I have to correct an item I got wrong. Can you believe I was actually wrong? The picture in Moscow of one of the buildings was an example of the Stalin era and not Lenin. Now that I can stop feeling guilty about giving you erroneous information, we can go on to last evenings activity.

It is the beginning of the White Nights, so life goes on as if the day has never finished meaning all the shops and the bars stay open until late at night, the streets are crowded and the boat trips are very active.

                  Traffic on the canal and a local celebrity

We decided to take the canal trip at around 7 pm, which was a good time to go as the sun was setting. There is a ton of activity on the canal and you wonder how all the boats fit and what the schedule is. Before we left a couple of guys went roaring by on their jet skis and another in a motorboat. They wove in and out of the tourist boats with the impatience of a local having to put up with tourist traffic.

View of the canal and the bridges

Speaking of which, I would highly recommend anyone thinking of going to Moscow or St. Petersburg consider only going in May or September/October. Just over the past week we have seen the crowds getting larger. I cannot imagine what it is like in the height of the tourist season, as there are busloads of people and tour guides leading large groups on and off buses. It is nice having your own guide and driver as you do not have the feeling you are in a cattle car being herded here and there. The cruise ships have not even started coming. We are told they come 4 to 5 at a time. Can you even imagine? These ships carry 3000 people.

Scenes along the way. The right one is the Hermitage

The canal trip was well worth the time as we really got a feel of the city from the water and how it was laid out. Peter the Great wanted people to travel by boat and not by horse and buggy, so the canals are laid out to be like streets and grand boulevards. Many people had their own docks outside their palaces with grand highly decorated boathouses. We have not seen very many as there have been floods and of course the “Siege of Leningrad” was a time when many buildings were destroyed or damaged from the bombing by the Nazi’s.

Open water and other scenes of the canals

I love the roofs and then the dome.                   Out hotel

The “Siege of Leningrad” lasted 900 days and many of the beautiful gardens were plowed up to plant cabbage. Bread was given out that was made with sawdust. Around a million people starved to death but they eventually defeated the Nazi’s. It is a time that is still remembered by people.

After leaving our boat we headed to the main street, a wide boulevard called Nevsky Prospect (they do not call them streets). Prospect is for prospective, meaning a view to something. This is teeming with residents, tourists, street musicians, stores, cars, pick pockets, Starbucks coffee, restaurants and just about anything you would want to see or look for.

 

Street performers

Because the day is long (17 hours) everyone is outside enjoying themselves. We walked and gaped at all that was going on. It was a great evening and of course we had to visit Starbucks so we could send pictures back to Coulter, our Starbucks representative. We were told the coffee is better at Starbucks, than at the local bookstore cafe. We will have to check it out tonight.

          The master of the house and  his car.