Saint Petersburg is simply beautiful. Thanks to its royal history there’s a splurge of palaces and dazzling bridges to be seen. There is a vibrancy about Russia’s second city that attracts so many tourists from Europe, and the locals are incredible people to hang out with. This was the view from our hotel room at the Mariott Courtyard on Vasilyevsky Island which looks out towards the Petrovsky Stadium, the former home of Zenit Saint Petersburg. As a bit of a football geek, I absolutely loved waking up to this every day!