Tom and Richard went off to visit the Grand Synagogue of St Petersburg where Tom found the Holy Grail of Nesting dolls with Jewish themes- sure to please the Mrs.

Tom finally found some nested dolls that he liked at the Grand Synagogue.

On their return we boarded a double decker – on off bus to take us around the city. The traffic was very slow so we had plenty of time to look out the windows at the sights.

We got of across the street from St Isaacs Cathedral where we found the perfect table across the street where Tom could order a little of every thing and Richard and I could look on in amazement as he proceeded to eat it all. The bells chimed majestically as we ate.

My reflection in the lower right – St Isaac’s Cathedral.

Back on the bus after lunch we got off at the Battleship Aurora where the first shots of the revolution were fired. We took pictures and I made some new friends. We walked across the street and visited the first building constructed inSt Petersburg. A small log cabin where Peter the Great lived when he was founding the city 320 years ago.

Battleship Aurora.
Doug and new friends
The building that. Now. Houses the original log cabin of Peter the great.

The photo above shows the building erected around and over Peter the Great’s original log cabin, the first house built in St Petersburg. The cabin is really quite modest certainly compared to the Winter and Summer palaces erected by his daughter Catherine.

The most famous statue of Lenin – I mean Peter – in the city.
Another Church near our hotel.