Здравствуйте, Google Street View! Yesterday Google announced the addition of two Russian cities, St. Petersburg and Moscow, to the Street View experience via their Lat Long Blog. As vast as Russia is, it’s my hope that Street View will continue to add other cities from Russia in order to expand the opportunity to feast your eyes on one of the most culturally rich countries in the world.

But never mind that. Let’s look at Russia.

Moscow didn’t exactly get the best weather but you can still experience the majesty of Russia’s architecture no matter what the forecast is like. In the sample below, I focused on St. Basil’s Cathedral, perhaps one of those most striking cathedrals you will ever see in this world. Nearly 600 years old, the architecture of this cathedral appears to be some wild offering of extraterrestrial elegance. In short, it’s breath-taking.

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Petrodvorets, located in St. Petersburg, was built on the order of Peter the Great and has been described as the Russian Versailles. Taking the tour below you can see that the landscape and fountains live up to that description if not outright exceed it. Google happened to visit the gardens on a gorgeous day and, while there, captured a couple dressed in period costume. Browse around below and see how they captivated a crowd while performing whatever it is they perform.

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With images like that stored on Street View, you have to believe that the Google team that’s out there running around taking these photos have a keen and adventurous sense of humor. Aside from that, this capture above is a great example of how Street View isn’t just a map of cities but of the human experience within these cities.

For the romantics and aesthetes, below is the view at Arts Square in St. Petersburg. The square is home to the Russian Museum as well as the location of an iconic statue of who is arguably Russia’s greatest poet ever, Alexander Pushkin, which is seen below.

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There’s really not a better excuse to waste time than by toying around with Street View. Now, I will continue my virtual tour of Peterhof Palace until Street View finally comes to Siberia.