It was much quicker through Immigration today: they just check your stamps from yesterday. As a result I had 15 minutes to check out the souvenirs in the terminal.

First stop today was around the corner where we picked up another couple from the Celebrity ship. Chin and Li are from Singapore and visit Sydney every couple of years. Her sister lives a few blocks from Hillsong and they love going there with her when they’re visiting.

First stop was a photo shoot at the memorial to the victims of the Revolution. There was an eternal flame but unfortunately two inebriated young men were sitting on it, having an argument, so I didn’t take a picture of it – too disrespectful! It’s a beautiful, quiet garden. We could see Peter the Great’s statue and the Church on the Spilled Blood from here.

The Hermitage Museum was next. We had decided to ensure that we saw the Old Masters and the period costumes. With Elena’s skill we jumped the long queues, avoided wasting precious minutes in the bathroom queue by going to a hidden facility she showed us, and proceeded to be enthralled by over-sensory brilliance all around us. On our way to where we were heading, we walked through room after extraordinary room of opulence and exquisite art. Elena was able to focus our little group on all the small details, while giving us a constant description and history of many, many works of art: her knowledge is astounding.

Having read the novel based factually on the Hermitage during the Seige of Leningrad, I was very conscious of the story of what had happened during those 900 days within these walls; none of these facts were mentioned by the tour guide. This connection with the history as we walked along added significantly to my Hermitage experience.

We had some free time when we got to the masters and again, Claude Monet was a focus for me; they had some works on load from a special exhibition which you can’t photograph. Our last stop was the special costume exhibition, showcasing actual outfits worn by both Empress Catherine and Peter the Great: beautifully preserved as if you could wear them now.

I’ll only put in a couple of pictures because a picture can’t begin to do the Hermitage justice. This is Catherine the Great; it looks like a painting but if you zoom in, you can see that it is made of tiny mosaics, created from precious stones.

Lunchtime was a little cafe and incredibly cheap; we saw four wedding parties in the square where we had some shopping time. This couple was having a retro wedding, their attendant told us:

Next, the Church on the Spilled Blood (renamed from Church of the Resurrection because a nobleman was murdered there).

This icon is actually what you see when you look straight up under the highest cupola – as the guide said: Jesus Christ is Lord over all. It’s very, very high up:

We had a river cruise but it started raining a few minutes out and the camera took beautiful shots of the raindrops on the windows! It’s a great perspective seeing the city from the water – the architecture is so attractive and delightful everywhere.

And finally to the Church of St Isaac – a totally different entrance and very unusual for an Orthodox church.

The creations inside were again exquisite.

Standing right on the centre spot in the nave, on incredibly intricate tiles, and looking straight up to the icon in the highest cupola, many metres above, this is what you see – the symbol of the Holy Spirit: truly beautiful.

There was an active “chapel” on the left of the church, with the holy gate, where pictures were not allowed, so again this is an active centre of worship which is also a museum.

It was time to bid my guide and companions goodbye. In two days we’ve become friends and exchanged details.

I booked this individual tour because it was recommended and was hundreds of dollars cheaper than the equivalent ship excursion. When it was my turn to pay, I found it was 25% cheaper than I had been expecting: what a gift!

A storm was brewing in the distance as I had my evening walk before retiring.

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