Unlike our longer train from Riga to Moscow, getting any substantial sleep on the journey from Moscow to St. Petersburg was hopeless. We arrived sleepy and dazed, but only had to trek a short distance to the hostel. Counter to any guess we would have put forth, the hostel had the most elaborate security system that I had even seen at a travel lodging. One code for the door, followed by a corridor monitored by camera, and then a code to get to the stairwell plus the code to enter into ones floor. It was far more trouble than it was worth, but the redeeming factor was that the showers must have been installed by firefighters due to the amount of water that gushed out. Half cleansing, half message, the showers were the highlight of the
... read more