Day 3 in St Petersburg

On our final day in St Petersburg, we visited the Hermitage (Winter Palace) which has now been turned into an art gallery.  I was actually pretty disappointed with it - I thought it would have been better off left as a palace, showing the interiors in a "how this was used" state with furniture etc.  


In the afternoon we visited the Peter and Paul Fortress and wandered around the grounds.  

It was the first part of St Petersburg that was built, and it's on a little island across the water.

They've still got the big cannons sitting around.  This one looks decidedly modern though.

The view from the fortress back across the bay - the Hermitage and St Isaac's visible.  


Sitting at the train station waiting for our train to Moscow was a bit of an experience - the surrounding people smelled like they hadn't showered in a while, and the speakers were blaring some highly patriotic, grandiose triumphant military music - I imagine it might be a bit imposing if you arrived by train.


Overall St Petersburg was a beautiful city - very European.  I'd highly recommend it to anyone as a pretty easy city to visit, despite the Cyrillic - it had good vibes and was pretty laid back.  Just don't arrive by rail :P