A few years ago I took a transatlantic cruise to Europe with the main destinations to include Russia and Finland.. If you have never been on a cruise this might not be the one for you as you will be spending seven days on water before making your first stop. However if you are not afraid you could have a great time with live entertainment, shopping, socializing meeting new friends on board with time to relax and spend some quality time with family and friends. Visiting Russia requires a visa but traveling with a cruise and if participating on one of the cruise tours you can get the visa on arrival arranged by the cruise line. I can only speak of the Princess Cruise line so if you are planning to cruise check with your specific cruise line. This cruise had a two day stay in St. Petersburg and you should know the processing on the first day takes a little time upon disembarkation. If you are planning to go on your own then you must secure your visa prior to departure.
The Hermitage Museum, in St. Petersburg, is known to be the second largest in the world second to the Louvre in Paris. It boasts four hundred rooms of art exhibits which tells you a few hours will only give you a taste. If you are planning to stay in St. Petersburg for a few days you will have the opportunity to explore more. I found some amazing architecture here in St. Petersburg and really impressive.
Whenever you see pictures of St. Petersburg in advertisements or any form of media you will often see the former Orthodox Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood: now a museum. Another amazing architecture and a very popular point of interest
During a stop in Helsinki we visited the church in the rock, Temppeliaukion, with its copper roof and a lovely pipe organ.
we also made a stop at Jean Sebelius, the Finnish composer and violinist who died in 1957 and the monument was opened ten years later..
Sharing a bit around as we toured Helsinki.
Xlcrgirl's blog 
I left a comment at five am, so where is it? I was just saying St Petersburg is one of my favorite cities. The hx of the Romanovs is fascinating, actually, I knew some resided in NYC a long time ago, but ,where are they now?
The subways are like art museums, was that Moscow or St Pete? That’s the Gov’s way to steer them into thinking “All is well” and why not. Do you think art would survive in our subways?
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is a beautiful city and despite all the activity it is clean and well maintained.. Art in NYC subways no way.
LikeLike
Such wonderful memories! Pansy was with me on this trip. She fell just before she came back on the ship on the first day. So the doctor told her to stay in the next day, so we had to sell our tickets to the Hermitage, the next day!The pictures you took were just a out the same l had taken, with the exception of being in the museum.I had a great time.Had a good time in Finland, too. Visited the church, listened to the organ and had a great time there. Took the hop-on-hop-off bus and we had a good time. On this trip we also did Estonia (remember Mr. Gradusov, the teacher from XLCR? he was Estonian….never thought l would have travelled to that ‘far’ place back then!!!!) and Poland and Denmark. Lovely time!Again, great memories!FaithSent from my Galaxy
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s so beautiful, if I never get to go at least I would have lived it through your eyes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes my sister anytime
LikeLike
You go my friend, this is very nice to bring your travel history to the media. It brings a lot of history that we would never see or visit. These are some very interesting places you’ve been to and thanks for sharing. I know there is a lot more to see so please bring them on. I have time to read.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you enjoyed working on others
LikeLike