Business Trip to the Netherlands: Detour to Moscow and St. Petersburg

I work for an international energy company with offices in Den Haag, Netherlands. For the past few months, several people from my office have traveled to the Netherlands to work there for a few weeks at a time. Recently I had the same opportunity. I stayed in Den Haag for almost three weeks, so I had plenty of chances to explore the surrounding area, but I wanted to start the trip with some adventure: Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Flights were surprisingly inexpensive (everything is more expensive in Europe right?). The fare on Lufthansa was around $75. Taxes brought the total to $250. Considering that Moscow is more than 1500 miles from Amsterdam, and that a flight from Houston to a city 1500 miles away would more than likely cost $400 on such short notice, I think I got a great deal.

I flew to Moscow's new Vnukovo airport. This is just one bit of evidence that I saw that told me Moscow is a growing city. In fact I saw many new construction projects while I was there. This new airport was a pleasant change from most American airports I have experienced within the past few years. There was an emphasis on visual design that is often absent in more practical American designs.

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

From the airport I took a train to the Leningradsky rail station that connects with the Moscow Metro system. On the way I had to transfer trains and decided to explore the station a bit. The station was beautifully decorate with marble and communist artwork.

When I arrived at the rail station I had dinner. I'm not sure what I ate, but it was cut from this post of meat.

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

Also the station featured a monument to Lenin (the station is named for him after all).

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

I slept in a two-bed cabin on the overnight train to St. Petersburg. Riding with me in the cabin was a young woman who claimed to be a lawyer working for Gazprom. Later she admitted that she wasn't a lawyer in reality... I think maybe she was trying to impress me. We had breakfast in the morning. The train food wasn't bad.

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

The train left around midnight and arrived around 8 AM, so I was able to see the train in daylight for the first time when I arrived.

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

I walked around the station for a while trying to find a restroom.

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

Finally I found one despite my lack of understanding of cyrillic (eventually I could sound out most words, but not at this point).

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

Inside I started a habit of taking photos in the restroom (probably not a good idea if anyone is looking).

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

The train station was within walking distance of most of the best sites to see, so I started out on foot taking photos along the way. Many of the buildings are designed by Italian architects and resemble the buildings of Amsterdam.

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

Many of the buildings were being washed as I passed by... perhaps they were washing off the remnants of winter ahead of the coming tourist season.

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

I saw the Kazan Cathedral and stopped for a tea across the street while a rainstorm passed. After the rain cleared I wandered back out and took a riding tour of the city.

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

The tour guides spoke English fairly and took me to several must-see sites around the city. I saw a battleship with some historical significance. My favorite site of the tour was the Church of the Savior on Blood.

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

The fence surrounding the church was very impressive.

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

After this tour I continued on foot toward the Hermitage Museum, also known as the Winter Palace. The sun was peeking out as I arrived.

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

Inside the museum I saw many beautiful decorations and masterpieces of art.

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

From the Hermitage I left to take some more photos of the buildings around the city before sunset.

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

Eventually I had dinner and went back to the train station for my trip to Moscow.

From Moscow and St. Petersburg

Check back soon for photos from Moscow and beyond.