Spilled Blood (but not mine)

After church on Sunday I went into the city with a couple of girls to do some exploring. We came across this lovely little park. Potentially more lovely come spring, but it has its own little snowy charm I thought. 

This statue was in the center of the park. I read the sign, but didn't know what it mean. One day I will understand Russian. Perhaps.

We really wanted to see the Church on Spilled Blood up close, but we didn't know exactly how to get there, but we figured we would just wander until we found it. We passed this cathedral, which looks pretty epic.

After 20 minutes or so of just following our gut, we found it.

It is absolutely stunning up close.

I love it.

Sarah and Jessica, my travel buddies:

The church from the side:

Talk about a nice fence. I would put this around my house:

Just on the other side of the fence is the Mikhailovsky Garden - aka the backyard of a giant palace. I guess you could say it has a nice view.

I found a swing set just inside the garden, so obviously I tried it out. 

So fun!

Anastasia probably used to swing here. No big deal. 

I must say that I love Spilled Blood. As long as it refers to the name of a church in St. Petersburg and not anything else (like me slipping on the ice and bleeding everywhere, which luckily hasn't happened yet to me or anyone I've seen walking).