Sankt Peterburg

A cathedral transcends the noblest single work of art. It is a pinnacle of faith and act of centuries. It is an offering of human hands as close to Abraham as it is to Bach.

~British Travel Association, 1959

Arrived at the Station and met by a cabbie who wanted 40 euros to go to the hotel. When I asked him if he had gone insane in Russian, he acceded to my counter offer of 400 rubles (still very generous).

The hotel was well located on Isaacs Square, and after breakfast, while the rooms were being prepared, we headed off to explore St. Isaacs Cathedral. The opulence of that building is hard to overstate. Its absolutely overwhelming in scale, materials, vision, everything. We spent a good long time exploring it – most of it slack-jawed – before we headed out to the park across the street. We walked to the “Bronze Horseman” monument to Peter the Great, and then took in some of the river bank along down to the Palace Square.

The night train, despite sleeping, is a bit more tiring than I had imagined. After lunch, we sort of collapsed into our rooms for a brief rest that stretched into the early evening. An easy dinner nearby, and off to bed.