St. Petersburg Tour Part II

Thursday morning we first boarded a riverboat for a river and canal cruise, seeing the wonderful elegance of this special city. We also visited three of the great churches: The Kazan Cathedral (where a sung service was in progress,) the Church of the Spilled Blood (built to commemorate the assassination of the Tsar Alexander II, and the grandest cathedral, that of St. Isaac, which took 40 years to build. Then our small bus with its twelve passengers traveled to the town of Pushkin to visit the magnificent Catherine Palace, masterpiece of architect Bartholomeo Rastrelli. Built for the empress Elizabeth I, this splendid Baroque palace is most famed for its unique amber room. Then we returned to the city to see the ornate Yusupov Palace. Though it is most famous as the site of the murder of the evil Rasputin, the palace is equally remarkable for its well-preserved early and late 19th century interior decoration. Tonight we will return to the city for a performance of the ballet. - Dan