St Petersburg is criss-crossed by waterways, not only the River Neva. Several of them pass under the western portion of Nevsky Prospekt. One of these is the Griboyedov Canal which runs from the Church on Spilled Blood to go under the road and on to link the River Moyka to the River Fontanka.

The Moyka River itself (see previous post) runs from the River Fontanka at the Mihailovsky Castle past the Church on Spilled Blood on under Nevsky Propekt eventually to reach the River Neva.

The Fontanka River makes a big half loop round the city centre and under the Anichkov Bridge at Nevsky Propekt:-

There’s always something pleasing about a river in the middle of a city:-

Building, St Isaac’s Square:-

One of St Petersburg’s many palaces:-

Part of another:-

Government building:-

Street scene. Notice the number on the traffic light. This is a countdown clock to when the signals will change. All the road crossings had them. The (animated) “green man” even speeded up his walk as the time ran down. These are brilliant ideas. They should bring them in here:-

Canal with “blue bridge” near St Isaac’s Square:-

It’s amazing what you can see on rooftops:-

A touch of the new (and temporary) and the old.

Fifa 2018 World Cup fan park:-

Reverse of fan park + canal and bridge:-

Main road aspect:-

Contrast that with this typically Russian building right beside the fan park:-

But just over the road from that:-

The stunning Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood:-

The church’s peculiar name arises because it was built as a memorial over the spot where Tsar Alexander II had been assassinated. Unfortunately it was swathed in scaffolding last May.

Church on the Spilled Blood, St Petersburg, from Field of Mars:-

A bridge on the Neva (Troitskiy Bridge?):-

Sampsoniyevskiy Bridge on Bolshaya Nevka, St Petersburg:-

Building and Sampsoniyevskiy Bridge on Bolshaya Nevka:

Weaponry and, below, military vehicles, outside a military museum (of artillery.) Seen through rainy bus windows.

An old sailing ship alongside the Petrovskaya Embankment:-

The same ship from the Kutuzov Embankment across the River Neva. There is what looks to be a mosque in the background here:-

There are two Egyptian sphinxes by the banks of the River Neva in St Petersburg. Our tour guide was quite proud of these. They stand on what is known as the Quay of the Sphinxes. It wa sthe first stop on our first tour.

Sphinx Ornamentation:-

The sphinxes are close to the Blagoveshchensky Bridge Over The River Neva:-

Next we stopped to see the Rostral Towers (or Columns) once beacons for St Petersburg’s original port and another symbol of the city:-

The first stop on the cruise we took last year was … Dundee! It’s only about twenty-five miles or so away from Son of the Rock Acres but it cost £200 less, each, for us to board at Newcastle rather than embark a day later at Dundee. No brainer.

The ship’s docking point in Scotland’s fourth city did give me a view of the Tay Bridge I hadn’t had before, though.

To the extreme right of the above photo is the new V&A Dundee, better seen in the photo below with RSS Discovery and Discovery Point beyond V&A:-

Wandering round the city centre I came across these stone penguins having a wee daunder:-

Nearby was this plaque commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of the Great War. “Dedicated to the glory of god and to those men and women who in all corners of the world gave their lives in service of our beloved country. We Will Remember Them, 11th November 1989.”

Last April we visited Cowden Garden again. (There’s not much chance of another visit in the immediate future.) he garden had come on a bit in its development.

It takes a lot of work to achieve it but there’s something very relaxing about the way a Japanese garden looks:-

Lake and bridge:-

Zen garden, raked in the Japanese style:-

Ornamental stone:-

Lake and pagoda:-

Bridge over lake:-

Path and bridge over lake:-

Tree, lake and bridges:-

Small bridge and Zen garden:-

Closer view:-

Lunch was soup with bread and a coffee.

Cup, Cowden Garden café:-

The Back Burn runs through the Balbirnie Estate on its way from the East Lomond round Markinch and on to the River Leven near Methilhill. It’s good for walks – even when you’re not cooped up by a lockdown.

After wandering under the A 92 and through a wooded glen it runs past the eighteenth hole of the golf course built over half of the estate:-

Then down a cobbled slope:-

Under a bridge:-

On:-

And on:-

Before swinging under another bridge to make a turn under Stob Cross Road across to the railway line and down the east of Markinch:-

One of the things you might not expect to see in Fife but is present in the estate is a Giant Redwood tree:-

There’s a wildlife pond between the boarded path and the redwood as seen from near the burn:-

Balbirnie Estate has a lot of rhododendron plants. They’re just about on the point of coming into flower this year. This was from 2019:-

The original Forth Bridge (the only one which needs no adjective, ie the one which carries the railway.) Taken from South Queensferry on 1/11/2018:-

Forth Road Bridge with new Forth Road Bridge, the Queensferry Crossing, behind. Taken from South Queensferry:-

While at Rochdale we were taken on a day trip to Halifax.

On the M62 we passed Hollingsworth Lake:-

And under this elegant bridge:-

And in Halifax parked near these two contrasting bridges. Old and new:-