DAY 10 & 11 - Tchaikovsky Museum/St. Petersburg

DAY 10 -
  




Tchaikovsky portrait

Mark & I didn't want to waste today even though we were tired so both of us set out together to see the Tchaikovsky Museum by metro, the kids staying with Sarah & family as they had a late night too.  It was a little wet and cold today so we walked briskly to find the museum, passing the Moscow University (another magnificent Stalin Sister building). The museum is set up in an apartment type building where Tchaikovsky apparently once lived when visiting Moscow.  For those who aren't so musically minded, Tchaikovsky is most famous for composing music to the three ballets, "The Nutcracker", "Swan Lake" and "Sleeping Beauty" and also many other orchestral works including "1812 Overture"; six symphonies, many piano & instrumental works. He is one of the composers I studied for my certificate, so I was eager to visit this museum.

Tchaikovsky's grand piano

Once we got through the language barrier, we entered the museum which was very interesting and quite detailed, more than I thought it would be. We ended up spending a couple of hours there, then finding a place to eat a late lunch and hopping back on the metro as it was getting dark early. We also needed to pack for our four day trip to St. Petersburg the next morning, an apt place to visit after the Tchaikovsky museum as he spent a lot of time between the two cities.

DAY 11 -

Fast train when we arrived at
St. Petersburg

We all got up and ready in good time to catch the fast train to St. Petersburg, but at 6.30am we waited for our rides (two cars Anth had booked) to take us to the station.  Both cars ran a bit late which we then had to run to get onto the fast train.  So here we were hurrying down the platform in the freezing cold whilst it was trying to snow, stopping occasionally to ask the stationhands which carriage to get on. When we got to the last carriage (this was a long train) the guard had told us we need to catch the other train on the other side of the platform, so again we run down almost the full length of this train and just making it with a minute to spare. Phew!

Feeling relieved, we sat down and enjoyed the comforts of the train.  The ride was so smooth and needless to say, very fast topping a speed of 216km at one stage.  It  was lovely watching the sunrise over the scenery and a slight covering of snow could be seen for most of the trip.  Most of all, I loved seeing the little Russian houses in the villages we passed.  At 11.30am we arrive at St. Petersburg, -4 degrees with a wind chill of -10 degrees).  After checking in at our hotel and putting extra layers on, we walked to find a place to eat at a Georgian restaurant (and to thaw out).

Walking again, we headed for the Church of our Saviour on Spilled Blood cathedral (Emperor Alexander II was assassinated here in 1881). This was the most amazing place with its many domes (like St. Basil's but much bigger and more elaborate). Instead of being painted throughout inside, they were all mosaics - tiny coloured glass tiles making up all the pictures, every wall, arch, dome too I imagine (bit too high to tell) - absolutely STUNNING! We were allowed to take photos too - bonus! 

Church of Our Saviour on Spilled Blood

We crossed the road after exiting and walked down a couple of streets to the Marble Museum, another decorative building with modern art.  By the time we finished, it was dark (the sun rises later and sets earlier here than in Moscow). So we head back through the pretty lit streets, stop for dinner and back to our hotel rooms.


All mosaics inside Cathedral