Welcome to Day #2 of our 3-day discovery of St.Petersburg, Russia! On our first full day in St.Petersburg, we explored the historic centre of the city on foot and via boat cruise down the Neva River. On the agenda for our second full day in the city was a visit to Peterhof – meaning “Peter’s Court” in German – followed by a performance of Swan Lake at the Hermitage, the highlight of our trip.
Getting a feel for the “real” St.Petersburg
We packed a picnic lunch and hopped on the matushka bus to the palace. Matushka buses are like mini-buses and can be boarded at Avtovo metro station – don’t worry, you’ll know which one is destined to Peterhof by the signs, which are in English, and the enthusiastic driver assistants calling for you to jump on board.
The benefit of taking the bus was getting an insight look at what St.Petersburg is actually like, outside the gilded walls of the famous city. Contrary to the coloured palaces that line the streets of the Nevky Prospekt, these concrete buildings, and ancient trams were a little more along the lines of what we expected to see in the former USSR.
