With wind gusts of 36km per hour, we walked across the bridge to the Peter and Paul Fortress, established by Peter the Great in order to protect the capital from attacks by the Swiss. It never actually saw any military fighting, but was used as a prison. Lenin's older brother, Alexander, was amongst it's well known prisoners.
The wind was freezing, so we were quite glad to get to the island where the fortress was. We had just got inside when there was this huge noise, which made me duck quite fast. Cam and Matt were killing themselves laughing, as it was the noonday canon, which I had been saying I wanted to see. We went up the stairs to the fort wall, where we walked along, admiring the view. I also discovered how to do panorama shots on my phone.
We went down the alley way to the Trubetskoy Bastion (the main prison block), where many of the political prisoners were held. What amazed us was because there were so many people being arrested in the revolution, they were either held for a month or so and released or taken from the cells in the middle of the night and executed.
Not quite like this, but couldn't resist.
Our next stop was the Peter and Paul Cathedral where most of the past Tsars and their families are buried. Another magnificent church.
Then it was a brisk walk back across the bridge for a break from the wind in our hotel room, whilst we decided what to do next.
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