I can't believe I am back in St. Petersburg with Natalia. It's all good.
Alexander II was killed at this spot and then this amazing Church of Spilled Blood was built. We are in the center of the church with so many great paintings all around.
How amazing is this exterior? You can see it all over town from far away but closeup is unbelievable
Natalia said her friends haven't wanted to do this but I was stoked to do it again since I did it in New Zealand last year with Sherm. It is minus 10 degrees celsius so we have a huge coat, gloves and boots. The cups, sculptures, bench and walls are all made of ice. Vodka time with some pickles, mushrooms and olives. That was fun.
Good times.
On May 9th, Russia celebrates Victory Day from 1945. The weather for the most part was good during my time in St. Petersburg but May 9th it was freezing cold and pouring with rain all day and night. Bummer. They have parades, marches with veterans, singing, dancing and fireworks.
Sorry for the picture at breakfast but that's the only one I have of Mike. Mike is from the UK and just wrote a book about the Battle of Stalingrad. He is now writing a book on Leningrad (the old name of St. Petersburg) so was doing research with Anna. It was good to meet Mike and we went out a few times and found some good beer at a great bar on the main street of Nevsky Prospect.
It is awesome being back at the best museum in the world. Yeah some people think the one in Paris is better but everyone who knows me knows how I feel about France. So nice to be with Anna at the best museum in the world. This is the one piece from Michaelangelo.
Awesome seeing Rembrants Return of the Prodigal Son again. After seeing this last year, I was excited to see the Rembrandt Rijks museum in Amsterdam last september. There are about 20 paintings from Rembrandt at the Hermitage.
There are about 10 rooms filled with the French Impressionist paintings. Just amazing to see
This painting is called music. I put the dance painting on this website from my trip last year.
This is one of his famous paintings with the guy drinking absinthe. There are about 30 paintings from Picasso. Awesome!
