Category Archives: Travel

We got I Love Travel St. Petersburg 🙂  Dennis our driver and Marina our tour guide.  We love because she is very efficient!  She really knows how to get through without delay.  She knows how to be the first in line, where to pass so we are not caught with the crowd, she knows what to say so we don’t have to listen to too much details 🙂  She’s just great!

It’s always better to be in a group so you can share the expenses of a private tour so you have your own tour guide and bus instead of joining such a big group.  And you can go at your own pace

I liked this tour guide because we had our own headsets.  We could hear everything our tour guide was saying even if we were certain meters away from her.  You don’t miss anything that she is saying unlike other tour groups where you have to be very close to hear what she is saying.  All tour groups should have this!

First stop was St. Isaac’s Cathedral

At any point in St. Petersburg, you can see the gilded dome of St. Isaac’s cathedral!

Since this was our first stop, we were the first to enter the cathedral!  🙂  

Rastrelli, the designer of the cathedral.  He worked almost his lifetime – around 40 years – to finish the church

Evolution of the cathedral

 Really beautiful interiors!!!  Gold, marble, stained glass, icons,  and all kinds of semi precious stones in pillars

Dove in the center of the dome

Beautiful stained glass and lapiz lazuli columns! 

From afar you think these are painting but no, they are mosaic!

Look closer!  I wish I could have a work of art like this!  Beautiful 🙂

Another one- there are several inside

Malachite columns

You have to wear a hat to enter the chapel inside so the ladies got the men’s hats! 🙂

Dad lighting a candle praying for more grandchildren! haha

Click below to go to their website for more information

Click below to go to the website of I Love Travel St. Petersburg

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When we arrived in St. Petersburg, we had such good weather!  It was sunny and it was not too cold.  Apparently Putin had fired a missile upward to open up the clouds for good weather for the G20 Summit which was held on September 5 and 6 and we arrived the day after it was finished!  Who says we can’t control the weather!?!   

We probably came at a good time because the city was in tip top shape 🙂  We drove to Peterhof and quickly passed by the houses where the delegates of the G20 stayed!  

Each delegate had a whole house built for them!

Putin made sure the city was orderly that even buildings that were under construction had nice covers to cover the facade

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