Day Eleven

It’s hard to believe our trip is winding down, we have learned so much and have seen some amazing sights.

Today was another beautiful day. We started off at Church of Christ the Savior on Spilled Blood—a stunning Orthodox Church with the interior comprised entirely of mosaics. It received its name from an assassination attempt of Alexander II in 1881. A bomb was thrown at his carriage as it traveled along the river—The bomb reached its destination, killing the assassin and fatally wounding Tsar Alexander.

In honor of his father Alexander II, Alexander III began construction of the Church in 1883 on the sight of the attack. The structure is simply beautiful and very closely resembles St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow.

After our tour we said a sad goodbye to our tour guide Svetlana and ventured off for the afternoon, exploring St. Petersburg and enjoying each others’ company.

The 12 of us met for dinner at “Café St. Petersburg”—a local, traditional restaurant near Church of Our Savior. This dinner was a special one, as it was our last dinner together. We took advantage of the time together and practiced an honored Russian tradition of toasting. In Russian culture, a group or individual will toast someone in place of giving a gift or present. We took the opportunity to toast Jane, without whom this trip would not have been possible. The toasts expanded to appreciation of our chaperones and recognition of the camaraderie of the group. It has been a phenomenal experience, every personality has contributed and made the trip what its been.

After dinner, we walked to “Ceber” (The Russian word for ‘North’), the most famous bakery as recommended by locals in St. Petersburg. After enjoying dessert there, we understood why!

Thank you again to all our family and friends who have kept up with the blog! We have tremendously appreciated the comments and thoughts—See you all soon!

Gretchen S