Gostiniy Dvor

And, rounding off the afternoon, a spot of shopping.  Having walked round both floors of this massive store (pausing to admire a torrential thunderstorm), we both began to wonder if we'd known any other existence.

St. Samson's Cathedral

Or possibly St. Sampson's.  Not the Old Testament strong man, in any event, but a saint known for his hospitality.  His cathedral bore him out - we got the warmest welcome we've had in an Orthodox church.  The blue-and-white exterior and golden domes and beautiful and, inside, the iconostasis is magnificent.  We also enjoyed a two-piece illustrated 'calendar' of saints' days.

To the Finland Station

We set off by foot, over Liteyniy Most and arrived at Lenin Square to the strains of piped orchestral music - Shostakovich?  Soviet anthems?  The fountains are most impressive and the Lenin statue joke - "Where did you get that waistcoat?" "Over there" - still works.  We bought platform tickets to view the place where he got off the train and the locomotive which brought him back from Finland the second time.  We also reflected on how he twisted and corroded the Revolution.  Lunch in Кофе Хауз.