St. Petersburg, part VI - Peter and Paul Fortress/ Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps (iii)

We are still within the grounds of the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps. There was a changing guard ceremony that I watched with the best of them, and I got to see the Russian troops up close, listen to them singing their national anthem, and then watch - and hear - their cannons going off. Quite a remarkable experience, really, and one that I'm glad to have been privy to.

More to come.

Off to lunch then

St. Petersburg, part V - Peter and Paul Fortress/ Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps (ii)

Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps again. I was separated from the rest of the group - one moment they were there, the next moment they had completely and utterly disappeared. I took it all into my stride because this sort of thing always sorts itself out, and decided to enjoy the grounds of the museum.

The weather was a bit cold and damp-ish, but according to our guide Ksenia this was typical St. Petersburg weather. I'm not really complaining, but it does make photos look rather, well, grey and uninspiring and mouldy, but it is what it is.

To be continued.

This was a prison enclosure

The prison enclosure, where the prisoners were only allowed to walk within the steel tracks

St. Petersburg, part IV - Peter and Paul Fortress/ Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps (i)

Our first stop was at the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps, located at 7 Aleksandrovsky Park. Did I mention how unbelievably sexy Russian street names are? Pushkinskaya. Aleksandrovsky. Vasiliyevsky Prospekt. It's basically a writer's heaven for names - especially of the brooding, tortured hero with a checkered past.

The Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps was interesting, and I got to see lots of Russian tanks and cannons and big guns up close. Most of them were authentic.

We spent quite a lot of time here.

More to come.