July 12th, 2016 - St. Petersburg, Russia

After a very long day yesterday, leaving at 7am was a challenge. It was excitement and adrenaline that motivated us for our second day in Russia!  

Our first stop of the day was Peterhof Palace and Gardens. These palaces and gardens are sometimes referred as the "Russian Versailles". The palace-ensemble along with the city center is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After the tour of the Palace we ventured out to stroll around the gardens and the shoreline. It was a gorgeous day which made for a lovely stroll!

The next activity for the day was Amanda’s favorite part of the day. After the Palace we were off on a riverboat cruise. This was a relaxing way to see St. Petersburg from a nice relaxing and cultural perspective.

The final stop on our tour was to visit Peter and Paul Fortress which was founded by Peter the Great in 1703. From around 1720, the fort served as a base for the city garrison and also as a prison for high-ranking or political prisoners. The cathedral also serves as the burial place of all Russian tsars from Peter I to Alexander III, A fun surprise took place during our tour of the cathedral; a random artist in the Fortress was sketching Zeb’s profile as we stood and listened to our tour guide for a brief moment. After the tour, the artist tracked down Zeb to show him the drawing and Zeb loved the drawing so much that he gave the guy a few bucks for his work. That’s what we call a unique souvenir from Russia.