Savior Catheral in Moscow
Fully rebuilt in 2000



Part of Red Square

Our 2nd day
and we walked something like over 20,000 steps all over

Mr Putin's work place (??)

Young Handsome Moscow Guard



Most expensive hotel in Moscow

University of Moscow

Then we went on their fast - train to St Petersburg--

and saw these the following days

Hermitage from Neka River

Add caption

The Spinx is  a gift from Egypt to Moscow

 The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood (Russian: Церковь Спаса на Крови, Tserkovʹ Spasa na Krovi) is one of the main sights of St. Petersburg, Russia. It is also variously called the Church on Spilt Blood (Russian: Церковь на Крови, Tserkov’ na Krovi) and the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ (Russian: Собор Воскресения Христова, Sobor Voskreseniya Khristova), its official name.

St Petersburg
Church of Our Christ on Spilled Blood
where Emperor Alex II was assasinated

The exact spot where Alex II was murdered in 1881

The Peterhof Palace (Russian: Петерго́ф, IPA: [pʲɪtʲɪrˈɡof],^[1] Dutch for Peter's Court)^[2] is a series of palaces and gardens located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, laid out on the orders of Peter the Great. These Palaces and gardens are sometimes referred as the "Russian Versailles". The palace-ensemble along with the city centre is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Perhaps the greatest technological achievement of Peterhof is that all of the fountains operate without the use of pumps. Water is supplied from natural springs and collects in reservoirs in the Upper Gardens. The elevation difference creates the pressure that drives most of the fountains of the Lower Gardens, including the Grand Cascade. The Samson Fountain is supplied by a special aqueduct, over four km in length, drawing water and pressure from a high-elevation source.

Notice that little while house ,,,this is where the Queen has 'sistas' to help her  'test' her lovers' skills and ehemmm.. endurance 


Hermitage ...as with guided tours, you only see what the guide wants you to see and for how long. no time to wander around gawking at the exorbitant exhibit...like Elizabeth and her flurry of skirts and chariots and what ever a woman of that decade thinks is stylo and fancies..well she is the Queen and she is really entitled to her pomps 

Below a little info on Hermitage,,,I think I can wander around for a week and still be thirsty for more history..


from wikipedia :
St. Petersburg's most popular visitor attraction, and one of the world's largest and most prestigious museums, the Hermitage is a must-see for all first-time travellers to the city. With over 3 million items in its collection, it also definitely rewards repeat visits, and new-comers can only hope to get a brief taste of the riches on offer here, from Impressionist masterpieces to fascinating Oriental treasures. One estimate has it that you would need eleven years to view each exhibit on display for just one minute, so many visitors prefer to organize a guided tour to ensure they have time to catch all the collection's highlights. Art aficionados, however, may find it more rewarding to seek out for themselves the works that they are particularly interested in.

Crouching Boy - a work by renowned Michelangelo

a truly big vase

The Alexander Palace (Russian: Александровский дворец) is a former imperial residence at Tsarskoye Selo, on a plateau around 30 minutes by train from St Petersburg. It is known as the favourite residence of the last Russian Emperor, Nicholas II, and his family and their initial place of imprisonment after the revolution that overthrew the Romanov dynasty in early 1917. The Alexander Palace is situated in the Alexander Park, not far from the larger Catherine Palace

Potraits of the last Tsar Nikolai II & his wife, Alexnadra , where they spent their final years
and also his happiest years 

I think I saw these thru the shoulders of other visitors 

Russian regalia used prior to the Great Imperial Crown. The crown is styled after the Monomakh Cap, and was made for Tsar Michael Fyodorovich by Kremlin masters in 1627. The orb and sceptre are of Western-European origin and may have been given toTsar Boris Godunov in 1604.


This shall be it, till i edit it as and when i fancy..