♫ Have you heard there's a rumour in St Petersburg! ♫

---

I only have 1 single regret regarding my entire trip so far, and that is choosing to leave Russia the day my tour ended. My visa expired on the 13th, and I had booked a flight to Helsinki on the 10th, because I was (and I hate to admit this) afraid to be in Russia by myself. The moment we arrived in Russia I knew I had made a mistake, and as soon as we arrived in St Petersburg I realized just how big that mistake was! I never once felt threatened or worried about the safety of myself or my belongings, and I curse Hollywood for always portraying the bad guys as Russians, and curse myself even more for falling for it! Dumbass. Honestly, I felt safer in Russia than I do in Sydney.

So due to my idiocy and prejudice I missed out on so much amazingness that St Petersburg had to offer. I missed out completely on anything regarding the Siege of Leningrad which I was totally gutted about, missed the St Peter’s and Paul’s Fortress, missed the Peterhof, missed a boat ride along the canals and countless other things that I have since forgotten.

Don’t think I’m a completely whining baby that just sits in the corner and cries over what I missed, because what I did see was amazing. AMAZING. One word: ballet. I have never been to a ballet in my life and what could possibly be more fitting than seeing the Kirov Ballet perform Swan Lake at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg? Perfection. I loved every minute of it, even though I had no idea what was going on and all I really wondered during the entire performance was how do mens tights really work? Because they are TIGHT, and WHITE but there was no visible panty line to be seen nor was there any unnecessary bouncing or revealing of certain body parts (I had binoculars, I was looking - perve).

Of course the main attraction in St P’s is the Hermitage and I spent a good 6 hours wandering through the whole museum (and it is BIG). I swear I have never seen anything like it, much of my time spent there was staring past the actual displays and paintings and looking at the walls and light fittings because it was nothing short of spectacular! I spent ages searching for Zeus who I couldn’t find, but found Augustus (woop!) and even Claudius (smaller woop), but my favourite item in the whole Hermitage was the paintings stolen by the Russians from the Bezelik Caves in China. I loved it because I had visited the caves last year on my Silk Road trip, and remembered how pissed off the locals were that the Russians had come in on an ‘archaeological excursion’ and ripped the painting’s off from the walls of the caves, and are now hung in the Far East section of the Hermitage where no one goes to as it is in the opposite direction of the Monet’s and Picasso’s.

My favourite book of all time is The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons, and because it was set here in St P’s and because I am a total nerd, during my free time instead of doing something more useful (like anything mentioned in paragraph 2) I did my own little walking tour taking in all the sights mentioned in the book. I walked through Nevsky Prospekt, the Field of Mars, St Isaac’s Cathedral where the Bronze Horseman statue stands in front of and ended at the Summer Garden, which was most inconveniently closed for renovations until 2011. Bastards.

FUN FACT! I left Russia with the most important lesson one can learn from its people. How to drink Vodka straight. And it is so simple. I learnt from experience that according to the Russians, mixing your vodka and watering it down is a crime worthy of a one-way ticket straight to the gulag. Just don’t do it in front of a Russian! (I made that mistake....but only once). A plate of chocolate or grapes or some other form of nibbly is always at the table, and having taken a shot of vodka, a grape/chocolate/whatever is consumed and it takes away the bitterness and strength of the vodka and makes a world of difference! Try it!

---

Photos

The Church of Our Saviour on Spilled Blood
or the greatest church name in the world.

Comments

[-]

-
Rachel, where are you? Is your trip over?

[rachelisawesome]

HI!
Hi, who is this?! Yes my trip is most unfortunately over and back home!