Third Port of Call: St. Petersburg, Russia (Part 4)

When I read our tour included seeing subway station I thought instead of taking a bus, we would navigate St. Petersburg via subway. 

I was wrong.

Many of the St. Petersburg Metro Stations are works of art. Follow the link to see images of other stations.

The first station was built in 1955 during the Soviet era. Rather than looking like Soviet-era architecture, the two stations we saw looked classical in style.

To be fair, Nadya, our tour guide, said only 70% of the 67 stations are as glamorous as the two we went to. They still use a token to pay for their fare. A token is worth about $1 USD.

We started with the one pictured on top: Abtoba (Avtova), the oldest station, and perhaps the most beautiful one. It's other claim to fame is it is the closest to the surface, and therefore the only one without an escalator. Others are built a lot deeper because St. Petersburg is on marshy soil.

The two metro stations we went to are both on the red line. Nadya told us in Russia red is considered to be beautiful, therefore the Red Line is the most beautiful. As we did not visit other lines, I'll take her word for it. They are designed to look like temples. There is a lot of marble and granite. Each station is a work of art marveling the churches, palaces, and art museum we also visited on our trip.



My observations: the trains are frequent. By frequent, I mean in the ten minutes we stood admiring the station at least five trains came in the station. 

The subway cars seem to have very little advertising, though it did have some.

Nadya pointed out the lights blink in the cars one car at a time. It is an old system. I did not note why this is the case.

The purple and green lines have new trains.

The stations are heated in the winter and are actually too warm on a cold day.

Subway map

The cars look antique by our standards, but they clearly work.

A group shot. Nadya said it never happens her group gets a subway car to themselves, so she had us take a picture as proof. She used my camera as back up to her phone.

The stop in-between the two we went to.
Nadya, our tour guide.

Many Soviet symbols throughout the stations.

Did not note which station we went to next.

Statues of ordinary people throughout the station.
Very Communist/Socialist in theme.

The outside of the second station.

Like magic Alex and our bus were waiting for us as we left the station. First we saw this triumphant arch built after the war with Napoleon. Reminded me of the Brandenburg Gate we saw a couple of days earlier in Berlin. This is artwork, which was not explained, on the side of a building.








We must have been doing a good job keeping our pace because we had time for two souvenir stops. The first one was by our request: we went to Hard Rock Cafe and the three of us each bought a t-shirt. It was speed shopping time. How much is a Russian Ruble compared with a US Dollar? Oh well, the price is the price.

From here we went to a souvenir shop with a lot more options for everyone. Bialashu, the panda bear, is ours. We brought him along so he could get some stamps in his passport. A blog post for a future date. I did buy a pair of red "Faberge" egg-shaped earrings.

After our souvenir stop, we boarded a boat for a canal ride, and the end of day one. Pictures and post later. By the end of the boat ride we were ready to return to the cruise ship and rest up for another day of adventures. Nadya runs a tight schedule, all the better to see everything. Her other claim to fame as a tour guide was she knows where the best free bathrooms are. We never went more than 90 minutes without the opportunity for a bathroom break. She encouraged each of us to "try," because you never know when you'll find another. Having been on other kinds of tours, this was very welcome.