A Russian 4th of July!

We wanted to take a day and get out of the city. We rode the bus to the island of Kronstadt. There is a dike that spans the gulf of Finland that connects Kronstadt to the mainland. This is where the bus left us. We had no idea where we were or how to get back to St. Petersburg. It was an adventurous day!

We found a beach where a lot of people were swimming and where there was a great view of this house that was left in the middle of the gulf of Finland.

This is me sticking my head in a cannon.

There were a lot of sweet naval ships.

We rode this boat across the gulf of Finland. It was pretty rusty and old but it got the job done!

It looked like Kronstadt used to be a successful port city. All the machinery was rusty and gave the place a creepy ambiance. It is interesting to think about what this place used to be like when all those machines worked and when people lived here. What did the people do? Where are they now? Russia is so interesting!

We finally made it to Peterhof, the summer palace of Peter the Great. The palace is in the background, but we just explored the gardens which were pretty amazing. Peter the Great was known for his successful navy. He recognized that water was very powerful and wanted his gardens to reflect this. There were about 20 beautiful fountains throughout the grounds. This is the main fountain where Peter is ripping open the mouth of the Lion. The water is coming out of the Lion's mouth.

Grill dawg. Phil is a gangstar.

The Pyramid fountain.

The chessboard fountain. Brennan would have loved this.

Behind me is a canal that goes all the way from Peterhof to the Gulf of Finland.

We had to do something to celebrate Independence Day so we went to McDonalds!

It seemed like everyone else had the same idea because the line was huge!