21 June 2018, Thursday
I slept in till about 10am this morning, taking my time to wash up and get ready to start the day. After yesterday’s underwhelming breakfast, I bought my own half loaf of bread and a couple of bananas to supplement the jam and coffee provided by the hostel.
I had two items on my agenda today – to visit St. Isaac’s Cathedral and the FIFA Fan Fest. At about 11:40am, I headed out and slowly made my way over to St. Isaac’s Cathedral, located about 2.8km away. Instead of going by my usual way, I decided to try a different route today.
St. Petersburg is a city of rivers, waterways and 342 bridges, as Peter the Great wanted the city to be modelled after Venice and Amsterdam. From my hostel at Fontanka river, I crossed the elegant Panteleymonovsky Bridge and walked along the banks of the Mokya river. There were several beautiful gardens on both sides of the river – Summer Garden, the Field of Mars and Mikhailovsky Garden. It was nice to see these green spaces in the city.
It wasn’t long before I arrived at the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. As per my custom for the past two days, I just had to take photos of the onion-domed church because I couldn’t get enough of its beauty.
Along the Griboyedov channel embankment was a street market with rows and rows of stalls selling souvenirs. They carried items like scarves, caps, T-shirts and of course, the ever-popular Matryoshka dolls, i.e. Russian dolls, stacking dolls or sometimes also known as Babushka dolls (“Babushka” means “grandmother” or “old woman”). They are a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed on inside another. The dolls sold here were really exquisite but quite costly. I made a mental note to search for cheaper ones elsewhere because I really liked them.
I then walked over to the General Staff Building. It consists of two separate buildings joined together by a triumphal arch, a monument to Russia’s victory in the war of 1812 over Napoleon’s France. The Neoclassical building was built between 1820 and 1830 and it overlooks Palace Square, facing the Winter Palace.
The eastern wing used to house several ministries including the Ministry of Finance and Foreign Affairs, while the western wing served as the headquarters for the General Staff (military staff of the Russian Armed Forces). Today, the western wing serves as the headquarters of the Western Military District and the eastern wing forms part of the State Hermitage Museum.
Palace Square was a hive of activity. It was in the midst of being set up for a big event with a huge stage. There were many horse carriages in front of Winter Palace, hoping to catch some tourists looking for a novel experience. As always, there was a big crowd of people waiting to visit the State Hermitage Museum. I continued along to St. Isaac’s Cathedral, passing by the Admiralty Building on the way.
When I arrived St. Isaac’s Cathedral at 1:30pm, there was a long queue for tickets but it moved steadily and it was my turn 20 minutes later. I think it was exceptionally busy today because the museum was closed yesterday (it is closed every Wednesday), so everyone turned up today. The colonnade is open daily. Entry to the museum costs 250 RUB (S$5.81) while entry to the colonnade costs 150 RUB (S$3.50). I decided to visit the colonnade first.
While the main dome of the cathedral rises 101.5m, the colonnade is located 43m above the ground and you’ll need to climb 262 steps to access it. It is a spiral staircase so take your time to climb, or you may end up dizzy. At the end of the spiral staircase, you’ll be in the open and there is another a short flight of steps before you reach the colonnade. By the way, it is called a colonnade because on this level, there are 24 Corinthian columns supporting the rotunda of the uppermost dome.
As the walkway around the colonnade is circular, you truly get a spectacular 360-degree view of the entire St. Petersburg. I could see landmarks like the parliament building, the golden spire of the Admiralty building, the Neva river and the cranes at the port of St. Petersburg. Pity it was a cloudy day.
Most of the buildings in the city are low and of uniform height because up till the 1960s, buildings could not be taller than 23m, the height of the Winter Palace. The exceptions were mostly for religious buildings like St. Isaac’s Cathedral, Kazan Cathedral and the Peter and Paul Cathedral, which is the highest point in central St. Petersburg at 122.5m tall. In 1962, the Saint Petersburg TV Tower was completed and it stands at 326m tall, but it is located far away from the central core of the city.
In the distance, north of the Neva river, I could see a modern skyscraper that soared above everything else. It is Lakhta Center, headquarters of Gazprom, the largest publicly-listed natural gas company in the world and the largest company in Russia by revenue. At the time of my visit, the building was in the finishing stages of construction and it was eventually completed in 2019.
There was quite a lot of controversy towards the building because residents took pride in St. Petersburg being a horizontal city, not a vertical one. They were opposed to the 462m-tall building destroying the silhouette of the city, both from an architectural and cultural point of view. Despite all the objections, the building still went ahead and Lakhta Center is now the tallest building in Russia and 16th tallest in the world.
I spent about 20 minutes at the Colonnade before making my way down via another spiral staircase to the ground floor. If I was wowed by my visit to Kazan Cathedral yesterday, it was nothing compared to what I was about to see at St. Isaac’s Cathedral. It was even more beautiful beyond words.
It seemed that every inch of the interior was covered with frescoes, gilded statues or decorative elements. In particular, the emerald green Corinthian columns stood out amid all the gold and colours. This was the most lavishly decorated church I had ever visited, and it was truly spectacular. I regretted not bringing my DSLR camera with me. Enjoy this visual feast…
At 3:15pm, I walked past a nondescript restaurant and saw some locals eating inside, so I decided to pop in to try some local food. I didn’t really know what to order, and the staff didn’t speak English, so I pointed to something that looked like pasta and lasagne, a chicken skewer and a bowl of soup. It cost 290 RUB (S$6.74), which was quite cheap. While I won’t say it was fantastic, it definitely tasted all right.
As I walked along Sadovaya Street, I accidentally stumbled across a hidden, open-air market after walking through one of the buildings. Yesterday, during the free walking tour, our guide Anastasia told us that St. Petersburg is a city of façades, because there is a whole world beyond the façades of the buildings that you see on the main road. This was one of those places she told us about.
From my research to write this post, I just found out that this bazaar is called Apraskin Dvor. It originated in the mid-18th century and it is a place where the locals go for cheap buys. There were lots of shops selling clothes, shoes, fruits, and even cigarettes (I assume they were contraband). It was a fascinating place because it revealed a gritty underbelly to the glamourous side of the city that I had seen so far. This was probably a more accurate representation of what the real Russia is like.
There were also large blocks of wholesale shops selling apparel. I bought a T-shirt in the white, blue and red colours of the national flag, with the word “Russia” on it. I tried to bargain but the seller didn’t budge because I was only buying one piece. I eventually got it for 750 RUB (S$17.44). It was not that cheap, but I really liked the design.
Having said that, I just read that pickpockets are active in the market, so do be careful if you’re visiting. And if you try to bargain but the sellers are not that friendly, it is wiser to let it go. Or, err on the safe side and only ask for something if you’re genuinely interested in buying it. Certainly, while I was there, I could feel that the vibe at the market was different from the rest of the city. I kept an eye to my belongings and was extra alert as I walked through the quieter sections.
I then took a break at Welcome Coffee, where I had an iced latte for 200 RUB (S$4.65). The small café counter was located within Gostiny Dvor, the city’s oldest shopping centre and one of the world’s first indoor shopping malls, dating back to 1757.
From the second level of the mall, I had a good view of Vorontsov Palace, a Baroque palace built in the late 18th century. The palace is occupied by the St. Petersburg Suvorov Military School, a boarding school for boys aged 14 to 18, where their education focuses on military related subjects. A marching parade took place as I stood there watching.
It started to rain as I made my way to Konyushennaya Square for the FIFA Fan Fest. Unlike two days ago, I didn’t have any trouble entering this time because Russia was not playing today. I was elated to finally be here, to be in the thick of the World Cup action. The rain did nothing to dampen the atmosphere as fans from all over the world gathered in front of the big screen to watch the match.
I went to the official fan shop to check out the official merchandise, but didn’t buy any because they were all quite costly. I went to the bar instead and bought a Budweiser beer. It cost only 250 RUB (S$5.81) and the best part was that I could keep the cup as a souvenir. I later also bought a beer and hotdog combo for 400 RUB (S$9.30) because the cup was a different design.
For my supper, I went to McDonald’s to buy a Happy Meal so that I could get the World Cup toy. The Happy Meal cost only 147 RUB (S$3.42)! Russia is really quite affordable compared to a lot of other European countries.
As I walked back to my hostel, I was struck by how even more stunning St. Petersburg was at night. The buildings were tastefully lit up, accentuating their beautiful architectural features. The mood was romantic, even. The only thing missing was an Eiffel Tower in the distance. It’s my last night in St. Petersburg, and I feel like I have only scratched the surface of this marvellous city. Hope I have the chance to return in the future.
