Into ST. PETERSBURG and a visit to the HERMITAGE

St. Petersburg was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great as his "window to the west.". Canals were dug and palaces were built over the years. There are over 500 palaces in the city. Today most are schools, museums and government offices, all ornate with sculpture everywhere. Many of the buildings are painted bright colors to make up for only about 65 days of sun each year. The symbol of Russia is a double headed eagle. There are many huge statues of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great in parks and in courtyards.
We visited the Hermitage Museum which is housed in five magnificent buildings. Put together throughout two and a half centuries, the Hermitage collection consists of over 3,000,000 items showing the development of world culture and art from the Stone Age to the 20th century. I will let our pictures speak for themselves.












































































We ended the day at the Grand Hotel owned by Michael's employer, Orient Express. The atrium was painted like the streets of St. Petersburg. We had a beer in their very famous bar. Then we went to dinner at a place Patrick recommended. We got directions(sort of)from about ten people but once we found the place it was worth it.