Back to Estonia

It's an uneventful drive back to the border (if driving in Russia can ever be called uneventful, that is). We have the usual pause while the Estonian border police try and work out why the British don't have a proper registration document for their caravans like everyone else but, as ever, all is well in the end. It takes 50 minutes to cross, which is slightly better than the 6 hours going out...

Last coffee stop in Russia

....so here we are, back in the EU. Feels like home... but not for much longer, I guess. So sad.

The next day is Father's Day... and we have a day off to recover.
We have a cooked breakfast on our outdoor machine with cards and love from our darling daughters. What more could a chap want?  A day off means nothing to do but lie in, walk, chat and read on the beach.
Back to work tomorrow; we're heading for Tallinn with quite a few stops on the way...

St. Petersburg City Break

After our adventures getting here, we take a motoring-free break to discover the highlights and history of St Petersburg and its surroundings..... and it's wonderful.

I'll summarise..
We have a (very, very good) guide to lead us through the complex history, wonderful palaces and buildings... and we spend a great day exploring under our own steam by metro and bus.

The highlights

Day 1

We travel by minibus to see the main sights, hopping on, hopping off and it's almost overwhelming. It's one of those occasions when all the reading and research just doesn't prepare you for the sheer opulence of this place. The Winter Palace and Hermitage Museum are out of this world (in more senses than one). At the end of the day it's easy to see why there was social unrest and division in these times.

The Winter Palace

More Guilded rooms, more tourists..

What is WRONG with guys these days.

There are so many more sights today, I could go on and on and... there's always Google..

But the day isn't over; returning after a brilliant but tiring day, we get a few hours rest before heading back to see the river bridges raised so that large boats can pass.
These are the White Nights, when the  sun hardly  sets and crowds gather until the early hours (around 3am) to see the ships pass. Cue Music and dancing!!
Wonderful!
We get in around 3am.

Up she goes...

There's a whole story behind the ship with the red sails...

Day 2

A day exploring under our own steam....

After lots of help from Sabine, our tour leader, we head off to do our own thing, travelling by Metro and bus. 

We explore the Peter and Paul fortress..and could have spent the day here. 

Cathedral at the Fort

We head for the nearby museum of Political Thought... which is forthright and gives us food for.. thought.

We lunch at a stolovaya - a basic, but good fast food restaurant, originating from the communist days. We later take a coffee at an ultra modern coffee shop which costs as much as the lunch.

There are celebrations today and in the palace square we find a full orchesta playing Tchaikovsky (wonder why?). Magic, indeed

and alternative entertainment, too...

Before heading home, we visit the Church of the Spilled Blood..

...walk along the famous Nevsky Prospect ...and eat at the Singer Restaurant, once the HQ of Singer sewing machines.

We're last back....

Day 3

A guided trip to Perthof Palace today. (It's all about Peter the Great). The palace's famous gardens and gravity fed fountains impress us...

Impressive

After this exceedingly impressive visit, we head for Kronstadt - an island off the coast in the Gulf of Finland which houses a town, a naval base and an amazing Russian Orthodox Naval Cathedral; it's Byzantine in style but with a massive dome and wonderful decoration. The space and lighting is reminiscent of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul... or is that just my imagination.

Kronstadt Cathedral

 The day is rounded off by a meal at the campsite restaurant... But...  it's got no beer so we drink our own beer and wine, of which we have plenty...

Day 4

Our last full day is spent visiting Catherine Palace in Pushkin. The massive, opulent blue place is a real rival for Versailles. We walk the grounds and take a small lunch here. Peterhof itself is  an affluent area has a distinct upper class air.

We round the day off with a trip to the ballet Sylvia at the Mariinsky Theatre. Wonderful indeed - what a fantastic last night in St Petersburg.. but, wait, it's not finished yet because we take a pint of Guinness in the nearby Irish bar, complete with Russian band playing Brit Rock while we wait for our 8 Seat taxi. Brilliant ending to a brilliant visit.

Sad it's over.

St Petersburg at last!!

An early start, a six hour border crossing and around a hundred mile drive to our camp in St Petersburg... we've all made it without major problems. Oh, the sense of achievement!

There's lots to do in this famous city, so the next post will be a brief summary of it all.....

Meanwhile...

At the Estonian holding area before the border:

The border crossing was is a mite longer than we thought. Documents are scrutinised, car and caravan searched, documents scrutinised again.. We have the usual questions about our lack of formal registration document for the caravan; I do wish the UK would do what everyone else does and issue them. All is well in the end though as we pass through and head off to our St. Petersburg campsite.

Our home in St Petersburg.. good to see help is at hand if we get stuck,:

Approaching the Russian Border

OK, we're here:


Because it's near the border, using EU data on 4G isn't possible (we pick up Russian signals) so it looks like GOODBYE FOR NOW unless we get a dose of WiFi in Russia.

Stay with us to get an update on our Russian adventures. See you on the 16th of June, then.