17/10/2018 - St. Petersburg / Russia

Today was a private day off. With our car, of course we had a driver and guide, we headed towards Gazprom Tower. We took a couple of pictures from the outside. Unfortunately, it is not yet open for visitors as it is still under construction. Then we continued towards the Football World Cup Stadium, nicknamed the 'UFO'. Are the Russian football players from another planet? We drove for some time to the city center of St. Petersburg. It is a gigantic city with almost 5 million inhabitants. We went from the impressive Avtovo Metro Station through different lines and stops to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery. The metro stations and the long escalators are amazing. We followed it with a beautiful autumn walk through the monastery complex and the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Our driver picked us up again and we headed to have a typical Russian lunch. In the fast food chain Teremok, we indulged ourselves with freshly prepared delicious blinis, pelmenis, and soup. We then went to the Smolny Cathedral. It is a Russian Orthodox Church that is currently undergoing some restoration. It is already great to see from the outside. Now it was time to go back to the ship. Half a day off is unfortunately already over.