A Luxuriously Aristocratic amalgamation of centuries old merging styles (Sights & Attractions in St. Petersburg in general)

Member Name: tiaw

Product:	Sights & Attractions in St. Petersburg in general
Date:	20/06/07 (49 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Magnificant Architecture, Museums

Disadvantages: Safety, Friendliness of Population

We were based on Nevsky Prospect where if you're not surrounded by architecturally stunning boutiques, hotels or cafe's, you're having smoke blown in your face by a tattoo sporting Russian mafia member or getting gaped at from head to toe by the haggard looking elderly population.

Trams attached to overhead electric cables steam-roller past and screech their brakes in advance of stopping.

Out on the street it's a bit wild and definatly edgy. As a first time arrivee, you'd be pressed to feel anything other than lukewarm intimidation at all the noise and dusty pollution. Aggressive, grim faces present direct eye contact as an unattractive option. This city is also imfamous for it's criminal activity, police corruption and mild lawlessness. It certainly isn't the most welcoming of places. The anticipation of random abuse hangs with every stranger who passes. But i'll later come to debunk the savage reputation - sort of.

We meander along Nevsky Prospect in the warm summer evening atmosphere.

The collection of Baroque style buildings extend down the avenue in a billow of old imperial grandeur. The western branded advertisements, coffee shops and fast food chains do little to detract from imagining the scene as a half century or more old. For, aside from the stuttering cars that choke out ceaseless exhaust fumes and the modern clothed citizens, one really could be in the past.

While the suburbs of St. Petersburg remain drenched in poverty and every anti social problem thinkable, the centre is blossoming with new capitalist affluence. Young professionals seem oblivious to a time before Pizza Hut and cafe culture. Or maybe they've chosen to forget.

St. Isaacs Cathederal stands monumentally dazzling with it's gold plated dome roof, towering pillars, pinky white stone walls and subsidiary domes.

The deluge of steps render one's legs extremely heavy and weary by the time of arrival at the viewing deck of this neoclassic masterpiece. Once there however, one can secure a memorable view over the entire of St. Petersburg. While much of the city's street level allure is obscured, the river intersected nature of this formerly leftist metropolis becomes clear.

Past the Admirality and yet more potential former secret Bolshevist headquarters and we're at Palace Square - the wide open centre piece of all things revolutionary. The Tsar built Winter Palace, painted green and white, is essentially half of the semi circle.

The other, built later, but connected up seemlessly in the middle, is eggy yellow in colour. The far side cultminates in a formidable archway with a Roman Quadriga of aggressive cavalry hanging over.

The Alexander Column stands 150 feet tall in the very centre of the expansive square.

The State Hermitage resides within these walls. Security is transparent and being that the G8 summit is in town, no secret is made of the terrorist threat in local media. Incidently, most beggars and panhandlers have also been cleared out just in time for the big event.

Inside, lavishly decorated halls display exquisit works of art, the magnificance of which is nearly unrivaled. Grand archways and red carpet staircases complement the ornamental floors and ceiling high windows. For interior architecture alone, no where comes close to the sparkling chandeliers, luxurious rooms and rich displays of eminense that is contained within the State Hermitage Museum.

Getting lost in the centre of St. Petersburg isn't really a problem. The city of 300 bridges, as it's known, is drawn together by a series of riverways, all leading to a landmark or back to Nevsky Prospect. We come to one of those bridges - Tripartite and the very symbol of Russia itself - the Church of Spilt Blood.

The eccentrically coloured domes and spires are instantly recognizable from a great distance and boundlessley more stunning in real life. Studying it closer, the sublime detail of the depicated mosaics and unusual Russian Orthodox design fuse to produce a more tangeable personal memory of the image that so many associate with an entire nation and people.

We walk along the photogenic Griboyedov canal, past opulent restuarants and cafe's until one of the most identifiable churches on earth dims in the distance.

More braving the brash streets and towards the end of the second day, and it's to Vosstaniya Square, where upmarket apartments look down upon the very cosmopolitan centrality of St. Petersburg's shopping and nightlife.

St. Petersburg has been described by many as an 'Outdoor museum of Architecture' - a phrase that couldn't embody one city more definitively. The honour of being a UN World Heritage Site in itself does not come without reason.

A luxuriously aristocratic amalgamation of centuries old merging styles resonate around the city centre. The richness and history is plenteous. Yet there remains a darker side also. A hard life does tend to make people more irrate and less approachable. The transition to capitalism hasn't been smooth or law abiding for all. Vigilence is definatly required. But to explore the city and experience it's dashing ambience and fine culture is to discover the beauty in the far from perfect bigger picture.

Summary: Somewhere everyone should visit once in their lives