Mama, Tania and I arrived in St. Petersburg at noon Tuesdaythe 9th. Irina, one of Tania’s good friends, met us at the trainstation and led us through the beautiful Petersburg metro to our hostel in thecenter of the city. Our room was perfect – three beds, a table for food, asmall closet and a door that locked. While up five stories (or a frightening elevator ride), the hermitage was visible from the front door, and it was only a five minute walk to the Neva, the gardens, the churches and the canals - perfect.
We set off along Nevsky Prospect and made our way down a canal towards the most famous church in St. Petersburg - The Church of the Resurrection. It was a beautiful clear afternoon, crisp but fresh. We made our way past the church, through a large square, past the unfortunately closed summer gardens (every Tuesday!), along a beautiful canal that lead to the Neva, over the Neva on the Trotskii bridge, down the river past the first home of Peter I while the city was being built, and all the way to the Aurora cruiser - a Russian battleship that has been mored as a tourist attraction in the same spot since 1917. It sits in front of the Hotel St. Petersburg. Well, the reason we rushed out to this spot is that 34 years ago, the last time Mama was in St. Petersburg, she had her picture taken on this boat! and behind her, the hotel could be seen - except it was Hotel Leningrad. Since then, they have changed the name and the sign, and we wanted to take a new photo of Mama in the same spot. They closed the ship at 3 pm that afternoon (???) but we got our shot nonetheless :)
We then walked through a few more parks, posed with some statues, and watched the sunset over the beautiful Neva. St. Petersburg is a city that you could walk forever in, if you remembered to pack proper shoes. Mama and I did not, so we walked back to the hotel after a quick stop at the store for dinner and a short rest. At around 11:30, we headed back out, to see Irina back home. She had bought me a Chinese Lantern so that I could make a wish here in the city of dreams. I decided to set it alight near the Winter Palace where it would fly before soaring out over the Neva.
My wish was that this beautiful trip with my family wouldn't be our last together. Given how much they loved it, I think that it will come true :)
After Irina rushed across the bridges to make it to her island before the bridges closed until 4am, we strolled along the river until 1:05 when we saw the Trotsky bridge close and the center of the bridge go up! Many tour boats and lots of tourists gathered around the bridge to witness the event. It was very peaceful, I'm really glad we stayed out. We walked home the long way and settled into our warm beds for the night, with dreams of lamp-lit bridges, rolling gardens and cobblestone walkways.
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