Travel Day to St. Petersburg

We all slept in today. :) We had a leisurely breakfast at 10:45 and then Shamil, our driver, was right on time to pick us up for our train. He drove us to the station while pointing out famous landmarks as we go. He was kind to take us into the station and go through security with us to get us to the correct car on this very long train. We were in car #2 and I think there were over 20 cars on the train. Obviously we were at the front farthest from the station. (Always the Mynatt tradition!)

The train ride is 4 hours with gorgeous views of the Russian countryside. I must admit our lunch was a bit on the wanting side. Haley and Tim had pork and I had fish. I'm not sure Haley ate anything more than her croutons on her salad. For once, she is glad that Grayson convinced her to pack food. She snacked on it instead of the pork. :)

Once we arrived in St. Petersburg, the driver was waiting to take us to our hotel. We quickly checked in and headed out to the city. We gave Haley a quick overview. Our first official tour is tomorrow. We will go to Pushkin to see Catherine's Palace. It is my favorite palace and hopefully Haley will love it too.

Haley seated on our high-speed train.

Leningradksy Train Station in Moscow where we boarded.

Leningradsky

Leningradsky

The signs are TERRIBLY easy to read...

Ready for a 4 hour trek

Haley at the Hermitage

Hermitage

Haley loves her poses!

Nice color scheme

Double Headed Eagle

Gates of Hermitage

Saturday evening fun in the square

Sunset Approaching

Hermitage

Hermitage

Hermitage

Symbols of the Russian Navy are around everywhere

Peter and Paul Fortress in the background

It's really kind of chilly

St Isaac's Cathedral Dome

A Big Snack for Haley's Bedtime

Little Snack for the rest of us

Kazan Cathedral

Church on the Spilled Blood

Canals similar to Venice

Last picture of the night.

So we finally decided to call it quits and walk back to the hotel.  On the way back we had to walk on very very crowded Nevsky Prospekt when Angie and I were the attempted victims of a group of pickpockets who stopped right in the middle of the wall of pedestrians and caused us both to crash into the wall and into them.  I felt a hand in my pocket and the girl attempted to grab Angie's purse.  Yep - they're everywhere. Moscow, St Petersburg, Gatlinburg, Knoxville - people who would rather steal than to actually get a job ;-)  Luckily they got nothing from us.  But it was the first time we've ever been targeted in all our years of travel.  I know better than to keep my money and valuables in an open pants pocket.  Angie had always keeps her purse closed and held tightly.