[Mural]

[Early communal building]

[The Narva Triumphal Arch]

The day starts with another one of Peter's Walking Tours. This time it's the Communist Legacy tour. We get a quick tour of selected metro stations with murals depicting key moments from the Official Soviet version of history such as Lenin's return from exile in April 1917 at Финляндский вокзал

We emerge from the metro in the Kirovsky suburb of St. Petersburg, built in the early 1920s, not long after the revolution. The first sight is the Narva Triumphal Arch, which celebrates the Russian victory over Napoleon, in 1814. Dominating the street nearby is a vast mural, which was completed in 1967 for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution.

[Kirov]

[Kirovsky District administration]

[Kirovskaya Square]

Next, we head into the residential complex. The buildings are apparently Soviet Constructivist style - stark, unornamented and designed for communal living. While this may have been a novel and desirable style in the 1920s, today this is a poor, crumbling neighbourhood.

Amongst the housing, we come across a school, with an unusual shape. Curved walls, protruding bits. After some prompting from the guide, we work out that the buildings form the shape of a hammer and sickle.

The official end of the tour is a crêperie, for breakfast. And after that, we head back into the city to see the few remaining sights we're interested in.

First off is the Russian Ethnography Museum. While we've seen Moscow and St. Petersburg, I want to find out a bit about the rest of Russia. It's a big place, and there are displays from all over - lots of ethnic dress and a yurt. It's ultimately pretty dry, and I leave a little disappointed.

[Blood Church]

[Damage from the Siege of Leningrad]

We walk past the Church on the Spilled Blood, busy as usual. We notice shell damage which we hadn't noticed before. The guide book tell us that this panel was left unrestored to mark the Siege of Leningrad.

Our next stop is St. Isaac's Cathedral. We're planning to go up to the dome. However, when we get there, we're alarmed to see a huge, slow moving queue. Thankfully we quickly find some more supporting evidence for my First Rule of Russian Queuing ("Don't stand in the huge, slow moving queue - there's almost always a better way") in the shape of a short fast-moving queue for the use of foreigners.

[Staircase down]

[St. Isaac's Cathedral]

[St. Petersburg from St. Isaac's Cathedral]

The view from the top is splendid, particularly towards the river and Palace Square, and every man and their dog knows it. While I patiently try to assemble enough photos to stitch into a panorama without annoying too many people, Cathy sits and rests her foot. When I've decided that I can't take any more without risking getting thrown over the edge, I return and find Cathy surrounded by guidebooks, swapping howtos with a couple of backpackers. I quickly join in, describing our experience visiting the Kremlin.

[Random building]

[Winter Palace from the Neva]

[Canal]

[Blood Church]

[Blood Church]

[Bank Bridge]

[Lions Bridge]

The final thing we what to do in St. Petersburg to take a boat trip on the canal. We take a somewhat unscientific approach, wandering down Невский Проспект until we see one advertising a reasonably average price and which looks full enough that it might set off shortly. We're reasoning that they'll all take much the same route.

The boat trip is only slightly alarming, and floats very convincingly on the canals, although the excursion on the Нева proper feels reassuringly touch-and-go. All in all, it's a comprehensive trip and another angle of looking at the city.

Dinner is at a chain-looking restaurant on Невский Проспект notable mainly for its wide array of stuffed dead animals including the earthly remains of a couple of chickens on the table which put Cathy off her food once she notices them.

And that's it. It's an early night for us - we need to be up in the wee hours to get to the airport to fly home.