We were well organised this morning to pack up and breakfast before meeting our guide for our 3.5hr walking tour of the Hermitage (Errgh-me-targe). Breakfast is a finely tuned event complete with picnic lunch procurement. We really like the bread here for our subs and the quality of the ham and cheese is good also. They even have 1l bottled water on the buffet which the Aussies gave us the lead of taking for the day. The fruit, yoghurts, water and subs must save us about $25 each and provide a tasty and healthy meal.

Our hotel Petro Palace is an easy flat 10-15 minute walk from the Hermitage and Palace Square. It is probably one of the most iconic and grand sights in St Petersburg – along with the Cathedrals and Fortress with its fresh soft green and white paint, Baroque style decorations in gold and statues standing guard at the roof line. Originally a winter palace built by Peter the Great’s daughter Elizabeth and designed by Italian architects, it now houses the art collection of Catherine the Great, State Treasury collection and vast collections of just about anything else ranging from authentic Greek and Egyptian antiquities, Leonardos, Rembrandt’s, Dutch masters, and modern masters like Renoir, Van Gough, Picasso and Cezanne.

The palace complex is HUGE and covers several buildings along the waterfront – each joined to the other. It was always going to be impossible to see as much as we would like, but in hindsight I cant work out why the tour company who are so called experts only allowed us a few hours here – when one could spend days here. And having had a taster, it was a real highlight and we could have done a whole day here and dropped one of the other palaces all together or in half. So our tip is make time for the Hermitage for both collections and the actual royal rooms that are available to walk through – so you get a palace tour and a museum.

Our guide was her usual bumble over the tickets so it took a little while to get in and we were on a real stop watch. The entry (past security) takes you up a grand staircase with gilded reliefs, mirrors, chandeliers and marble. This entrance set the scene for more stunning rooms with displays that had us oohing and aahing in wonder.

Particularly stand out experiences included the malachite room (green mineral found in Ural Mountains), the Throne room with a parquet floor made from 16 different types of wood, the Pavillon room lined in chandelier and displaying a massive moving peacock clock (British made), and special wooden furniture including inlaid masterpieces spanning many different design periods. One was made of a special Russian white beech and delightfully patterned. There was also some sublime old Roman mosaic – gosh so many treasures and delights – even the dark timbered library complete with balcony.

After we had toured the main palace rooms we really didn’t have much time at all before our time slot to enter the Treasury rooms at 12:30. The Treasury houses the personal collections from the Romanov’s to the time of Peter the Great. This area did not allow photos which is a shame but it does make viewing a lot smoother when you don’t have to navigate everyone trying to get a picture of the display.

This museum section was a veritable Aladdins cave. Our tour was museum guided and strictly timed at each exhibit with our personal guide translating. Jewellery commenced with Ancient Greek and Asian Scythian gold and super intricate works dating 3rd and 4th century BC onwards – all pure gold. Some jewellery over 1,000 years old are so fine you need a magnifying glass to appreciate them. They have a few pieces under magnifying glass so you can see the detail. Apparently to this day they have been unable to replicate this workmanship or technique. Along with collections from around the world – ancient and of the applicable royal time – there were personal items and gifts from jewelled snuff boxes, travel toilet kits, religious icons, jewellery and even elaborate 50 odd carat diamond horse adornment and blankets which were gifts from Turkish royalty. On top of the diamonds were also many other precious gems including a 27ct emerald shaped into a fancy little boat…. and gorgeous orangey red spinel and many beautiful different blue hued sapphire in yummy step cut shapes.

I am a real bling lover, but the amount of diamonds crusted everywhere was to the point of obscene – like confetti scattered at a wedding covering ceremonial swords, blankets, buckles, and boxes so plentiful they lost their uniqueness and special quality. On reflection the scale of wealth the Tsars/royalty had was immense, however this abundance and their heavily and gaudily jewelled icons failed to protected them from murder, illness (epilepsy, Haemophilia and high infant mortality), coups or revolution.

After this tour it was time to stroll back to our hotel and get transferred to the Finlandia train station which does the bullet train to Helsinki. We had first class tickets – as we like to for longer trips, this one being 4 hours.

The Allegro train is an Italian built fast train. The St Petersburg to Helsinki service is jointly operated and 50/50 owned by Russia and Finland. The staff are Finnish and it is a class above the other one we went on (not that it was bad, just noting the difference between trains). Pretty natural plantinum blond and Baltic blue eyed border control Finnish females and three border control passport checks by both Russian and Finnish.

The food is really tasty, I had a salmon and shrimp salad and a really interesting Finnish ‘bread’ shaped like a little boat with a rice mix in the middle, and a caramel mousse. Juice selection included Billberry (Blueberry). The bread in particular was really nice, I will have to look that one up. Also there were thin slices of a pumpernickel type bread with sunflower seeds which was also very delicious with a good butter. Vern had a lovely beef salad. Coffee and tea was unlimited via a self serve Nespresso machine for us royalty. No free winesy this time, but that was quite ok. The scenery is still green but with a bit more farming/agricultural use and small towns. We passed a lake, through a few towns that got progressively tidier the closer we got to the Finnish border and beyond. We also passed through a decent sized forested area of conifer type trees.

Arrival and transfer at the train station was easy and quick as customs was complete and we had google mapped our hotel on the free wifi on the train so knew to turn left, go across the square and there was our Raddison Blue hotel in sight – 5 minutes walk max. Check in was first class with perfect barely accented English – as one would expect from a 5* hotel. Room is very nice, comfortable and very modern. The bed is super sized and super comfortable with feather soft light pillows. Yes, I am feeling more at home here.

I am reminded again of those who believe a hotel on holiday is just a bed and not such an important part of the holiday. For both of us we consider it very differently. Firstly its location, location, location – in respect of a safe area, easy transport links, well placed to see the things you want to see, well placed for reasonable dining, AND its a place that is your second home when the day is done. It’s where you go to sleep and recharge ready for being able to make the most of your sight seeing or other travel experiences. It also can set the tone for your experience at that location. So money spent on the best positioned, comfortable and clean bed is a good investment in our experience.

Back to Helsinki, we debated whether to go out to Sibelius monument which is a little out of the centre, but felt it would make for a too late a night and we would like to relax a little and catch my tail with blogs. Our meal on the train was quite satisfying so we didn’t feel we needed dinner, especially after last nights mammoth event, so we freshened up and went for an evening stroll to get an ice cream and some fresh raspberries.

Helsinki presents itself as a modern, clean city. Saturday night was blessed with lovely warm 18 degrees which is pretty good for this Northern late summer evening. There were lots of people around, a few that had too much to drink, and a few homeless and drunks near the train station – albeit no one causing trouble and we felt very safe wandering around. I tried to buy some Finnish vodka at a supermarket but the alcohol section was all closed up after 9pm, so they must limit sales after a certain time. No worries, the bar at the hotel sorted me out; Finnish like to drink it with ginger ale and fresh lime squeeze. It was nice, but really couldn’t taste anything with the mix – so will try a schnapps shot next time to compare it to the smooth Russian one!