St. Petersburg rain and shine

We have arrived here in St Petersburg. We had a rainy welcome...well a downpour really. I was happy to finally arrive after a long day of traveling. We are staying in the Holiday Inn. It is a massive building but very comfortable. Last night we went out for dinner and to see the Church of the Spilled Blood and the souvenir market. As I have said, bartering is not my strong suit, but I was able to see some of the pros. Hopefully I will be better in time for Turkey. We went into one of the many Orthodox cathedrals, that was quite an experience. I had never been in a orthodox church before. They have the icons all over the walls. The women wea the head scarf and many light candles and kiss the icons. We were lucky enough to see part of the service with the singing and incense. Throughout all my travels I have always loved seeing faith manifest in different religious ceremonies, from Budism to Chrisitanity in all of its forms. Sunday has been a full day. We went on a tour of the city. Our tour guide Tatiana, is very friendly and looks like Doris Day. I keep thinking she should burst out in song any moment. We went to many historical sights and the crown jewel of the hermitage. I enjoyed it in spite of the crowds of people. I felt like I was back in Asia at times because of the crowds and lack of personal space, but it was all worth it to see the paintings of the masters, (Vangough, Matisse, Piccasso etc). It was also thrilling to see the grand winter palace. I was thinking of the songs from Anastasia while in many of the rooms. They call St Petersburg the Venice of Russia because of the many islands connected by bridges. The are very beautiful. Today was more sunny, but the sky was a bit stormy and made for some great photo ops. We had a great lunch of Russian pies. I tried a chicken pie and a cheesecake one for dessert. The more adventurous flavors such as rabbit were unfortunately unavailable. We went to Peter and Paul's fortress and viewed the burial place of all the Russian Tzars. It is always so fascinating to see these types of things. It makes history come alive and I am able to visualize these figures as real human beings instead of just names in a book. We continued on to see more Cathedrals and historical sites. We were dropped off on Nevskey prospect for another shot at the souvenir market and the Church of the Spilled Blood. The church was amazing and very unique. Mosaics cover the entire structure from the inside. I was in awe of the colors and patterns. The tour guide explained that during Soviet times there was talk of destroying this church. I am so glad they did not. I know the was years of restoration but all the efforts were well worth it. I finally got my bartering practice. It still makes me sick to have to do this, but I was able to purchase some great things. Tomorrow we start the business visits and the ballet in the evening. Now that it is finally dark outside at midnight, I must get some sleep.