St Petersburg: Tuesday, October 2, 2018:

Breakfast was quite busy. So I opted for meat and cheese together with coffee and orange juice.

We visited St Isaac’s Cathedral, the nearby Nicholas I monument and the columns – which were former lighthouses overlooking the Neva River – a souvenir shop (Trezini) which was near to the Sphinxes.

The Peter and Paul Fortresses and the Peter and Paul Cathedral are described as the tallest buildings in St Petersburg. There was the Tzar’s place, which was where he stood during services, and there were a number of graves including Peter the Great and Catherine I.

We also visited the Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood (Russian: Церковь Спаса на Крови). It is both a church and a museum and was built between 1883 and 1907 and is one of Saint Petersburg’s major attractions.

It was built on the site where political nihilists assassinated Emperor Alexander II in March 1881. It was funded by the Romanovs and the on the Spilled Blood bit of the name refers to his assassination.

When I got back to the hotel I managed to catch up on sleep and grabbed a quick shower.

I paid for two extra trips – a waterways cruise and a Russian folk show which will feature Cossack dancing – which are both on Thursday which had been planned as a free day.

I met Kenny and Linda from the group at 7.30pm for a meal at the Irish pub, Old Friends, which was a burger in a black bun (apparently traditional Russian bread). And we were later joined by Gerry and Breda.