There's not much to report on it, built in the 1820s (as it is now) as a fortified shipyard. It was pretty though, and more notably, the statute The Bronze Horseman, of Peter the Great is in the surrounding gardens.
Maybe you've heard of it from Pushkin's poem of the same name? I've never read it, but it's kind of a big deal. The statute was commissioned by Catherine the Great as a symbol of "enlightened absolutism," ideals she shared with Peter. The rock that the is the base was brought from a village outside of St. Petersburg, that Peter stood on to survey the land for the city.Right across the way from the statue is St. Isaac's Cathedral. St. Isaac is a patron saint of Peter, who was born on his feast day. Wikipedia tells me the design of the dome of the Cathedral influenced the design of the Capital in DC! Also, I heard some tour guide say it is the fourth largest dome in Europe, but I can't find anywhere to confirm that...
Anyway, the inside was really beautiful - decorated with 14 different types of marble! My pictures don't really do it any justice, per usual, but here's one anyway.
I climbed the colonnade to take a gander at the city. In this picture you can see the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood on the left, and in the right, very, very tiny in the back is the Winter Palace, which I haven't been to yet, but is the highlight of Saint Petersburg.
Here's some less lovely skyline. I call this picture Empire State of Mind (those are oil rigs, if you can't tell).
Later, I walked around some and went to the bookstore again to get a pocket dictionary. Also (this is big, get ready), I bought Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Or should I say: Гарри Поттер И философский камен. That's right, Harry Potter in Russian.Now let's recap:
Age: 22
Number of blog spots about Russia: 7
Number of blog posts that have mentioned Harry Potter: 2
(don't worry, there's more to come)
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