Russian contrasts

Welcome to St Petersburg... Here is your hotel, a concrete monstrosity complete with a bowling alley, go-karting, and a pool hall...



Meanwhile, just down the road you will find a beautiful orthodox church that looks about as different from your hotel as any building possibly could be. This is definitely my favourite building in Russia - it's called the Church of the Spilled Blood and was built in the 1880s on the site where Tsar Alexander II was killed by a conspirator. How this church survived both the war (St Petersburg was under siege from the Nazis for 3 years) and then the atheist years when religion was banned under communism, I just don't know.


By the way, you can click on the photos to enlarge them.

Off to Italy tomorrow with Susie so I'll be in touch again when we take a rest from eating, sightseeing and relaxing in Venice and on the Mediterranean coast...!