St Petersburg, Part 1

Two days after my arrival in the homeland, my Mom and I took off on an overnight train to the great city of St Petersburg where my brother leaves. The last time I was in St Pete was when I was twelve years old. I remember not knowing much about history, art, or architecture, but still being fascinated by the city and the friendly people who inhabit it. This time, I was coming to explore it with a greater appreciation and knowledge of history, so I was very excited to look at the city with "new eyes."

Even though it was a loooong sleepless trip on the train, my brother, being the great tour guide that he is, took us on a tour of the a beautiful garden estate that used to belong to the Russian tsars---it was their "summer" residence. Besides the absolutely gorgeous and very tranquil grounds and gardens, it is also the site of a unique palace with the famous Amber Room---a room made entirely of amber, which was stolen by the Nazis during their siege of St Petersburg (the estate is about 40 min outside the city). The entire room has never been recovered, and its whereabouts remain unknown. However, several pieces were found and brought back to the palace, and the room was restored to look identical with the original pieces incorporated into it.

Here are some pics to capture the day:



After a delicious sushi dinner, we hung out until about 1am and then embarked on a night tour of the city. Since it is located on a navigable river, its bridges gets drawn up every night beginning at 1am, one by one. It was very crowded on the embankment, but the "bridge show" was quite incredible.