S is for Saint-Petersburg, Russia and I have been there!

Saint-Petersburg was founded by Peter the Great. It was during a war with Sweden in 1703 that he chose the city as a vantage point to keep an eye on activity from the west. You can visit his fort, the Peter and Paul Fortress which is on the River Neva.

Here is a picture of the beautiful State Hermitage Museum.


Saint-Petersburg is built on hundreds of islands so there are many bridges in the city, each different from one another.

One more. Here is a picture of the Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood. This beautiful church is set along a canal about a block off of Nevsky Prospekt (which is a busy street like North Michigan Avenue in Chicago). You turn the corner off of Nevsky and this is what you see. Just gorgeous. I was there with a church work team in '98 and it was being restored, so we didn't see the inside, but the exterior (from every possible vantage point) is just breathtaking.


Saint-Petersburg has the "white nights" when it never gets really good and dark. We were there in mid-July, so it would be 9 PM or later, we'd be winding down for the evening or drinking coffee outside and it would be more like dusk than dark. It is a beautiful city and I would love to go there again.

source: http://www.saint-petersburg.com/

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