Hi Everybody. Today is my last day here in Russia. I enjoyed visiting Moscow, but I confess that St. Petersburg is much more beautiful and more welcoming to tourists, mainly because people here speak English everywhere, very different from Moscow, where most of the people speak only Russian.

So I will give basic tips for anyone who comes to St. Petersburg – if you follow them you are going to see beautiful things and enjoy the best cuisine in town.

First I will talk about the Winter Palace Square (Дворцовая площадь), it is quite large, on  one side you can see the Building of the General Staff (Здание Главного штаба), on the other side stays the Winter Palace (Зимний дворец). Either way you look you will see beauty and grandeur.

The Winter Palace is, currently, part of a complex of buildings known as the State Hermitage Museum, which hosts one of the largest art collections in the world, you can see masterpieces by Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Van Gogh and many other.

Walking through the square I did not resist when I saw these beautiful monkeys, spend some time with them was very good, but giving them back made me cry.

The Church of the Savior on Blood (Храм Спаса на Крови) charmed me, it is very beautiful, colorful, cheerful, in short – fantastic.

The Kazan Cathedral (Казанский собоp) is quite different from the Cathedrals we are used to see, but no less beautiful.

I loved the canals of the city, of course not be compared to Venice, but they are so beautiful and charming that I decided to take a boat ride. Besides knowing a little more history of the city, I could see beautiful buildings and monuments, it was very romantic, my husband and I close together on the river Neva and the Baltic Sea.

The Cathedral of St. Isaac (Исаакиевский Собоp) calls out attention for its grandeur from outside; inside the magnificent paintings and details stand out.

I will also indicate two fantastic restaurants in St. Petersburg, places with a very nice atmosphere and delicious food!

Zoom Cafe – cozy and fun. Yes fun: at each table you find a teddy bear to make you company. But not only that – you will also find sheets of paper and several crayons, so while waiting for the food you can draw … and you can draw even on the menu.

But let’s get down to what matters: food!

Salad with smoked salmon

Caesar Salad

And a typically Russian dish, Brosch (Борщ), a soup made of meat, beets and sour cream.

Gosti Restaurant – A very nice atmosphere. You can have lunch on the sidewalk surrounded by flowers and watching the bustling city.

The food is also delicious. I will show some exemples:

Mushroom pastry with sour cream

Bruschettas

Stroganoff (строганов), which despite being made with meat and mushrooms as in Brazil, here is served with mashed potatoes.

Salmon in the crust of sugar with a delicious sauce with caviar (this time it was not sour cream – almost all dishes in Russia are accompanied by sour cream, is very traditional).

And a delicious lasagna, after all I’m here in Europe some time trying different things, I wanted to get a familiar taste.

Walking through town you will find several points where they to buy the famous and traditional Matryoshka dolls, a nice souvenir from Russia.

And if after a walk, eat, buy souvenirs you get exhausted, just go to the Champ de Mars park (Марсово поле) and rest right there on the grass, as the Russians usually do.

TIP: If you are spending only one day in St. Petersburg as many tourists usually do, bet on the boat ride – besides learning about the city’s history (it has a guide giving all the information), you will see beautiful buildings and monuments.

Fun fact: during the second half of June, here in St. Petersburg happens a phenomenon known as “white nights” – the sun shines 24 hours straight without a break! That’s right: there is no sunset! Our biological clock gets totally crazy, but it’s worth living this fantastic experience!

Kisses and enjoy.

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