The Dutch have many names and stereotypes. From being tall wearing clogs with tulips in our hands to having a head of cheese while smoking weed in orange clothes. But we are never called coffee addicts or caffeinators whereas we are one of the biggest coffee drinking nations on earth. We drink an average of 2.4 cups of coffee a day and on average we consume 8.4 kilograms of coffee a year. That’s more than the Italians, even more than the Finnish, hell it’s more than any other country on earth (statistics from Statista 1st of October 2020).
Nonetheless, no one thinks of coffee when they think of the Dutch, or the other way around. In The Netherlands I’m sure that The Hague is the capital of coffee. It’s the only city where the traditional coffee houses are still standing. Traditional coffee houses are tiny homes, often not more than a shed, on the side of the road where workers come to drink a coffee and have some bread. I even made a book about this Dutch phenomenon (Bakkie Pleuâh). But this time I’m not showing you this coffee house, I’m gonna show you a place where we go every week to get one of the best coffees of The Hague.
Bij Fleur
Around the corner of our home is ‘Bij Fleur’, a small very cute coffee house feeling like home. Besides wonderful coffee (from Roast Coffee) Fleur also sells the most delicious home made cakes. Oh and breakfast, lunch and even beer from The Hague. So, before going on this trip to the other side of the world we of course went to have our last cup of coffee at Fleur.
Fleur dreamed of owning her own coffee house. What attracts Fleur the most about owning a coffee house is that it is so much more than just a place where you get coffee. It’s a meeting place where people relax, work, maintain friendships. Besides, it is the stories behind the people who come to get that cup of coffee and you honestly get to know each other. Whenever we go to Fleur we always have a chat and she is very interested in the stories of everyone. That’s why people keep coming day in day out, week in week out. Fleur, and of course her employees, do make this a place not only to get coffee & cake but also a place to share emotions, stories and whatever you want to share.
Especially during the covid-19 lockdown, people are stuck in their homes and often see no one except Fleur. She has become an outing, getting a cup of coffee, talking to someone, having a social connection. It is very important and Fleur is always there and in for a little chat. She sees it when people are feeling a bit down, when someone needs some attention, when a person is emotionally drained. Thus, Fleur’s coffee house becomes a very important place.
Something I really love about Fleur is that she is using products from local businesses. The coffee is from Roast Coffee which is not only a friend of us but honestly does serve the best coffee of the city. The bread is from Lekker Brood, tea from Kali Tengah and cheese from Ed Boele, all local organisations. Fleur takes ‘keep it local’ to a next level. I love that!
Whenever you are in The Hague, do visit Fleur: Van Bylandtstraat 92, 2562 GL Den Haag
Along the road we will visit many coffee houses and will describe them here.
Wow, I can’t imagine it has only been one week since we voted and left home. We’ve already had so many adventures. From almost freezing to death on the Dutch farmland to eating wonderful home made pizza in Germany and sleeping in the beautiful Schwarzwald. At the moment we are in Switzerland, enjoying snow & sun.
But let’s get back to the Schwarzwald first.
After saying goodbye to Dominik, Nicki & their sweet dog we headed for the Schwarzwald. The last time I explored this wonderful European gem I was 17 I guess. The Schwarzwald is of course known thanks to the brothers Grimm who got inspired by the forests and invented fairy tales like Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Hansel & Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel and many more. But the Schwarzwald is also known for amazing hikes, cute little villages and cuckoo clocks.
We didn’t come here for the clocks but we did come here to explore the villages which are often located next to a river in a valley. The villages wind through the mountains following the rivers and surrounded by a dense forest. Like in most villages the church is in the centre of attention with homes surrounding it. In most villages you find a bakery, a hotel, a tiny supermarket and a post office. We have seen some fire fighter stations but no police station.
Outside the villages you find the more typical black forest houses which are byre-dwelling and characterised by a long hipped or half-hipped roof that descends to the height of the ground floor. This type of dwelling is suited to the conditions of the Black Forest: hillside locations, broad tracks, high levels of snowfall and heavy wind loading. While we were hiking we saw so many of these beautiful houses, some with a water wheel next to it, others with animals and we even found a spot to have a schnapps for travellers.
A night in the Black Forest
The first night in the Black Forest we stayed near natural pools. All the hotels and campsites are closed in Germany so it’s gonna be parking lots. In Germany, if you are in transit, you are allowed to stay the night to rest. So, who needs a campsite right?
We decided Ottenhöfen im Schwarzwald would be the perfect place to stay the night. And it was. Alexine, the van, did a great job. She had a little difficulty with climbing and at the end sputtered a little. I guess she grew tired of the highway, so she deserved a night and day rest. We learned in The Netherlands that sleeping in the van can be quite cold and pulled out our sleeping bags. Oh my were we warm. Hot even!
After a good nights rest we woke up early, headed into town for some breakfast. Little did we know that everything on Sundays is closed, except for the bakery. It opened up from 8 to 11, so lucky for us we had a nice breakfast. Love the bread in Germany btw, they have so many options and I haven’t found one that is bad. The cappuccino is a different story though. While at the bakery we ordered a cappuccino but I couldn’t even finish it. I keep that for Italy I guess.
Hiking in the Black Forest
Hiking in the Black Forest is not only a must it is also very easy. Every town, every parking lot, every incredible viewpoint has many hiking paths. There are so many different routes you can take. Want to have an easy short walk? It’s there. Ready for some more adventure and would like to hike about three hours? It’s there? Or are you the crazy type and love to hike a couple of days? You can!
We took an 8km walk through villages, over mountains and visiting a waterfall. It was a great hike actually. We came across animals, farmers, water wheels, schnapps house, dog barking gardens which we had to go through, steep hills, deep slopes, wide roads and tiny paths. We heard many birds and even saw an owl flying away. The waterfall ‘Edelfrauengrab-Wasserfälle’ was beautiful too, but because you can actually park your car there and have a short hike you’ll find many more people there. We didn’t meet anyone on the hike but we did meet many many people at the waterfall. Oh and while the hike should’ve been 8km, somehow we made it 16kms. No idea how, I’ve got some idea why. When we hike we get carried away by tiny paths that look adventurous, mysterious and interesting. Our curiosity where those paths lead takes over often, which means we end up off the road almost all the time. But that’s why we got to see an owl and hiked a very cool path.
Schwarzwaldhochstraße
It was time to get Alexine warmed up for another night in the forest. We drove to Freudenstadt, a one hour drive through the Schwarzwaldhochstraße. OMG! Everywhere was snow and the cloud we drove through blocked the view completely but as far as we could see (which wasn’t that far) it looked amazing!
The Schwarzwaldhochstraße or Black Forest High Road is the oldest and one of the best known themed drives in Germany. It is a part of the B 500 federal highway and leads over 60 km from Baden-Baden to Freudenstadt. The Hochstraße runs at an altitude of between 800 and 1,000 metres above sea level.
Alexine drove like an eagle flies, she took every turn like a dolphin surfs a wave and climbed up the mountains like a sloth moves from tree to tree. Not fast but steady, smooth and free. And wherever we go, we get happy faces along the way. No one cares that we drive 40 where 80 is normal or 60 where 100 is the average. We get there in the end and the people stuck behind us get the time to enjoy the view a little bit longer.
We arrived in Freudenstadt, but for now I’ll leave it with this. Freudenstadt and the night near the city is a different story. Stay tuned.
After a very cold night and great hot shower we crossed the first border. The weather was grey, rainy and cold, so were our feet. OMG! So so cold in the car, the heater isn’t working – never did I think, but now we wished we had a heater installed. Well, we can’t really complain though, it was fun to cross the border and finally get the Volkswagen back onto German roads. I don’t think we’ve ever taken her to Germany, so she’s back home for now.
It’s quite funny because all the way from The Hague to where we are heading now – Kasbach-Ohlenberg – it’s kind of one road. From the A12 in The Netherlands to the 3 in Germany, all the way to Bonn. Not the most beautiful scenery yet but we have just started our trip. Actually after Bonn it starts to get nice with those typical beautiful German villages, mountains with castles and rivers winding through the landscape.
Alexine is doing great. She’s enjoying the trip already. After 5 years of mostly standing still she is now fired up for a big trip. She sounds like birds waking you up in the morning, even though she hasn’t been this heavily loaded by us before. She is around 1300 kilo’s without interior and stuff inside her. I’m sure she’s up to 1500 kilo’s now, which means she’ll have a lot more difficulty with climbing mountains and the Alps are waiting for us. Luckily we are in no rush so she can take however long she needs to climb. But that’s for later. Let’s go back to our second leg.
So, we left The Netherlands behind and drove into Germany without any problems. I absolutely love open borders and wish it was this easy to cross all the borders of the world for everyone. How wonderful travelling is with open borders and not the annoying visa’s and all that. With a bit of traffic jams and work on the roads we arrived in Kasbach-Ohlenberg about half past three.
Dominik welcomed us with a delicious cup of coffee and a warm fire in his wonderful home. We met Dominik in Svalbard about two years ago on the Rembrandt van Rijn while sailing alongside the magnificent Northern island. Dominik told us he makes the best burgers in the world so of course we had to try those. Last time we came here by train and tasted these delicious burgers! This time we arrived with the van and will taste home made pizza from his newly handmade pizza oven in the garden. Dominik and Nicky live in this amazing house, previously owned by a pastor. It has this huge garden and wonderful kitchen. We love being here, drink wine together, eat and have stories about food & travelling mostly. Nicky & Dominik are such nice and hospitable people, they make the start of our long journey amazing and I’m sure when we feel cold or have a glass of nice wine we will think back of our start here.
We still have to figure out some things and finish a bit of work which is nice to do here. I’m not a big planner, yes I’m very organised but I don’t like to plan too much. So, I’ve organised a very nice Google Docs in which I have written for which country we need a visa, what language they speak, which religion they have and what money they use. It included a check list, addresses and government websites which inform us about corona regulations. But, I haven’t installed my GPS tracker yet, haven’t checked if our MiFi (internet) is actually working and have no idea how a satellite phone works (sorry mum & dad ;-)). No worries though, I can figure this out very easily over here. Which I am going to do today!
So the second leg of our journey brought us to a friend in Germany and gives us the time to figure those things out. Also, it’s freezing at night and our next stop will be in the Schwarzwald where it is going to snow this weekend. Not sure if Alexine is up to some snow but I’m not even sure if we are. Luckily we’ve got some extra sleeping bags with us but driving in snow is also quite cold in a car without heater and with lots of cracks in the door.
What do you think? Should we go for some snow fun? Or stay and bake more pizza’s? Let us know in the comments!
On Wednesday 17th of March we woke up early, voted and started our journey towards China. We said goodbye to our parents and headed East. For the night we decided to stay in The Netherlands near the German border, just to make sure we packed everything, we are happy with how we arranged the box and wheel on the roof and to see how Alexine is doing.
We stayed at a campsite on the land of a farmer. We were the only guests and the first ones of the year. The day before he fixed the showers so he now had hot water again. Good for us because it was a very cold night. It was -1 so we slept in our thermo underwear, socks and under extra blankets to make sure we wouldn’t freeze. It wasn’t the best night as we woke up often because of the cold and getting used to the little space we have now. In our home we have a big bed, in the van, well… you can imagine, we don’t have much space.
However, waking up to the sound of birds not cars makes us forget the night easily. And not long after the birds the chickens started waking us up while scurrying around the van. A hot shower was very welcome and soon we were on our way to the first border crossing. Not before Yuri lost his wallet. Yeah, it doesn’t matter how small the van is, you can easily lose things in it! So, we turned the van upside down in search for the wallet. At least now we know everything we have with us and I can tell you; it’s not that much. We still have to figure out what we put where and how we are going to organise ourselves, but we don’t have much stuff with us so that’s a good thing.
Some very necessary things like a volleyball, stroopwafels and peanut butter are of course with us. But we also brought a GPS tracker, satellite phone and MiFi (internet) with us. We also have a lot of camera gear with us and some basic things like pans, cutlery and cooker. Spare parts are on top of the van, we’ve got very good oil (10 liters) with us and a jerrycan with gasoline.
But, because we were in a rush I just threw everything inside the van without really thinking about what should go where. We will figure it out on the road is my believe, as long as we have everything with us.
Our second leg will take us to a friend in Germany. We met each other on our trip through Svalbard. Will tell you more about this in a next post.
Wow! You are going to drive all the way to China? What route will you take?
A question we, not surprisingly, get asked a lot lately. So, let’s share our route. This will be it roughly. Of course there will be things we will add, things we will skip, roads we will take and ways we will omit. The route isn’t written in stone but in Google so it’s ready for changes made while we’re on the road. But, it gives an idea about the route we take and the things we wish to see along the way.
The past weeks went by so quickly, we hardly had time to breathe. We were both in full speed working on the van, emptying and cleaning the house, Yuri was busy finishing his projects and I tried to get everything online ready for our adventure. We will sleep when we’re on the road, we will relax at our first stop, we will unstress the moment we leave. For now, too many things to do, too many stuff to arrange and too much going on. Travelling is working. It’s not like you pack your bags and unpack at the beach. At least our way of travelling is not. But the more we have to arrange now the better the reward will be when we’re on the road.
And oh my, am I ready for the road. I can’t wait for the adventure to start. The last couple of days also meant saying goodbye to some people. Besides the standard questions about travelling with Covid-19 restrictions, people now also start to ask me whether I’m afraid of something, what my biggest fear is or what to do when we get stranded and a Nomadic tribe is coming our way. And to be honest there is nothing I’m afraid of, I don’t have any fears haunting me at night, and when a Nomadic tribe comes our way I hope I have enough ‘stroopwafels’ to share with them and make friends. Of course there are things that can go wrong, but more things can go right. Funny that no one asks about that, no one asks about what I’m looking forward the most, or what I’m most confident about.
So, let’s answer these questions.
What are we looking forward to the most
I asked Yuri and he replied ‘the nice sceneries’. I totally agree, but what I’m looking forward even more I think is the freedom. I’ve travelled a lot in my life, even dedicated a study to it. I have lived in several countries and the feeling of freedom and the ability to explore the unknown has always made me feel so alive. I guess that’s what I’m looking forward to the most; driving and living in a van and the freedom that brings. And of course we look forward to the explorations into cultures we do not yet know, the incredible nature we will witness, the most delicious food we will taste.
Ah, there is so much we are looking forward to. From seeing our friends to meeting strangers, from eating food we know to food that is new to us and from driving in the mountains to driving in deserts. We are looking forward to strange money, languages and road signs. To waking up to the sound of birds to going to sleep in the quietest of places. Watching amazing sunrises and glorious sunsets, tasting all kinds of beers, wines and honey. Hiking great mountains and jumping in the most clear water. Visiting historical sights, religious places and crowded cities. Wearing flip-flops and sunglasses or hiking boots and outdoor clothing. Capturing memories by photo and film. Exploring the world together, sharing one of the most thrilling adventures of our lives together, travelling together.
What to miss and not to miss?
Yuri is going to miss running water, especially running water from The Hague – it’s delicious. I won’t miss a thing, but I will miss my family & friends. But it’s always a good kind of missing and the internet makes the world so small nowadays.
What will we not miss? I won’t miss the noise in the street when I’m trying to sleep (sorry people but I love the curfew). Well, and of course the waiting in line while grocery shopping, the diversion of Netflix, my mobile phone, internet and I won’t miss the hasty lifestyle of the Dutch.
Yuri will not miss the annoying and very busy traffic in The Netherlands. That’ll be fun when we drive through Istanbul, Teheran or Xi’an.
What are we most confident about
We are very confident that this is going to be one of the most amazing trips we will ever take and we will be taking so many beautiful photos, making wonderful memories and meeting the kindest of people. We are confident that when something happens we will be able to make the best of it, we are sure that we can turn bad things into good things and good things into even better ones, we are certain that luck is on our side.
We feel as confident about this trip as we are sure the sun will rise tomorrow. When people think about the bad things that can happen on a trip like this we think about the good things that will happen. Don’t forget that there is only bad because there is good, that there is dark because there is light and that safety doesn’t exist if there is no danger. No yin without yang.
When you feel confident, when you are positive, when you trust in luck, good things will happen.
Are we really not afraid that anything bad happens?
That corona doesn’t throw a spanner in the works?
Of course we know travelling during a pandemic has it’s challenges. Yes, we understand that driving an oldtimer is daring. But Covid-19 is a challenge at home as well, driving an oldtimer is always daring but has it’s charme, the world is always full of bad things that can happen. If you focus on the negativity it will happen to you. But if you focus on the good, the good will happen.
Four more days
So, now you know our mindset it’s time to focus on whats left to be done. And even though we have only four days left we have lots of work to do. We still need to finish the roof, sew the curtains, fix the couch/bed, get the solar panels to work, get new sunshades, install the door panels, fix some electricity issues. We need to install fog lights, get an oil sump and buy spare parts.
Besides that we need to move, so empty the house, clean the house, pack our stuff and leave the house. We’ve got four days and after that; freedom!
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It was our first date in 2015. Both a bit excited as we cycled to the pub. The weather was gloomy, and a bit wet, like cycling through a big cloud. It was quiet in the pub, good for us – at least we can hear each other.
Little did I, Milene, knew it soon became clear that Yuri came here more often. Yuri had just come back from his round the world trip of four months and I just came back from living abroad for 3 years. So, of course we had lots to talk about: countries, cultures, food, people, languages, adventures. We talked about all that we had experienced on our travels, laughed about the miscommunications and very Dutch habits, and about our dreams.
As I’ve been travelling alone for a while and stand my ground when it comes to achieving my goals and chasing my dreams I was quite clear to Yuri. First date, who cares!? So, I told Yuri my dream: “I would love to buy a Volkswagen van and drive to China with it. I want to follow the footsteps of Marco Polo, Alexander the Great and thousands of merchants, but in my own way. Not on a horse, boat or camel but in a van. I will chase my dream so you are either in, or you are out.”
It’s 2021 now, in 2 weeks we will be driving to China, together. So, (lucky for me) Yuri was in!
The Volkswagen Van
But, back to 2015. In May we had our first date and in November I bought a Volkswagen T2 van. Before going on a 10.000km trip we first needed to find out if this really was for us. Somethings are better when dreaming and become a nightmare when you are actually living the dream. So, we took some getting-used-to-the-van trips to Scotland, England & Wales. Oh and of course The Netherlands. Turns out we are made for this life. We don’t need lots of space, we don’t need luxury, we don’t need much. We are very happy parking the van in nature, washing in ice-cold rivers, cooking outside and not being able to stand while getting dressed when it’s raining outside. We are perfectly capable of living as nomads.
In the summer of 2020, right after the first wave of the epidemic, we decided it was time to plan our big trip. First things first, the van didn’t look so great. So we had to refurbish her, I write more about this in ‘The Volkswagen Van‘ post. And while most of the dents, rust and paintings were outsourced to people who are actually good at it (not me!) we were mapping the route, did lot of reading, finding out about the customs in countries, where we needed a visa, if we could actually cross borders while driving a car. We checked about corona measurements, places we really wanted to visit, people we wanted to meet.
And I can tell you, it takes a lot of time researching a trip like this. Not only do you need to know your car, you also need to know bits about the countries you will be driving through. Like the need to have a guide in some countries, local car insurance or like in China the need for a Chinese driver license.
For choosing the route we used Google Maps (love it!) and made our route from country to country, city to city and highlight to highlight. It’s not written in stone, it’s written on Google Maps, so this route can change at any time. But, check out our Silk Road Route here. You can see there are different routes we are thinking about, many highlights, many options. That’s the wonderful thing of travelling by van, you are free to drive wherever you want.
Traveling during a pandemic
When we tell people about our trip, we only get very positive reactions. A few ask us about Covid-19. For a year Covid-19 is changing the world, hanging as a thunder cloud above our heads and while the world is turning corona tries it best to slow it down. But, even though the virus has had a huge impact on the world, for many people it did stop the world turning and lots of people lost their lives or their loved ones because of it. It doesn’t mean we have to let corona rule our lives. A virus shouldn’t make decisions, it shouldn’t stop us from dreaming and chasing those dreams, a pandemic shouldn’t tell us what we can or cannot do.
That said, we have to deal with the regulations made by our governments, we have to be careful, keep our distances and wear face masks. And I know that our governments say travelling is a luxury and you should only travel when it’s absolutely necessary. But, there are so many countries that depend on tourism. So many places for which tourism is the main economy. Poverty increases, inequality increases, depression increases. While driving through so many countries we will be taking precautions and we will be careful not to spread the disease. Hell, I think we will be tested more than any person on earth, so I guess if we get sick we will know quite soon and are able to go in quarantine on a mountain where we can infect no-one.
We will be driving dusty roads, bending mountain trails and through Covid-19 obstacles. It will be a different journey than we ever imagined; less crowded on normally very crowded cities, a visa in every country we pass in the form of a PCR-test and having to deal with curfews, closed borders, quarantine and more. Nonetheless it will be a journey of a lifetime, and a very special one.
Impossible is not a word in our dictionary, adventure is. When someone says we can’t, we will. Obstacles are just challenges in disguise.
In 2015 I bought my second car. From a Mini Cooper 1300 to a Volkswagen Van T2. I was quite lucky when I found this precious on the internet. The van had been used by a French man who only drove from The Netherlands to France and back with the van every year. The van wasn’t perfect, it had lots of rusty bits, some dents and the most ugly colour ever. But the engine, which is the most important part, worked as ever before!
So, November 2015 (she just became 39 years) I bought the van. Of course I had a goal buying it. Not only was it a smart investment (these vans only increase in value) but it was an essential part of one of my dreams. That dream being; driving to China along the silk road. But before that dream could come true lots had to be done.
First we had to discover if we actually like sleeping in a van. Cause, well, it’s not a camper, it’s not a house on wheels, it’s not big. We travelled to Scotland, England, Wales. We crossed through The Netherlands and ventured into Germany. For four years we explored travelling with and in a van. And after five years living together in The Hague we felt it was time for the next step.
That next step being; it’s time for Alexine (yes she has a name) to get rid of the rusty bits, the dents and that awful colour. With some help of VW Airhouse we took care of her. The dent now being in our wallets but oh my is she a beauty. She isn’t perfect, but neither are we. Actually, who is? To us she is amazing. She looks amazing, she drives wonderful and we have so much fun in her.
Summer 2020 we decided before we can drive to China we actually need to know a bit more about her, so we joined a car maintenance course. A week full of lessons about the car engine, fixing tires, changing oil. We changed the break fuel, finally had time to start emptying the interior and changed the spark plugs amongst other things. It was a week in which we got to know more about our van but also met a great bunch of people with vans of their own.
In the mean time Alexine became 53, she might be old but she’s still going strong. She got a new interior, solar panels on the roof and a beautiful roof rack. We managed to paint her internally, got a new radio and new chairs. To ventilate her a bit more we changed the back windows so we can open them and put isolation so we won’t be freezing to death.
I was thinking of writing a lot of blogs about our work, about her transformation, about preparations but I found out that’s not really my thing. Even though I love working on her (sometimes) I do not enjoy writing every little detail. Besides, we did outsource a lot of the work. Call us lazy but I just want things to be done well and as I am not a perfectionist, neither is it my hobby to work on cars I figured this would save me a lot of stress, disappointments and frustration. And I guess I’m more the adventure type writer.
But, if you have any questions about our work, the van, the engine, solar panels, changing oil, breaks, fixing rusty bits etc. Send us a message!
So! After a bumpy and long boat ride we are finally here.
At Peterhof, it is a series of palaces and gardens located in Peterhof, Saint Petersburg, Russia, commissioned by Peter the Great as a direct response to the Palace of Versailles by Louis XIV of France.
The architect between 1714 and 1728 was Domenico Trezzini, and the style he employed became the foundation for the Petrine Baroque style favored throughout Saint Petersburg. Most famous are the fountains, these were intrinsic to Peter the Great’s original plans for Peterhof – it was the impossibility of engineering sufficiently powerful jets of water that prompted him to move his attentions from the Strelna site to Peterhof – and subsequent generations competed with their predecessors to add grander and ever more ingenious water features to the parkland surrounding the Grand Palace.
The most famous ensemble of fountains, the Grand Cascade, which runs from the northern facade of the Grand Palace to the Marine Canal, comprises 64 different fountains, and over 200 bronze statues, bas-reliefs, and other decorations. At the centre stands Rastrelli’s spectacular statue of Samson wrestling the jaws of a lion.
The vista of the Grand Cascade with the Grand Palace behind it, the first sight to great visitors who arrive in Peterhof by sea, is truly breathtaking. The Grotto behind the Grand Cascade, which was once used for small parties, contains the enormous pipes, originally wooden, that feed the fountains.
Very interesting, but a bit too much if you ask me 🤣 We walked around the park and had a fabulous time. The weather was great, sunny and the wind couldn’t be felt through the trees. We spend about 3 hours here so that’s money we’ll spend. Because of the weather the boat didn’t return to the city so we had to take the bus. Well that wasn’t so great. No seats and it took about 1 hour to arrive at the first metro station 😓 But this cost a lot less, about 80 Rubles per person (so €1,-) a lot less 😉 But for that you have to stand in a bus for 1 hour… and then take the metro back to the city. When finally back we decided to visit the church Milene really really want to see. Let’s see how that turned out…
Or in English “The Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood”.
High on my (Milene) list, but as ALWAYS(!!!) there are constructions thus the main church tower is in scaffolding. Same actually as the fountain at Peterhof, which is also under construction. We always have this, many attractions we want to visit are under construction. A bit annoying. So we couldn’t make the greatest photos because, let’s be honest, it looks a bit like a condom covering the main tower.
Anyway, let’s share the story of this building.
Construction
Construction began in 1883 during the reign of Alexander III, 2 years after the assassination of his father Alexander II. The church was dedicated to be a memorial to his father, Alexander II. Estimates suggest that the construction cost 4.5 million rubles. The construction was completed during the reign of Nicholas II in 1907. Funding was provided by the Imperial family with the support of many private donors.
The church as a memorial
The church is prominently situated along the Griboedov Canal; paved roads run along both sides of the canal. On March 13, 1881 as Tsar Alexander II’s carriage passed along the embankment, a grenade thrown by an anarchist conspirator exploded. The tsar, shaken but unhurt, got out of the carriage and started to remonstrate with the presumed culprit. A second conspirator took the chance to throw another bomb, killing himself and mortally wounding the tsar. The tsar, bleeding heavily, was taken back to the Winter Palace, where he died a few hours later. Inside the church a shrine can be found which is located exactly at the place where Alexander II got assassinated.
Architecture
Architecturally, the cathedral differs from Saint Petersburg’s other structures. The city’s architecture is predominantly Baroque and Neoclassical, but the Saviour on Blood harks back to medieval Russian architecture in the spirit of romantic nationalism. It intentionally resembles the 17th-century Yaroslavl churches and the celebrated St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow.
As we were late we weren’t able to enter the church. Tomorrow we will because the inside is even more beautiful than the outside ☺️
Hi there! We are Milene & Yuri. We are travelling the world together since 2015. Our endless curiosity and will to explore has resulted in many cool, and somewhat extreme, adventures. On MYgrations you'll read all about our adventures, you'll find lots of information about the countries we visit you won't find anywhere else and more. Enjoy!
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The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
