Peter and Paul Fortress (Petropavlovskaya Krepost) St. Petersburg

A blustery start to the day as we walked across the bridge to the St Peter and Paul fortress, built in 1703 onwards by Peter the Great. The views across the river to the Palace embankment were spectacular. We were lucky enough to catch the end of what appeared to be a passing out parade by naval cadets. They looked extremely smart in their blue and …

My daughter's birthday. Happy, happy thoughts but we are going to need them because neither of us slept worth a log. It was too hot most of the night so both of us were on the outside of any covers and sleeping on top of the duvets. My daughter heard the noise more than me but both of us only dozed off and on all night. Sometimes she wanted to poke …

17th July

We arrived at St. Petersburg at 5:20am which is half an hour earlier than scheduled. To make things worse, we have lost an hour from crossing one time zone; Not surprised at all, we were all exhausted when we got off the coach. Vincent (The Canadian we met on the coach) departed to look for a phone to call his friend to pick him …

We are nearly 2 weeks in now although it seems like we have already been travelling for much longer. Lessons are being learnt everyday and it's a challenge that's for sure, on many levels. The good thing is that we are still talking to each other (Russell has been at the sharp end of my tired tantrums and been amazing) and know we need to rely on …

The Peter and Paul Fortress or Ptropavlovskaya Krepost is a massive fort that sits in the Neva River and it marks the finding of the city of St. Petersburg in 1703, a mere 310 years ago. In 1703 Peter the Great decided to build the fortress to protect the capital city from any attack from the Swedish Army or Navy. It was built with wood and earth …

Places to see:

Peter and Paul fortress:

Peter the Great had lived in Europe for a
while to learn how they became modern and strong, and he brought back those
idea's to modernize Russia. He had worked in shipyard and decided that Russia
also needed a navy, and so he began building a new city and navy, which is now
…

It sure is cold here...but it's also very nice. And grand. Pity our bags are still in London (thanks to our first flight being delayed we made it to St Petersburg but our bags didn't!) but thankfully our kind tour mates have lent us stuff. My 20denier tights aren't quite cut out for -12degrees …

So, they let us in!!! Who would have thought hey two little innocent Aussies who couldn't even get the visa right.

So here we are in what is now (or commonly known as) St Petersburg.

All went well at arrival, the passport control had a great big smile on her face to welcome us and then boom, we are through. We had a nice …

We start out this morning with more panoramic driving through this vast and gorgeous city. We gradually make our way to the Peter and Paul Fortress, which is the spot where St. Petersburg was founded to protect the country's water access to the Baltic Sea. Here we visit the church where the remains of many of the rulers of the country are entombed …

... exhibit jars!!!! (nice thought nextime your having a quick Smirnoff down the local). After lunch we took a stroll around the Peter and Paul fortress on the banks of the frozen river Neva. This is a massive fortress with 20 metre thick walls which ...

... to protect the area from being taken back by Sweden. The citadel built on the site was called the Peter and Paul Fortress after the apostles. Saint Petersburg has a checkered history of invasions, this is why it was decided not to make St Petersburg the ...

... of our Savior on spilled blood The Hermitage Eternal flame symbolising the siege of Leningrad Winter Gardens May park The Peter and Paul fortress Peter and Paul cathedral Nevsy Prospekt All the frozen rivers, (found a man ice fishing on one) St Isaac's ...

... two girls, Helena and Natalie from Moscow, and we walk around before seeing a concert staged on the neighboring island at the Peter and Paul Fortress.  Talk about a cool venue for a concert... under the light sky of the midnight sun!  Next ...

... magnificent city. The Winter Palace, The Hermitage (actually one and the same which confused us), Admiralty House, Church of St Catherine, Peter and Paul Fortress, Nevsky Prospekt and much much more. We tried to take as much in as we could but feel we ...

... Metro we headed across town to the Eurolines ticket office. With our tickets in hand we then got the Metro to the Peter and Paul Fortress. Inside the fortress we saw the Museum of Astronautics and Rocket Technology including a model of the first ...

... was used to broadcast Lenin's address "To the citizens of Russia" proclaiming the victory of the proletarian revolution. - Peter and Paul Fortress. - The Field of Mars with it's eternal flame. - Russian Museum (inside the Mikhailovsky Palace). ...

... 25p) to go anywhere! Compare that to London!!! I've seen some pretty cool places, like the Winter Palace and Hermitage museum, Peter and Paul Fortress, several different gardens, and now I'm pretty much all done with sight-seeing here! I've walked for ...

... . I wasn't disappointed! The rest of my time in St P involved exploring the canals, taking random subway trips, viewing Peter and Pauls fortress, admiring the architecture and always on the look out for the weird and wonderful. The wonderful being a ...

... about the Russian Revolution. Facing the Hermitage on the other side of the Neva River the Russian Tsars were buried inside the Peter and Paul Fortress, whose golden spire rose straight into the sky like a compass needle. After being ...