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Six Year Gap Year

Long term solo travel on a budget.

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A short bus ride from the city centre is the beautiful sky blue Smolny Cathedral, part of Smolny Convent. The interior is bright white and full of golden icons, a change from the usual dark and colourful cathedrals. ☦️ You can pay 150R and climb ancient steps and rickety ladders to the top of the bell tower, and you're rewarded with stunning views of the city and the Neva River. Add this one to your St Petersburg To-Do List!

The Hermitage. The most popular tourist attraction in St Petersburg, and the second largest art museum in the world. It's also one of the most beautiful! The interior is even more impressive as it was the former residence of Russian emperors. ☦️ Over three million items are housed across six historic buildings; the Winter Palace (photo), the Menshikov Palace, the Museum of Porcelain, the Storage Facility at Staraya Derevnya, and the eastern wing of the General Staff Building. ☦️ It's always busy, but mornings are especially chaotic with all of the tour groups going at that time. Late afternoons are the best time to visit. The first Thursday of the month is free, but you'll have to queue for hours!

St Isaac's Cathedral in St Petersburg is the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral in the city and the fourth largest in the world, it's golden dome dominates the city skyline. ☦️ It was built in the 1800's and now houses a museum. You can also climb up to the collonade for incredible views. The most impressive part is the columns, each made from a single piece of red granite!

Across the Neva River is the island fortress of Peter and Paul, the original citadel of St Petersburg, built in the 1700's. ☦️ Inside you can see the Peter and Paul Cathedral and its bell tower (the tallest in the city), you can walk along the fortress walls or visit the bastion and its grim prison cells.

My first onion-domed church! No it's not St Basil's Cathedral, it's the smaller (and almost as beautiful) Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood in St Petersburg. ☦️ It was built in memory of Alexander II, who was assassinated in 1881. The church stands in the very place where a bomb was thrown into his carriage by a young man who opposed the Tsar's reforms. ☦️ One of his main accomplishments was to bring an end to slavery of the Russian peasantry, five years before the emancipation of slaves in the USA.

Always sad to say goodbye to friends and family, but as soon as I get on that flight the excitement kicks in! ✈️ Although I had a nightmare arrival into Russia: my flight landed at 1am, my pre-booked taxi didn't show up so I got massively ripped off by the airport taxi driver, walked around for an hour asking strangers where my hostel was because it was in an unmarked building with a code to get in that a random bartender had to call them to get. To top it all off, I was in a dorm full of snoring men. Worst start to this adventure! But it can only get better...

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