The city of St. Petersburg turned 303 years old today. I felt adventurous this year and decided to take Timothy out to the local parade. Overall we both enjoyed the day, but there were so many people and we were forced to stand the entire time. We probably spent three hours watching the parade!

The first float which came down the street the carried the MC for parade. He was talking and sharing about the parade as he float went by and then all of a sudden he started addressing the people who owned apartments along Nevsky, the parade route. He started shaming them for not cleaning their windows on such a special day. I thought this quite funny especially which followed not far behind him was polluting the city like crazy. For those of you who remember smoke balls, this float was like the ultimate yellow smoke ball. Timothy and I were coughing and hacking so much until it passed.

Here is a character from a famous Russian animated cartoon series caught in the smoke of this float. This is taken at ground level right in front of us.


Here is the float a train which made all the smoke.

A famous Russian actor and figure skater who lead one of the floats.

Another cute little float.

Each region of the city provided a different float. Businesses and other groups also had their own floats and entries into the parade.

Happy Mother’s Day! It wasn’t fancy, but we celebrate the big day by taking a family walk to the local hotel to see the tulips in bloom. The weather and sun were lovely this evening. Sometimes the simple things in life make all the difference.

The family trying to make a picture together. Oh well, you get the idea…


The lovely mother on her special day. Cute too!!!






















The tulip patch – a reflection of the creator’s beauty.

The Tsar’s Village is one of our favorite countryside parks and palace in the entire St. Petersburg region. It’s a nice place to take a quiet walk and has a lovely little restaurant on top of a tower overlooking the lake. It’s a great place to take a break from busy city life.

Timothy loved all the statues on this trip and was calling all of them “Jesus!”. We had to explain that not all statues were of Jesus. Here is Timothy next to one of the statues with which he started having a conversation. Oh the funny things that kids do…


Ramona standing in front of a lovely little marble bridge. Unfortunately the bridge is gated off and nobody is allowed to use it. Not very practical if you ask me, but a lovely edition to the park’s décor none the less.


This is an angle shot of the palace. Recently the palace had been restored both inside and out including the famous amber room. It is a room in which the walls from floor to ceiling a decorated with amber. There are many pictures and decorations made out of this stone. The colors range from reds, to oranges, to yellows, to browns. Amazing!