🌎📍St. Petersburg
About St. Pete’s
Welcome to St Petersburg! Named after the Russian Tsar Peter the Great, it is Russia’s cultural center, possessing a plethora of landmarks from the Russian Revolution, being home to the prominent Mariinsky Theatre for opera and ballet, and hosting the second largest art museum in the world, the Hermitage.
The city is characterized by these channels of water that meander through the streets of St. Pete’s. Several important landmarks of the city can be seen from afar from inside the goats on the canals — this makes really pleasant boat tours during the day, but also at night, as we did as a group.
We began our goat tour at midnight, when it felt like the city was finally asleep. Interestingly, this was our first chance to see the city absent from the routinely fast pace of daily life, with streets laden with people rushing to work or school. When our boat departed, the city was quiet and the streets were peaceful. Check out the photos below!
History
The beautiful palace pictured on the left is Peterhoff, Tsar Peter The Great’s lavish summer home. This UNESCO World Heritage site is comprised of grand palaces, gardens, fountains, and other gorgeous sites (in addition to a fantastic ocean view and a forest).
Whether your goal is to learn about eighteenth-century Russian architecture, history, or art, Peterhof certainly has to be on your list!
Below are some of my highlights from the visit to Peterhof:
Founded in 1703, St. Petersburg has a rich 316 years of history (in fact, we were there during the city's birthday!). The city was constructed from scratch, using the help of around 40,000 workers, to become Russia’s next capital, under the rule of Peter the Great.
Our hostel was located right on the Nevsky Prospect, the main street in St. Pete’s where some of the most prominent landmarks in the city are located. In fact, my window view was of the famous Kazan Cathedral, a well-known Russian Orthodox Church dedicated to one of the icons of the most venerated icon in Russia and referred to as the Holy Protectress of Russia, Lady of Kazan.
St. Pete's is home to the second largest art museum in the world (first is the Louvre in Paris), the Hermitage. We visited parts of this beautiful museum, although we probably only got to see 1% of the entire museum, as we would need at LEAST an entire week to see everything it offers — there are so many different collections! (Hermitage pictured below on the left (inside) and middle (outside).
On the photo below on the right is the Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood, a famous Russian Orthodox Church that possesses distinctive medieval Russian architecture. It was built on the site where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated (fun fact: it took 24 years to build the Church!) in 1881.
Some of the most famous landmarks in St. Pete's:
We visited one of the Carlsberg brewing sites in the outskirts of St. Pete's. It was an interesting experience to see how one of the most widely consumed beverages is produced, by physically visiting the facilities and observing the machines in action. And… we ended our tour with a beer tasting activity! :)
Beer, anyone? 🍺
Business
We participated in a lecture at the Higher School of Economics about "International Business: challenges and perspectives in a turbulent world".
Our professor gave us a crash course on how international history and conflicts have given rise to certain international organizations, such as the World Bank, IMF, and WTO. She spoke about trading blocs, notably BRICS (which encompasses Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and how their existence has influenced the relationship between world superpowers and emerging economies. Super interesting!
FOOD SUPER TIP: The entire DOC group was obsessed with this restaurant called the Marketplace, on the Nevsky Prospect. It was a 1 min walk from our hostel and served all sorts of delicious food, from stirfry, to pasta, to steak. The prices are incredibly affordable, and the ambiance is really nice (and the wi-fi is great, so if we had any problems with our connection we'd just grab a coffee and do work there!).
Thank you, St. Petersburg!
