In the Footsteps of Tsars

These pictures were taken from the colonnade surrounding the dome of St Isaac's. After climbing a narrow staircase leading up through a tower, ascending an even narrower staircase into a cupola, and then walking out across a catwalk high above the cathedral, you arrive at the observation platform. It is absolutely breathtaking. There is know way to perceive how massive the city is from the street, so when you are greeted with this sight it comes as quite a surprise. I have been looking at these pictures for a while, and still can't decide whether they accurately reflect the city. Sure some photos show famous landmarks, and others show the derelict buildings of classic Russian novels, but a lot of the charm of St Petersburg is lost when you literally look at it all at once. It is important, I think anyway, to take in the city as a unit... (the sights, sounds, smell, etc...) but to literally capture so much of it in once picture has a debilitating effect. Anyway, here they are...