Saint-Petersburg

---

SPB: 01/09/2010 till 04/09/2010

First stop of many to come was Saint-Petersburg, Russia!! As of the first moment I arrived I realized getting around in Russia is NOT gonna be easy (especially when my Russian is limited to...zero and English of the common Russian guy is limited to very few words or just Russian wile talking with the hands)

The first impression I had of SPB, while I was taking this very little, local (but very speedy!) bus from the airport to the centre, was actualy a very familiar feeling; the big shopping streets could easily have been somewhere in Western Europe... but then I got to my hostel (Nord Hostel) which was right in the centre and after walking down Nevski Prospect and around I got to realize why they call SPB the cultural capital of Russia.

I visited the impressive Hermitage museum (great collection of Rembrandt and French impressionists amongst others), which took a whole day. I did a long walk towards the northern island to visit the Petrus and Paulus cathedral (where they burried a lot of Russian emperors like Peter the Great, Catherina II, etc... I also visited the Russian museum of Etnigraphy😊 which was unintended because I was looking for the Russian museum (with collection of Russian artists) but couldn't make out the small letters underneath😊 which in the end had more people working there then visitors (not worth it unless you like costums); in the end I also found the actual Russian museum as well...

---

Photos

Cool Picasso painting called 'absinth'
me, at the end of my trip:)