When I was back at MC and thinking of places to visit while studying abroad St. Petersburg Russia was always at the top of the list. I wasn't sure if it would be possible though because I might need a visa which is really expensive and would restrict my other travels. However, JYU has a student organization, ESN, that plans trips for students to travel all throughout the region. Trips go to Sweden, Lapland, multiple Baltic countries, and Russia. I immediately knew I was going to book a trip to Russia and the trip to St. Petersburg is visa-free. ESN announced the trips and when tickets would go live and I sat in a student restaurant waiting for 3:00 so I could book the trip. The trip included a free city tour and free admission to the Hermitage which is a museum in the Winter Palace, Зимний дворец. There are also additional activities to book. My trip offered a night canal cruise, a night limousine ride which ended at a club for partying, admission to the Peterhof, admission to four Cathedrals, and tickets to see Swan Lake. I booked all but the limo ride which turned out to be a good thing because the limo driver got arrested while driving the ESN group around and they had to find a different ride back to the hotel.
To get to St. Petersburg the group had to go by ferry which took 15 hours but luckily it was overnight and there was a live show on the boat for entertainment. Once we got off the boat and through customs and border control we started the city tour. We drove around St. Petersburg seeing the sights and getting to walk around the city as well as the Peter and Paul Fortress. After the city tour we, my roommate and I, checked into the hotel, dropped our bags, took a nap, and explored the city more. After dinner, it was time for the night canal cruise where every 2 people got a bottle of champagne to share. Mine tasted like strawberries! It was a cold night but the constant drinking kept everyone warm as we all stood on the top deck dancing and seeing the beautiful city lit up.
The next day started with the Hermitage which is the most stunning and extra building I have ever seen! All the rooms were so colorful with shining gold and intricate ceilings and artwork. The museum is so big that the 3 hours we were there wasn't enough. Every room had so much to look at and it is all incredible. You could probably spend the entire day in the Hermitage and still not see everything. But we had a busy schedule and the next tour, cathedrals, had to get started. The churches in St. Petersburg are stunning inside and out. Everything is so intricate and detailed that my jaw dropped every time I saw a new church. My favorite was the Church of the Resurrection, more popularly called Church on Spilled Blood because Tsar Alexander was killed there. the coolest thing about a lot of the art inside the Cathedrals is that is it all mosaics due to high humidity ruining paintings. These mosaics take YEARS to finish because of all the detail put in them. Like everything else in St. Petersburg it was all stunning. After some free time, it was then time for the ballet. I, being an idiot, forgot that ballets had no words and the only swan lake I have ever seen was barbie swan lake and its been years since I've even seen that one. During the intermission, I turned to my roommate and had her tell me the story because I was so lost. The ballet dancing was super pretty though.
The last day consisted of the Peterhof which is a palace that was commissioned by Peter the Great. We didn't go into the main palace because it is always so busy it would be impossible to see anything so we were lead through the fountains, gardens, and sauna house. The coolest part was that we got to walk onto the main fountain outside of the palace and see a whole room of statues and other fountains. The gardens were so pretty with the leaves all being bright yellow and orange. It was so nice to spend the whole morning and early afternoon wandering the gardens and admiring the beautiful fountains and statues.
All good things must come to an end. Three days was nowhere close to enough time to see the beautiful city of St. Petersburg but I am so glad that I had the time that I did. I got to see one of the most beautiful cities with an amazing group of Finnish and international students from Jyvaskyla, Tampere, and Sweden. I would highly recommend a trip to St. Petersburg and Russia to anyone.
To get to St. Petersburg the group had to go by ferry which took 15 hours but luckily it was overnight and there was a live show on the boat for entertainment. Once we got off the boat and through customs and border control we started the city tour. We drove around St. Petersburg seeing the sights and getting to walk around the city as well as the Peter and Paul Fortress. After the city tour we, my roommate and I, checked into the hotel, dropped our bags, took a nap, and explored the city more. After dinner, it was time for the night canal cruise where every 2 people got a bottle of champagne to share. Mine tasted like strawberries! It was a cold night but the constant drinking kept everyone warm as we all stood on the top deck dancing and seeing the beautiful city lit up.
The next day started with the Hermitage which is the most stunning and extra building I have ever seen! All the rooms were so colorful with shining gold and intricate ceilings and artwork. The museum is so big that the 3 hours we were there wasn't enough. Every room had so much to look at and it is all incredible. You could probably spend the entire day in the Hermitage and still not see everything. But we had a busy schedule and the next tour, cathedrals, had to get started. The churches in St. Petersburg are stunning inside and out. Everything is so intricate and detailed that my jaw dropped every time I saw a new church. My favorite was the Church of the Resurrection, more popularly called Church on Spilled Blood because Tsar Alexander was killed there. the coolest thing about a lot of the art inside the Cathedrals is that is it all mosaics due to high humidity ruining paintings. These mosaics take YEARS to finish because of all the detail put in them. Like everything else in St. Petersburg it was all stunning. After some free time, it was then time for the ballet. I, being an idiot, forgot that ballets had no words and the only swan lake I have ever seen was barbie swan lake and its been years since I've even seen that one. During the intermission, I turned to my roommate and had her tell me the story because I was so lost. The ballet dancing was super pretty though.
The last day consisted of the Peterhof which is a palace that was commissioned by Peter the Great. We didn't go into the main palace because it is always so busy it would be impossible to see anything so we were lead through the fountains, gardens, and sauna house. The coolest part was that we got to walk onto the main fountain outside of the palace and see a whole room of statues and other fountains. The gardens were so pretty with the leaves all being bright yellow and orange. It was so nice to spend the whole morning and early afternoon wandering the gardens and admiring the beautiful fountains and statues.
All good things must come to an end. Three days was nowhere close to enough time to see the beautiful city of St. Petersburg but I am so glad that I had the time that I did. I got to see one of the most beautiful cities with an amazing group of Finnish and international students from Jyvaskyla, Tampere, and Sweden. I would highly recommend a trip to St. Petersburg and Russia to anyone.
Day 1
Day 2
(Spilled Blood)
Day 3
