The Venice of Russia

St. Petersburg is often compared to Venice because of its beautiful winding waterways throughout the city. I was surprised at how different it was from Moscow because it is a lot more European and not as busy. While we were there we stayed with the Ananich family. They were some of the first members of the church in St. Petersburg and it was Brendan's grandparents who introduced them to the gospel. On Sunday we were able to attend church in St. Petersburg, and Brendan was surprised at how much it had grown.

On Monday we went to the Summer Palace. It is a HUGE palace with fountains everywhere. The grounds are filled with flower gardens and guest houses. From the summer palace we took a cruise boat into the city. As you come into the port you are greeted by the Winter Palace. It is also known as The Hermitage. It is a beautiful art gallery, but unfortunately we couldn't go inside because it was closed for cleaning.

Later, we were able to meet up with Alex. He was a foreign exchange student that lived with Brendan's family when he was 16. When Brendan went on his mission he happened to serve in Alex's hometown and baptized him. We spent some time with him throughout the day and went to dinner.

I'm finally getting used to the time schedule here. It was a little hard adjusting to the time difference, and the white nights didn't help. White nights are when it is light out until 11 p.m. In the morning the sun would be shining in through the window and I would wake up and think it was around 8 a.m., but when I looked at my watch it was 4:30 a.m.

Behind us is the Summer Palace called Peterhoff. It is about 20 minutes from St. Petersburg on the coast of the Finnish Bay.

This building is across from the Hermatage. It is the General Staff Building.

These are the arches also attached to the General Staff building, opposite the Hermatage. I'm at the bottom.

Christopher and I are with Kirrel on one of the bridges that goes across a canal running through St Petersburg.

Brendan and I.


Behind us is the church of spilled blood.


Me, Alex, Christopher, and Brendan at the Peter Paul Fortress.