Still in Russia: St. Petersburg

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We are now in St. Petersburg, on the Northwest of Russia. It was cold in July, 70 to 50 F.

The metro station.

L'Hermitage, home of the czars.
Here are some pictures taken inside the Hermitage.

The Church of the Resurection, also called Church of the Spilled Blood: Czar Alexander was assassinated here. This church looks like St. Basil from the outside but inside, it's one big church.

St. Isaac Church: notice the green columns in malachite.

This church contains twelve columns in malachite or blue lapis lazuli and the highest coupola I have ever seen. .

Rostral Pillar and Naval Academy--- Academy of Science on the Neva River

The canal leading to Peterhoff Palace and its magnificent Hercule Fountain.

St. Peter and Paul Fortress where the last czar and his family were massacrated.

the Church and the Gate

The imperial family's tombs inside the church.

A view of the fortress from the ferry that took us across the Neva River to the St. Peter and Paul Fortress.




The winners of the third contest are:

Jane and Rachel. Please choose your prize and email me.

Here is a list of the remaining prizes, mostly books or exotic magnets to post on your fridge.

Paranormal Romance: Lady of Light And Shadow by NY Bestselling author C.L. Wilson

The Scorpion & the Seducer by Bonnie Vanak, specialist of Egyptian historical/ paranormal

Jacob by Jacquelyn Frank, The Nightwalkers series.

Historical Romance:Tempted Tigress by Jade Lee, USA Today Bestselling author

A Little Bit Wicked by NY Bestselling author Victoria Alexander.

HQ Supperromance A Not So Perfect Past by Golden Heart winner Beth Andrews

Several medical romances by Margaret McDonagh, Carol Martinelli, Melanie Milburne, Lilian Darcy , Olivia Gates,...

Copies of my own romantic suspense ebooks: To Love A Hero and French Peril.

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with heat.Meet the spirited heroines and the alpha heroes who share irresistible chemistry.

Land of the Czars.

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St. Basil Cathedral, landmark of Moscow, encompasses several chapels, one under each coupola and doesn't function as church anymore.




Years ago, I was Director of the Analytical Division of an environmental company. I supervised a staff of chemists performing analytical tests and worked on various government contracts. A monotonous predictable life that suddenly changed when I won a contract to refurbish a military laboratory in Belarus.



I traveled fifteen times to Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. In Minsk, capital of Belarus I was well received by everyone, officers, directors, chemists, journalists. I worked with colonels and generals, was invited to theirs homes and became friend with their wives.


TO LOVE A HERO highlights the hospitality and warmth of the gorgeous and gallant Belarussians officers who sing, toast with vodka and make a woman feel like a goddess.

• Let me take you to the heart of Moscow, Red Square, the Kremlin and its churches, St. Basil Cathedral....
• 
  Stalin wanted to destroy St. Basil to allow his army to parade on Red Square. When the Mayor of Moscow resigned and the Russian people dared to protest, Stalin changed his mind.

It's a tradition for the young married couples in Moscow to take pictures at Red Square. We saw seven wedding parties on the Saturday we visited Red Square and the Kremlin.

And here against the Kremlin wall, the tomb of Lenin. Lenin's statue was removed in 1991 after the fall of the communist regime.

Inside of the Kremlin walls we counted seven churches with golden domes covered with real gold leaves that don't rust with time. The most famous being the Church of the Annunciation, of the Assumption, of St. Michael, one more elaborate than the other.

This fountain has a story. It's dedicated to the two architects that Ivan the terrible contracted to design and build St. Basil Cathedral. The Czar was so pleased with the cathedral that he had his guards poke the architects' eyes so that they could not build another church as beautiful as his cathedral!!






The University of Moscow on top of a hill overlooking the city of Moscow, is a superb building constructed by the Germans during the Nazi occupation.











Below Moscovite students celebrating the end of the school year at University Hill.





Tomorrow I will announce the winners of contest 3.

Meanwhile here is contest 4:

Wha's the favorite drink of Russians? You can't miss it if you read my book TO LOVE A HERO!!!