Onion River Exploration Project: St. Petersburg

Me at Church of the Spilled Blood

Day 14 (8/14/2010) Day 7 Baltic Sea Adventure

Here we are in Russia. I really never thought growing up in the heart of the cold war that I would ever be setting foot in Russia. Today started at 5:30 with breakfast in the Buffett. We had to be ready to catch a tour of St. Petersburg by 7:45. Even though Russia has come a long way since the cold war there is still a feeling of oppression that runs under the surface. Unlike other ports where you just have to show your cruise card, in Russia you have to go through and have your passport stamped and be with a tour group to get beyond the port. Only people with Russian Visas are allowed outside the port area without being with an organized tour group. To my surprise St. Petersburg is what we grew up knowing as Leningrad. After the fall of the Soviet Union it went back to being called St. Petersburg after the clergyman who brought christianity to Russia.There is still a large military presence around St. Petersburg. There are old weapons from warships to canons all over the city. Some people we met from Russia, but now living in Toronto, told us that the people are still very scared of the KGB after the tour guide had kind of deferred answering a question about the KGB headquarters in St. Petersburg. The city is beautiful though. Unlike many older cities which would have torn down the old buildings and built new, St. Petersburg has retained the original facades. Even though the buildings are often gutted and totally remodeled, the front still looks like it did when it was first built. This has left a very beautiful authentic looking city. Unfortunately, two days only allows you to scratch the surface of a place like St. Petersburg. Fortunately, the tour we were on took us to most of the important land marks even though we were only able to see them from the outside. The weather was beautiful but hot so after our tour we came back to the boat and went to the pool.