Nov 03, 2005 07:02 PM
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(Updated Nov 03, 2005 07:02 PM)
I have travelled to seven countries other than India. I happend to be in Russia in April/May 2005 when the summer started. First, I had been in St. Petersburg (STP) for 2 weeks and in Moscow for a week.
Incidentally, STP is the most historical city in the world with a lot of history spread all over the city, that can be seen.
I enjoyed thoroughly during my Stay in STP. What cannot I say about STP?. By all means, it is am amazing city that I ever had seen in my life. This is an unusual city for Indian Tourists. But, in my opinion, STP is a great place to see. Even, Paris would stand next only to STP.
During my stay, the time was a week before the start of ''White Nights'' in Russia. The Sun uses to Rise early in the morning and would Set only by 2230-2300 hours. The weather was indeed great with Max Temp of 12-15 Deg C and a Min Temp of 3-4 Deg C.
When we come out for our dinner, we will see Sun very bright synonymous to 1500-1600 hrs in India. We would see our watches every now and then, just to see what time is it, as against, we can almost guess the correct time in India, by seeing the posistion of the Sun.
The city, is a marvel by itself. Actually, we have to Thank the Czar, Peter the Great who founded this city.
We had an amazing Russin guide, who can speak broken english. He has explained a lot about the city to us. We had, indeed, a great time in STP with him.
The city is made up of more than 100 islands. There is one big river - Neva. There are lot of tributaries and the famous one among them is Fantanka. A city inspired by Amsterdam for lot of Bridges. Peter the Great was in Amsterdam for sometime and he wanted to build a city similar to that. Amsterdam is called the ''City of Thousand Bridges''. That inspired Peter the Great and that is why, we can see a lot of Bridges in STP.
Interestingly, the city has more than 1000 monuments and more than 100 museums(Both old and modern museums inclusive).
Wherever you go, you can see some monument the size varying from being as small as a bird (size of sparrow) to as big as 30-40 foot tall structures. One of the interesting monuments is the Monument of ''Cheezec Peezec (CP)''. This is a bird. The statue of this bird is on the banks of River Fantanka. This monument is built to express the importance of their traditional world famous drink ''VODKA''. The legend goes like this for CP.
Man : Cheezec Peezec, where have you been
CP : I had been on the embankment of river Fankata drinking Vodka
Next, the Hermitage. That is the most famous museums of all. But, unfortunately, I did not get an oppurtunity to get in there. It is said that the daughter of Peter the Great presented this big palace to her boyfriend.
Next, Peter the Great's summer and winter palaces. To everybody's shock they are just small huts on either side of the River Neva. He was a very simple person and he never lived in big palaces in whole of his life time. He has inspired me a lot for being simple. That is the real forte of a great Emperor. I dont think, any Emperor in this world, has lived in hut-sized house, when he was ruling his kingdom. That proved his thinking and love for his people. Peter the Great is heavily respected by the Russians, especially from STP.
I had been to the war museum where, I had the oppurtunity to see all the modern weapons right from AK47/56 to their cross-continental missiles, the length being 30-40 meters and their propellers being 8-10 foot high. Amazing. I took 3-4 hours to complete the whole of the museum.
Finally, the best part of STP is that you can never see any high-raised glass buildings inside the main city. The tallest building inside the city would be 6-7 floors maximum. All the commercial buildings are build in their old style architecture. That is something amazing. That is the best in STP, I admired a lot.
The only hurdle in being in STP is the problem of language. Many people do not speak English, though they can speak Israeli and other European languages.
I would strongly recommend people, to take any official trips to STP/Russia. The visa process is very cumbersome. I am not sure, how easily one can get a Tourist Visa. But, if one managed to get one, then, they can have a real blast in STP. From India, one has to go via Moscow only. From certain parts in Europe, there are direct flights to STP.
