St. Petersburg in winter
The first part of our New Year holidays was described
here, so as the amount of photos is quite big, I decided to make a separate review of
St. Petersburg.
3rd of January, Sunday
Upon the arrival we left a luggage in a cloak chamber and hurried to the Hermitage. This was the only possibility to visit it (the next day was a day off). On the way we took photos with Peter the Great and Ekaterina, saw The Kazansky Cathedral and walked over Nevskiy avenue. To get into the Hermitage was a bit difficult. After we arrived there we saw long queue of visitors. But undoubtedly it was worth staying in the queue for an hour and a half. The Hermitage has the right to be a world’s cultural heritage. Walking through luxurious halls you suddenly find yourself in the past and see the culture of different countries.
After the second floor and a half of the 3rd floor we left the museum and met with our friends from St. Petersburg. They showed us the evening city with its main sights changing fast behind the window.
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Russian New Year
is one of the most favourite and long-expected holidays. In contrast to Europe, in Russia New Year is celebrated wider than Christmas. All begins from New Year shopping, searching for gifts and foodstuffs for the celebration. Then, on the 31st of December families decorate a fir – New Year tree and prepare a holiday table. At midnight, when Moscow chiming clock notifies everyone that New Year has came Russians drink champagne, make wishes and congratulate each other.
This New Year we wanted to see the chiming clock live and decided to spend it in
Moscow, on the Red Square. And as New Year holidays are 10 days, another good idea was to visit St. Petersburg after Moscow.
31st of December, Thursday
The flight was fine, except a small delay with a drop-off. We left the airport and went to our accommodation place. Prices for transport were surprisingly high. As we found out, services cost more than in our region, but foodstuffs – about the same.
After a small rest we went to the city center. We were notified in advance that the Red Square would be surrounded by a police. And this was true, we were checked for alcohol and weapon and passed. The square amazes her beauty and greatness and has the right to be regarded as a heart of Russia.
At midnight we heard chiming clock and saw a wonderful salute. People were happy and congratulated each other, fired bengal lights and even sang! We were taken by a common merriment. This way the year of tiger came to Russia.
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Attention! This is the old version of the article. New version is available here.
Urals (also called Ural) is a common geographical name of the area of Russia around the Ural Mountains (between Volga region and Siberia). It is a vast territory which includes major cities like Yekaterinburg, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk and Perm, as well as parts of the polar areas. The main part of this region is the Ural Mountains dividing two parts of the world – Europe and Asia different in natural and economic conditions.
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