After spending Christmas in a more provincial town, we reached our final destination of St Petersburg via an overnight train. The train experience was quite good, with the four berth cabins having enough space to fit everyone’s luggage as well as their owners. The beds were relatively comfortable and the loud local Russian radio that served as a wake up call in the morning was quite a surprise.

St Petersburg was founded by Peter the Great during Russian’s Northern War with Sweden. Unlike Moscow, this city appears quite flat and is subject to frequent flooding due to its location and the number of canals and proximity to the Neva River and the Baltic Sea. Peter the Great had quite a passion for Amsterdam and you can see these influences in the design of the city. St Petersburg was also the capital for some time, until the Second World War where it was moved back to Moscow to protect it from being captured by the enemy.

To me I got the impression that St Petersburg is a bit more like the cultural capital of Russia in comparison to Moscow, filled with both the historical artefacts and the more up to date interests in art and culture. It seems like St Petersburg is to Moscow what Melbourne is to Sydney but it could be because it is filled with over fifty universities, albeit many smaller ones and the number of many more accessible cafes, bars, clubs and restaurants.

Road traffic in the city is horrendous, particularly leading up to the New Year. The local buses seem to be the best way of getting around the most effectively and although there is a metro system, it is not as wide reaching as Moscow’s due to the city’s susceptibility to flooding.

During our stay in St Petersburg we visited the Peter and Paul Fortress, Catherine the Great’s Summer Palace, St Isaac’s Cathedral, Church on Spilled Blood, and The Hermitage. The Hermitage is probably one of the most awe inspiring buildings, once Catherine the Great’s winter palace, and home to a huge collection of classical art and sculpture work from the likes of Da Vinci, Raphael, Rembrandt, Renoir, Monet and more. Apparently if you spent one minute looking at every item in their current collection you would have to spend eleven consecutive years to get through. Before departing we even managed to spent some time attending a few cultural events including a somewhat touristy Cossack show and the more famous and more impressive Russian Ballet.

The entire Christmas in Russia experience was great and is something tha I can now vouch for as a worthwhile experience.