After we had settled into our hotel, we went off for some orientation.We walked to the Metro (found it eventually - it was a church that had been converted). The escalators were long - takes over 2 minutes to go down them.After checking out the Hermitage, we decided to walk down main street to see where all the sites were.It was an interesting walk - the city is full of tourists but much more affluent than I expected.We stopped at a cathedral. Inside there were lots of women queuing to kiss icons, light candles etc.The cathedral had been a museum to atheism less than 15 years ago.We looked for somewhere quick and easy to eat - after the initial shock at Russian prices we eventually found somewhere - a sushi bar!The next day it was off to the Hermitage.We went in the wrong way but found ourselves in the queue anyway - this was fortunate as the main queue was 20 mins long and in the rain.It is difficult to express the size and opulence of the Winter Palace and Hermitage. The scale of the placeis enormous - with beautifully decorated rooms especially the ceilings.We justwandered aroundlooking at the building and taking in some of the exhibits as we went.Doing this we happened upon a couple of Da Vincis!After exploring the first floor we went upstairs to the worst rooms in the place where it seemed there was gallery after gallery of 19th/20th century masterpieces - Picasso, Cézanne, Van Gough and more.Most of them seem to have been acquired from one Russian who must have collected them before he got bumped off in the revolution.After the heavy day,we went out for a good dinner - Spanish this time - Fran had 2 glasses of local champagne for the price of my beer.They have a different twist on free chocolates with the bill - here you get 2 sticks of Wrigley gum!The following day, we took in the rest of the city sights.First stop was a very colourful cathedral that was the site of Tsar Alexander II'sexecution and is almost a shrine - inside it was richly decorated with what seemed like paintings but on close inspection were mosaics.Over the river to Peter and Paul fortress - an enormous place.In the middle was a cathedral where all the Tsars have been buried.We were going round it and Fran got most excited - there was Sally Nealon- a friend from home.She was doing a tour through the Russian rivers, although Fran knew this, she didn't think they would be in the same city at the same time.Stopped off to see view of the fountain in the river - as it seems were all the brides in St. Petersburg.After that we went up to ST. Isaac cathedral to climb up the dome - fantastic views.We did not go round the cathedral as we were churched out!