Today was a slower start because we needed to do some washing. Also, we were not feeling the best, trying to shake off colds we think we caught on the plane to St Petersburg. We haven't let the colds stop us seeing what we wanted to see, thankfully. We haven't come all this way, to stay in our hotel!
Today's highlights started with a walk back to the Church of Our Saviour on the Spilt Blood. We only saw it from the outside the other day. It was well worth going back to buy the tickets to see inside! It has all been restored, and the walls and ceiling are lined with mosaics mimicking famous Russian artworks. It was extremely ornate and an absolute must see for anyone visiting St Petersburg.
We walked through the nearby Mikhaylovskiy Gardens, which is like an oasis in the midst of the city.
We walked along Nevsky Prospekt again, which is an extremely vibrant street, full of activity. We stopped off at the Galeria shopping centre for a quick cuppa, before heading off to the Spaso Preobrazhensky Cathedral, in time for a service
at 6pm. This Cathedral was much more understated than others we have seen, but to participate in the service and hear the singing was wonderful. One of the priests had a magnificent bass voice. The choir was small and sounded wonderful.
We made our way back to our hotel and will try to throw off the colds. We had originally planned to visit the Hermitage today, but didn't feel up to it, so that is on tomorrow's agenda. Thankfully, we had open dated tickets.
