http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/28461 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/28461 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24034
Walk the streets of Dostoevsky, like in Crime and Punishment, following the footsteps of Raskolnikov. There are even special tours which visit the places. See the fading yellow buildings, looming large, driving to madness. The squalor and poverty he personally experienced is reflected in his novels. There is also a Dosteovsky museum where he used to live.

Walk alongside the mighty Neva, with it's granite embankments, so glorified by Pushkin. Or the Bronze horseman depicting city founder Peter the Great looming large over the city. Pushkin house is a museum.

Walk down Nevsky Prospekt.
'All powerful Nevsky Prospekt' said Gogol in his sketch bearing the name of this famous street.
Imagine yourself in Petersburg to be in a Gogolian nightmare. This is the little man pittted against the big artificial city with it's structures of power and insane obedience to rank and status.

Watch the sheer artificiality and pre planning of old Petersburg as Tsar Peter dragged Russia forward with a European capital as a window on the west, the facades, ensembles, baroque and the squares. Built on cold rationale as a complete antithesis to the Russian soul. As Dostoevsky said--'the most abstract and artificial city on earth'

Anna Akhmatova was a Soviet poet, who variously lost husband and son to the Gulag camps. You can visit her apartment.

Petersburg- city of words. This is a map of the city with literary quotations from people associated with it.
mtblog.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/St_pete_map_web-1.jpeg]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/24034 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/23975
I really enjoyed it. It may not be as famous as the Hermitage, but it is a far more authentic Russian experience as it only has Russian art. The queues are far shorter as well, which is a bonus!

After the Revolution, the museum benefited massively from state confiscations of privately owned artworks. The museum's collection includes over 400,000 artworks covering the complete history of Russian art, from 11th century icons to work by contemporary artists.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/23975 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/23966
Everywhere seems to offer a cheaper price for Russians than it does for foreigners, though there are ways to pay slightly less. Most places accept student cards and the OAP age is about 50, so if you are old or young you can get a discount.

I was lucky enough to go with Russian speakers, and we just pretended we were Russian usually!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/23966 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12054
In fact, it takes just a few minutes to get to the Hermitage (what a museum!). What is more, Nevsky Prospect is amazing: this boulevard was built in the 18th century and it is full of Italian and French influence: Saint Petersburg is really the union of two different cultures!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12054 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5820 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5820 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/3797
The first sight of it will linger always in the memory; the dominant blue, decorated with gold and white trimmings is overwhelming given the scale of the building. It contains the famous amber room, which is panelled entirely with amber taken from the Russian forests. The original is said to have been destroyed or stolen during the second world war, no one knows the truth, but they've just finished restoring it using the same original methods and materials.

Apparently Elton John played in the lavish ballroom not long ago - I'm surprised he hasn't put in an offer yet.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/3797 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/3832
Besides an exhibition on the mad monk, you can view most of the rooms, which include one in a fabulous Moorish style and a superb miniature Rococo theatre that's hard to tear yourself away from.

The staff are used to coach parties, so seem a little surprised if you turn up on your own, but with a bit of sign language they're quite amenable.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/3832 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/3322 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/3322