The Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood, St. Petersberg, Russia

The following was copied from Saint-Petersberg.com This marvelous Russian-style church was built on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated in March 1881. After assuming power in 1855 in the wake of Russia’s disastrous defeat in the Crimean war against Britain, France and Turkey, Alexander II initiated a number of reforms. In 1861 he freed the Russian serfs (peasants, who were almost enslaved to their owners) from their ties to their masters and undertook a rigorous program of military, judicial and urban reforms, never before attempted in Russia. However, during the second half of his reign Alexander II grew wary of the dangers of his system of reforms, having only barely survived a series of attempts on his life, including an explosion in the Winter Palace and the derailment of a train. Alexander II was finally assassinated in 1881 by a group of revolutionaries, who threw a bomb at his royal carriage. The decision was taken to build a church on the spot where the Emperor was mortally wounded. The church was built between 1883 and 1907 and was officially called the Resurrection of Christ Church (a.k.a. The Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood ). The construction of the church was almost entirely funded by the Imperial family and thousands of private donators. Both the interior and exterior of the church is decorated with incredibly detailed mosaics, designed and created by the most prominent Russian artists of the day (V.M. Vasnetsov, M.V. Nesterov and M.A. Vrubel). Interestingly, despite the church’s very obviously Russian aspect, its principle architect, A. Parland, was not even Russian by birth. The church was closed for services in the 1930s, when the Bolsheviks went on an offensive against religion and destroyed churches all over the country. It remained closed and under restoration for over 30 years and was finally re-opened in 1997 in all its dazzling former glory. The view of the church from Nevsky Prospekt is absolutely breathtaking.

 

After 'falling in love' with St. Basil's Cathedral in 2006, I couldn't wait to see this Cathedral in St. Petersberg.  The different colors and textures to the onion bulb style domes are so beautiful to me!

I don't think there was one centimeter inside the church that wasn't decorated.  Each and every picture in the cathedral was a mosaic!

 

 

So many angles....so little time...

 

Peterhof Palace May 2013

Peterhof Palace: Peterhof is German for Peter's Court. Peterhof is a series of palaces and gardens laid out on the orders of Peter the Great.  These palaces and gardens are sometimes referred to as the 'Russian Versailles".  

(Click on the pictures to see them in full, beautiful detail.)

 

 

When we came upon this palace, my Father n law must have thought the onion topped domes looked familiar to him.  He pulled out a picture from his wallet taken in 2006.  The picture is in front of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow and has me holding up my son! 

Talk about getting a girl's eyeliner to drip!

 

Here you can see the water goes out to the Gulf of Finland.

 

Corruption is everywhere in Russia. 

We saw this Russian Police/Security Guard encourage people to leave coins for the Neptune statue.  As they walked away, he would scoop up the majority of the coins!

 

This place was immaculate not one piece of trash and I saw people raking rocks in the garden so that they were in perfect place, as well as a few touch up cuts with scissors!

Russia for the Third Time! Catherine's Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia

I thought the Russian Customs may lock me up for visiting too much but all was cool.  lol

Recently, I went on a dream vacation with my in laws, sister n law, and three other couples.  We flew to Copenhagen, Denmark, then took a short train ride to Malmo Sweden.  We got to spend a day and 1/2 exploring Copenhagen and Malmo, and then boarded a ship for a 7-day Baltic Sea cruise.

It's hard to say which county or even countries were my favorites-they all were so awesome to see.  If I had to narrow it down, Russia would come in at number one for all the breath-taking things I saw.  I do mean BREATH-TAKING!

We had a guided tour for 2 days in St. Petersburg, Russia.
From palaces to cathedrals to museums, St. Petersburg, Russia was awesome.

This post will showcase some of the beauty that I saw while at Catherine's Palace-and also some abstracts.  (If you click on the picture, it should open full size.)

 

These are from Catherine Palace:

 

 

I love how the sun is shining down on me here..and what (or who) is that next to me?

 

 

You couldn't just look straight ahead, some of the beauty existed on the ceilings!

 

This mosiac was done all in amber stone.

 

Of course I loved the pink and green room!

 

Most of the Cubans with Maria, our guide, in the brown sweater.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Sergio Zerquera (my great in-laws)

 

Check back-more to come!!

 

 

My Pets Have Personality!

My name is Cosmonaut; Cosmo for short.

I like to sprawl out on leather...really sprawl out! 

When I am awake, I sometimes like to scratch leather too. 

I have a new catnip baby-oddly enough, his name is Cosmic Catnip! 

I really love him. 

My name is Goatee.  Aren't I cute?

Sometimes I escape from my pen and when I do, I like to eat orchids and other tropical plants from my Mom and Dad's front porch.

Hell, I like to eat cardboard too for that matter! 

I am Summer.  I like to play ball with mini tennis balls.

I get tired after a few runs and you have to go get the ball yourself.