Leaving the State Hermitage Museum I was heading out along the English Embankment so that I wouldn't have to come this way again, covering the sights at this end.

I was heading to the Rumyantsev Mansion which I thought was a private stately home. It was in fact now used as a museum of the occupation and siege of Leningrad the former name of St Petersburg during WWII.

There were some interesting displays and a wooden upper staircase to the top floor. It was deserted in comparison to the Hermitage not being that prominent of the tourist site.

Then I walked back towards St Isaacs Cathedral which is the most prominent gold dome in the city also visible from my hotel room. After lining to get the ticket from my tourist pass she gave me a receipt.

I then went to the entrance turnstiles but you had to scan your barcode which I didn't have. I'm not sure what she had given me but I had to line up again at her window to show her the ticket was no good.

I didn't know if she would remember me or deny giving me a ticket but she did remember, spoke a bit of English, and was holding my tickets for me. She said I had walked away even though I showed the receipt and asked if that was the ticket.

Now I could go in I decided to go up the tower first. There was no elevator and you have to climb a stone spiral staircase. It then becomes a smaller metal spiral staircase.

This only opens you up onto the roof. You then have to walk up a long open rung staircase outside on the roof to get onto the dome itself. Still freaked out by the long metro escalators and with height anxiety I couldn't climb up an outdoor staircase like that and decided to go back down after a while.

At the bottom I couldn't exit out as this is actually only the up staircase and there is a separate down staircase. Now I used my separate ticket to get into the Cathedral.

Like other Orthodox Churches it had very detailed artwork painted all inside the arches and domes. It was quite an impressive gallery of artwork.