Quiet times in St Petersburg

It's getting cold.  The tourists are gone.  Business travelers are noticeably less, due to various reasons both politically & economically. 

So you'll notice not many people in my pictures from this past weekend.  It's not intentional.  They just around there

The fountain near the Hermitage Museum is freezing over

I kind of like the Palace Square when it's empty

The should be removing the boats soon, before the canals start to freeze

Idiot parking!

I find the back sides of the building very interesting.  They put a lot of effort into making sure the fronts of the buildings are freshing painted.  But the back shows the reality.

I walk past the building often.  But didn't realize it was the place where Alexander Pushkin (famous Russian writer and poet) died after his dual with his wife's alleged lover.

 

 

A small chapel

I should have brought some stale bread!  The food must be running out for these birds

Yet another monument to Peter the Great....  This one is in front of the Mikhailovsky (St. Michael's) Castle, and was built towards the end of the 18th Century

The bronze reliefs on the sides depict two battles fought and won against the Finnish by Peter (the Battles of Poltava and Hango)

 

Rubbed clean for good luck

That's all for now.  Off to London this weekend, so I would expect a pub crawl post in the near future :)