St. Petersburg....We made it

We will spend two days in this town.  This morning we took a panoramic tour of the highlights and tomorrow The Hermitage Museum.

Our guide, Yanna, opened up with the statement that if you want to get things done here you have to bribe the officials.  All during our ride, she kept describing the bad conditions in Russia; the low
salaries, poor housing, etc. I began to wonder how she ever obtained a job as a tourist guide.  When
I was here 50 + years ago as a guest of the Russian gov't everything was milk and honey.  Of course,
that was under the Soviet Union.  Nevertheless, St. Petersburg is a remarkable city, filled with history
of the early Tsars, founded by Peter the Great in the 1700s after his visits to Western Europe where
he was enchanted by its culture and buildings.

I tried to get a picture of the last tsar of the Russians but I could only find one of the early monarchs
and his royal family. (Please note that this photo was taken many years ago)

I'll try to write tomorrow after our visit to the Hermitage.