A Golden Birthday in St. Petersburg

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St. Petersburg was a dream come true. 

The morning of my 23rd birthday, I woke up on an overnight train rolling into the beautiful "Venice of the North" - St. Petersburg.

Peter - as the Russians call it - is a city of lampposts, winding canals, and history. You can't turn a corner without finding Tchaikovsky's apartment, Pushkin's favorite café or even Peter the Great himself.

We spent three days roaming Peter's beautiful streets. In fact, we hardly took a step indoors. We were so enamored by the living, breathing art and history of the city that we gave it our full attention.

Every building held a story, every corner boasted a statue and every lamppost signaled a birthday kiss.

My favorite monument - a gift from Catherine the Great in memory of Peter the Great

The city was filled with enormous parks,

The Summer Gardens

beautiful ships

and even polar bears! :)

Like San Francisco, St. Petersburg stays cool all year long. The perfect excuse to go shopping for a timeless trench coat and some bright red trousers.

Naturally, we visited the national library and received our library cards.


We sat for a while in the reading room and imagined all the literary greats that sat in those chairs before.


The library café was the perfect place to have a memorable birthday treat.

We traversed the center by foot countless times. We loved passing by the hermitage,



the Kazanskiy Cathedral

and the breath-taking Church of the Resurrection


Here is Pushkin in front of his apartment.

On the third day of our stay, we took a boat to Peterhof - a neighboring estate where Peter the Great and Catherine the Great spent their time away from the city. The gardens of Peterhof reminded me of Alice and Wonderland - the colors were so vibrant, and the flowers were so orderly, yet so alive.

















What really impressed me about Peter, Catherine and their city - was not just the collections of wealth and impressive decoration (which is evident in so many European capitals) but the collection of knowledge, and the enormous appreciation for art. The St. Petersburg library houses Voltaire's personal library. The Hermitage houses so many pieces, that to glance at each one would take you nine years. St. Petersburg is impressive - in the most romantic and wonderful way.