8-6_StPeters73.jpg=Yusupov Palace
8-6_StPeters30.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_Nikon.jpg=St Petersburg - Many old defense installations and other maritime facilities along the  Neva River
8-6_StPeters65.jpg=Yusupov Palace
8-6_StPeters22.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_Nikon2.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum, one of the five largest art museums in the world and contains around 3 million exhibits, we viewed some paintings by world famous painters Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt
8-6_StPeters39.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters12.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum and extensive use of Gold Leaf
8-6_StPeters55.jpg=St Petersburg -  Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
8-6_StPeters8.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters47.jpg=St Petersburg -  Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood, so named as it was built on the site of the March 1881 murder of Emperor Alexander II, notable for its massive yet intricate mosaic panels
8-6_StPeters20.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters63.jpg=Yusupov Palace
8-6_Nikon10.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters24.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters29.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
DSC_3637.JPG=St Petersburg -  Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
8-6_StPeters67.jpg=Yusupov Palace - wax exhibition depicting the murder of Grigory Rasputin
8-6_StPeters37.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters71.jpg=Yusupov Palace
8-6_StPeters49.jpg=St Petersburg -  Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
8-6_StPeters10.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum and extensive use of Gold Leaf
8-6_Nikon4.jpg=St Petersburg - Many old defense installations and other maritime facilities along the  Neva River
8-6_StPeters40.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters53.jpg=St Petersburg -  Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
8-6_StPeters_Pan40.JPG=Yusupov Palace - former private residence of one of the richest families in Russia, notable for the beautiful artistic designs of the interiors, palatial theatre as well as the wax exhibition depicting the murder of Grigory Rasputin
8-6_StPeters2.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_Nikon12.jpg=St Petersburg -  Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral
8-6_StPeters18.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum mosaics
8-6_Nikon7.jpg=St Petersburg - Our arrival at the cruise terminal
8-6_Nikon13.jpg=St Petersburg -  Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral
8-6_StPeters60.jpg=Yusupov Palace
8-6_StPeters69.jpg=Yusupov Palace
8-6_StPeters26.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum, on the left an enormous ceramic candlestick
8-6_StPeters34.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters17.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters43.jpg=St Petersburg -  Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral
8-6_StPeters3.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters51.jpg=St Petersburg -  Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
8-6_StPeters75.jpg=Yusupov Palace
8-6_StPeters62.jpg=Yusupov Palace
8-6_StPeters15.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters45.jpg=St Petersburg -  Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral. is the burial place of many Russian emperors starting with Peter the Great (1725)
8-6_Nikon15.jpg=St Petersburg -  Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
8-6_StPeters28.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters32.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters5.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_Nikon9.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters58.jpg=St Petersburg -  Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
20180607_032142.jpg=A souvenir of nesting dolls for Grandma - Originally called Matryoshka dolls, from the Latin word ‘mater’, meaning mother. ‘Babushka’ means Old Women in Russia.
8-6_StPeters48.jpg=St Petersburg -  Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
8-6_StPeters13.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum and extensive use of Gold Leaf
8-6_StPeters21.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters7.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters56.jpg=St Petersburg -  Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
DSC_3577.JPG=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum was founded in 1764 when Empress Catherine the Great acquired an impressive collection of paintings from the Berlin merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky. It has been open to the public since 1852.
8-6_StPeters72.jpg=Yusupov Palace
8-6_Nikon1.jpg=St Petersburg - Our arrival at the cruise terminal
8-6_StPeters38.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters64.jpg=Yusupov Palace
8-6_StPeters46.jpg=Anichkov Bridge across one of the canals - the Fontanka river
20180607_180326.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum, The Bacchanalia
8-6_StPeters9.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters54.jpg=St Petersburg -  Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
8-6_StPeters11.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum and extensive use of Gold Leaf
8-6_Nikon5.jpg=St Petersburg - Many old defense installations and other maritime facilities along the  Neva River
8-6_StPeters41.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_Nikon11.jpg=St Petersburg -  Next, we made our way to Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral - the birthplace of St Petersburg
8-6_StPeters66.jpg=Yusupov Palace
8-6_Nikon3.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters23.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters70.jpg=Yusupov Palace
8-6_StPeters35.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_Nikon_Pan05.JPG=St Petersburg - We started our [Alla Tours] excursion near the Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters1.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum. Of the six buildings in the main museum complex, five—namely the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage, New Hermitage, and Hermitage Theatre—are open to the public.
8-6_StPeters52.jpg=St Petersburg -  Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
8-6_StPeters19.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_Nikon6.jpg=St Petersburg - Many old defense installations and other maritime facilities along the  Neva River
8-6_Nikon14.jpg=St Petersburg -  Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral
8-6_StPeters25.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters50.jpg=St Petersburg -  Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
DSC_3556.JPG=St Petersburg - We started our [Alla Tours] excursion near the Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters33.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters16.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters68.jpg=Yusupov Palace
8-6_StPeters59.jpg=St Petersburg -  Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
8-6_StPeters42.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters4.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters61.jpg=Yusupov Palace
8-6_StPeters_Pan01.JPG=St Petersburg - Situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great in 1703. In 1914, the name was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd.  In 1924 to Leningrad, and in 1991 back to Saint Petersburg
8-6_StPeters31.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum, on the left 'The Death of Adonis'
8-6_StPeters74.jpg=Yusupov Palace
DSC_3507.JPG=St Petersburg - In the early morning we sailed along the Gulf of Finland and the Neva River
8-6_StPeters6.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum portraits
8-6_StPeters14.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters27.jpg=St Petersburg -  Hermitage Mueum
8-6_StPeters44.jpg=St Petersburg -  Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral
8-6_Nikon8.jpg=St Petersburg - Our arrival at the cruise terminal
8-6_StPeters57.jpg=St Petersburg -  Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood
