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Published: December 21st 2009
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Well, after 26 years i managed to go to Russia.
Oh yea....St Petersburg, i always wanted to see this city, with old and new. I always wanted to see what is the feeling of being in Russia, how do the people live there and most of all...some places that i have seen only in pictures.
So at the end of November we packed some clothes with us (Me, Mari, Judith, Christina and Vanda) jumped in 2 buses and...final destination mother Russia. As you would expect reaching the Russian border you will be treated with disrespect and you will be body checked, they will ask about what you eat that day and where are the drugs....not really, they have this cute dog that checks your backpack and your passport is scanned...and .....voila...welcome to Russia...
I arrived in St Petersburg one hour before the girls, the weather was not that bad, 2-5 C, perfect, all signs were in Russian, but my map was bilingual, so as soon as the girls came we took the tube and got to the city center, at 7 AM. I am sorry Kristina but i have to write about the fact
that you got us lost using the map :D....So yea, Kristina got us lost in the first 10 minutes....but hey, all her "map using privileges" were removed afterward (Just kidding). We got to the hostel. a place that i actually recommend as AIESEC trainees are living there and the management is really cool, they are open and they party alot.
So the first glance i got about St Pete was the one you can find on the websites (dangerous, scary, stay away from...., don't get into crowds, watch your back, Santa no longer comes to Russia, it is cold!!! ) but as soon as you get there you ask yourself "How the f@(# can i stay away from crowds????" the all city is just full of life....people...hundreds of them...thousands...the wide sidewalks are just to small to fit all of them, then the cold weather....NO, it was really nice ....with a lot of rain...but great. Dangerous? never felt it. We went to some sort of underground club during the 2nd night... and i felt i am back in 1999, amazing, this old club very small (The size of Cub-a, or about 120 square meters ) , the DJ was
locked in a iron cage, the walls were old and ugly, some disco lights were coming from...somewhere...some old iron tables were just around, no wardrobe, no smoke restrictions, people were just having fun...i miss that place... We tried some bars and pubs also, great food the Russian have.
Food: Great, the mushroom soup is amazing...go for it. Overall unless you point at some food...and you know what you will get...we always had "surprise dinner", wandering if this is what we ordered. If you ask for French fries and they don't have it, they will take the liberty to replace them with boiled potato. they "forget" to write on the menu that some food has a lot of mushrooms...but the food is great.
Subway in Russia doesn't quite have the same taste as the one in Canada....
Drinks and smokes: Boys, welcome to heaven...with 10 Euros you can buy 1-2 liters of the finest vodka, and with 30-50 Eurocents you can buy GOOD cigarettes (40 Eurocents for a pack of Chesterfield) all soo cheap, even drinking out is cheap...well in general drinking is cheap in Russia. The variety of smokes and alcohol is large, bigger than in Estonia i
would dare to say....so don't worry about not finding your brand.
Sightseeing: Well, we went to "Hermitage" one of the biggest museums in the world. I would recommend this place for all of you, it is amazing, but make sure you plan to stay half a day inside of it as it is F Huge, in 2-3 hours we managed to see a part of it, but we were really tired of walking...what i really enjoyed was the Greek and Roman rooms, the Egyptian collection, interior design, and many many other....the only part i didn't really like was the french art...it looked very sad...out of picture...
Boat trip on the rivers....DO IT, no doubt about it, it was one hour long and we were freezing our asses but it was amazing, if you have the chance, do it by night or late in the evening, you get to see all the important parts of the city, together with the main attractions.
Churches and Bridges were nice, if you go in summer you can also see the bridges opening for the ships to pass...we were not that lucky....
Money...prices are lower than in Estonia or Lithuania...or Romania, i would
advice you to use cash...easier than cards, as they don't have as many POSs as in Estonia. Currency used "Russian Rubles" easy to exchange Euros, just make sure you are in the city center.
People: Most of the people we were in contact with (random on the street) were not speaking English, so body language is good, pointing is accepted :D he he. Most of the people we met were nice, didn't have problems with them, they can drink a lot and they know how to party, they are funny and open.
Foreigners: LOADS AND LOADS, we met people from Austria, Romania, Moldova, Ireland, Kazakhstan....some moved there for good, some are just passing by, but they all love St Pete...and they seem to fit in the picture...so nice.
Trainees: Awesome, great, i had a lot of fun with the girls, from teasing Judith to annoying Kristina laughing with Mari and massaging Vanda... "Zi Jermans say...it was a great weekend".
After 3 days...we were so sad to leave...St Pete is a place that YOU NEED to see, the lights, the dark, the people, the cars, noise, food, history, traditions, clubs, streets...they all make St Petersburg a city
hard to forget...I will return there, i need another 2 weeks to finish what i started (see the city)...
Enjoy the pictures. you need to go page after page to see them all.
Danny
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ale
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wohoooooo, bine mai Danny, starnesti interesul altora. abia astept sa ajung acolo. :) 2010, I will be there, if things work out the way I want. te pup din ninsul Cluj Ale