Bar Hopping, Bliny overload, and finally needed rest...

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Apologies for this long blog but haven't blogged in little bit and did alot in a small amount of time...

Well, after spending 5 hours at the Hermitage and killing my charged camera battery from taking shots of every Picasso, Cezanne, Renoir, Van Dyck, Matisse in the joint I headed back to the room and crashed for bit but not before grabbing a tasty bliny at a small stand, I had chicken and sour cream in it and it was grub!!! Bliny for all you who don't know is just a crepe. Like in Talladega nights, a very thin pancake but there was no french guy to break my hand.

After my power nap, I headed to a Restuarant that was suggested in my lonely planet. Ok, hold this thought for a moment just some observations I want to share before continuing. First several of the places I have tried to find from the Lonely Planet book are gone, no more, out of business. Secondly, it stays light outside until 10 p.m. No joke, it's the weirdest thing walking out of a bar and it still looking like it's 6:30 p.m. back in the states... Oh, one last thing the subway is the MOST RIDICULOUS EVER!!! Imagine a thousand people needed to be funneled onto on escalator, that equals total mayhem!!! Babushka's (old ladies) are the worst offenders of the throwing elbows to get their space. Although, a good technique was later introduced to me when by someone I met, more on that later.

So, where was I again? That's right dinner, for once the place existed and was little more upscale Russian cuisine and had a beer and this excellent chicken stew with tomatoes, onions, and cilantro in a stone bowl. Was the best meal so far in Russia. Then it was off to Fish Fabrique which is a small artsy bar in this art building. It was small smoky and had the Russian football game on. I heard a group talking English so I went to their table and introduced myself and it was two girls that are from the states and are studying for a year in Russia. Their names were Kate and Emily and were totally cool to talk with and they invited me to go bar hopping with them. After leaving Fish Fabrique we had a drink at another close bar called Dasha and then were feeling pretty good and were going to head to one other bar that was near my hotel but not before they wanted to stop for Carls Jr. Yup, Carls Jr. it's open 24 hours and had nice red leather couches and your normal fare. After our taste of America we went up to this small cafe that had a huge bouncer and looked to be closed. The bouncer told is it was closed but Kate called the DJ inside and had him get us. So, we walked through this empty cafe and I was a little sketched out wondering they gonna rob me? And we went through the kitchen area and through another door that opened up to a small bar/club playing american music and had a project showing old 60's movies and promotion films of old Chevy cars on one of the walls. Was totally cool and we had several vodka shots. Around 4 am we left there and Emily and Kate came up to my place and had some more vodka and chilled for awhile since they were stuck here. Stuck in the sense that there are bridges across the rivers and they open and close at certain times. So, they hung out till nearly 6 until the metro started up.

After they left I slept till about 11 and then headed over to Peter & Paul fortress which was like their version of Alcatraz then to St. Isaacs Church and then to Church of Spilled Blood. Now, I can check off all the major site in St. Petersberg. wheew. Then I met Emily and Kate for a couple drinks at the front cafe portion of that bar/club of last night. I was going to meet them and their DJ friend at another bar later that night but I got to my hotel to clean up before heading out and realized I was freaking tired, was getting a sore throat and was getting signs of getting run down... So, I made an executive decision and pulled the plug on myself and stayed in and crashed...

After some much needed sleep I got up today feeling pretty good and will be going to the airport in 3 hours to then head to Prague. So, just checked the NBA scores and will try to buy some souvenirs have a beer and try to relax.

Oh, I was saying about the Babushka's earlier is Kate & Emily had this technique that worked well was to find the meanest elbow throwing on and get right on her back and watch part the sea of people like moses or it also be compared to like following an ambulance w/ their siren on. Either way you get the idea and it worked well...

To sum up St. Petersberg, is it is a must to visit, one of the best places I have travelled and would love to visit again. I did so much in my time here but still feel like I have just scraped the surface.

Well, next entry will be from Prague.

Paca (bye)

Mike

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Comments

[Glenda]

St. Petersburg
I am so glad I am on your list. You write like Trista wrote when she was on her travels. You make it fun but informative. Good decision to rest. Could have ruined the whole trip. Stay Safe and Healthy