Loading ...passing through St. Petersburg
Greetings From Siberia!
Now, I am in Novosibirsk. Along with the move to Siberia and the changing of the month came a change of seasons. Autumn is definitely in the air here.
My reason for coming to this city, the third largest in Russia, was to visit a good friend I had not met in person before coming here. Of course, there’s a story! Later.
Soon, I will board a train going to Ulan-Ude. It will take two days to get there, so I’m excited about the two nights ahead, of sleeping on the train.
Here’s a link to the latest gallery:
https://balloonbill.smugmug.com/Other/SaintPetersburg
Wishing positive changes for you!
GoldBalloon
Much beauty in the pics. Thanks for sharing.
Glad you’re enjoying the ride, Highroller. All the best to you!
WOW
St Petersburg is unbelievably beautiful majestic mind numbing architechture
No wonder Russia keeps drawing you back
We are all the more informed and richer for your sharing this amazing place with us GB
You might be richer, but I could use some more gold eagles!
Thanks, FGC. You know I’m happy if anyone gets anything out of what I share.
How much of what you are seeing, say in St. Pete., had to be rebuilt after the Nazi siege? I’m frankly stunned at what’s there, given THAT history.
And, IIRC, the Russians burned the town down as Napoleon was arriving, to deny the French livable quarters for the winter.
Your historical understanding is correct: everything was destroyed. Virtually everything you see has been re-constructed.
At Catherine Palace, the photos of side-by-side before and after the Nazi bombing were the most interesting part to me, along with the photos and descriptions of the lengths the Russians went to to remove and protect the most valued of their national treasures and heritage. That, along with the lengths the Germans went to to obliterate it. Supposedly, the Germans were not satisfied with the general destruction of Catherine Palace, they wanted no trace of it left. Before they were chased off, they wired it with explosives, to finish the job completely, but for some reason the explosives didn’t detonate.
In the links to information contained in the SmugMug galleries, it will be easy for you to find specific history and possibly photos of the destruction and re-construction. At the very least, read about the history of the Amber Room, which is very interesting. Maybe the original Amber Room is in Bill Gates’ Redmond, Washington compound. Who knows…