Phone photos of continental #5, part IV - Sankt Petersburg and the Food, Silja and Helsinki

Winter Palace

I have discovered that my phone is, surprisingly, far better at taking foodies than my camera is, so here you go.

YUM

Olivier salad

I've taken enough photos of Winter Palace as it is, but here's one last one.

The nightclub we tried to go to, but got kicked out of when we were discovered to not possess ID on us..

Super markets in SPB.

Metro.

And back on St. Peter's Line..

Dinner as always.

And Helsingfors again.

St. Petersburg, part XXIV - Nevsky-isms and the Field of Mars/Marsovo Polye/Ма́рсово по́ле

I walked out of the Winter Palace and spent some time in the garden pavilion and out and about, then I went back to the assembly point where we were supposed to meet up for our next destination. We retraced our steps through the ul. Bolshaya Morskaya, back to Nevsky prospekt, and down to the Griboyedov channel embankment, where we were greeted with the lovely Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in all its dusky splendour.

We then proceeded towards the Field of Mars, or Marsovo Polye/Ма́рсово по́ле, which had a rather dynamic and interesting, if extremely bloody history - it started out as a public open green space, then was commissioned as a meadow for a royal princess, then became a military drill ground, then a mass burial site for the dead of the February Revolution, and then a gigantic food garden to provide succour to the besieged and starving citizens during the devastating Leningrad blockade in the second World War.

In the centre of the park there's an Eternal Flame to commemorate and honour the many people who died for St. Petersburg, and by extension Russia's cause.

What was it I was thinking yesterday? It's nice to be part of something bigger than yourself.

To be continued.

The Eternal Flame in the Marsovo Polye

Eternal flame, again

Church of Spilled Blood in the distance

Winter Palace, adieu

adios?

More Winter Palace.

This is a Brandenburg Gate ripoff, sorry to say it but it is

Griboyedov Canal

St. Petersburg, part XXIII - Winter Palace Зимний дворец (iv)

I did what I do when I'm in vast museums or galleries - I zoomed around every floor and each room to get a general idea of where and what various things are, and then I did a slower, more in-depth audit of the places that I liked, or had an interest in, or got good vibes from. More photos, then.

Maybe I need to revisit the Winter Palace on my own. I really don't function well when I'm obliged to travel with, and adhere to other people's schedules. I thought the Winter Palace was very pretty but it also felt kind of cold and a little bare, even. My favourite palace museum so far is probably the V&A.

Blue and gilt gold is a very common combo here, and it's very becoming.

Janus.

One of the loveliest rooms in the entire palace, in my opinion.

Another gorgeous room with a beautiful ceiling.

Gilt and gold.

The pretty ceiling, again.