On our last morning in St Petersburg, we decided to do our own thing, rather than go on the
organised tour to Catherine's palace at Tsarskoye Selo, which we had visited before.

We took the bus to a central point along St Petersburg's main avenue, Nevsky Prospect.
From there we were able to walk to three "must-see" attractions, located within easy walking distance of each other.

Nevsky Prospect, facing Gostiny Dvor's long arcade, which is the equivalent to Moscow's GUM store

 

The Russian Museum

We almost abandoned our attempt to visit the museum because we couldn't use our credit card at the ticket office. Despite the familiar VISA logo clearly on display, the ticket seller shrugged in an exaggerated manner, waved her arms furiously, then pointed at, lunged towards and finally slapped the credit card machine uttering the words "Kaput! Rouble only!"
We got the message.
Luckily, we found an ATM at the Europa hotel nearby
where we got some Roubles.

We were very pleased that we made the effort because there was some wonderful Russian works of art to see.

Above: Fyodor Vasilyev (1850 - 1873)
View onto the Volga, Barges (1870)

Above: Aleksei Savrasov (1830 - 1897)
Sunset over a Marsh (1871)

Above: Fyodor Vasilyev (1850 - 1873)
Marsh in a Forest, Autumn (1872/3)

Above: Vasily Smirnov (1858 - 1890)
Nero's death (1888)

Fiodor Kamensky (1836 - 1913)
First step (1872)

Above: I.I. Shishkin (1832 - 1898)
Winter (1890)

Above: Grigory Myasoyedov (1834 - 1911)
Harvest Time (Scythers) (1887)

Above: Vladimir Makovsky (1846 - 1920)
Dosshouse (1889)

Above: Illarion Pryanishnikov (1840 - 1894)
Easter Procession (1893)

Above: K.A. Savitsky (1845 - 1905)
To the War (1888)

Above: Ilya Repin (1844 - 1930)
Barge Haulers on the Volga (1870)

Above: Ilya Repin (1844 - 1930)
Belorussian (1892)

Above: Arkhip Kuindzhi (1842 - 1910)
Moonlit Night on the Dnieper (1880)

Avove: Pushkin statue (with birdies!) in Arts Square, in front of the Russian Museum

Above: The Bronze Horseman, built by order of the Empress Catherine the Great
as a tribute to her famous predecessor on the Russian throne, Peter the Great.

Tea and cake were served every afternoon on the ship. We were very restrained most days, but as this was our last full day, we decided to make an exception.

A few last views of the harbour as we prepared to leave, en-route for Helsinki

"Leningrad" still proudly proclaims the entrance to St Petersburg's harbour

Above: Kronstadt Cathedral

That evening, we were lucky enough to be invited
to dine at the table of our cruise director, Jannie.