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Published: March 29th 2012
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Nevsky Prospekt
Bridge on Nevsky Prospekt Privyet means 'hi' if you didn't guess.
Everything has been pretty much smooth sailing so far, which I fear may be lulling us into a false sense of security 😊. The hostel has been absolutely ideal, I have no basis for comparison, but I will be pleasantly surprised if they are all like this along the way. It's smack bang in the centre of the old town, with all the main sights pretty much on our doorstep. So, best be getting on with what we have been up to.
Got settled in on Tuesday night, bought a couple of Russian beers off of one of the workers at the hostel and plonked ourselves down in the common room. Decided to get wrapped up and venture out into the night to see what we could see. We took a stroll round the north western edge of the city, and found ourself on the banks of the river Neva, which is still a sheet of ice at this time of year(some rajjis still walk on it, get to that later). The views were brilliant, all the bridges were lit up, the Hermitage shone in all it's glory, was a real good
Neva
Overlooking the Neva River start to our time in St. Petersburg. After heading back, we called it a night in order to be up early for a busy day coming.
First things first, we asked one of the workers if she could write down a request for tickets to get us to Moscow on Friday as apparently the workers down at the station are not clued up on any English. So took a pad (30 mins) down Nevsky Prospekt, the main drag in St Petersburg, to get to the station, and without much bother, purchased our tickets. On our way back, headed into Kazansky Cathedral, got a feel for how very religious the Russians seem to be, alot of bowing and crossing of oneself going on, not our scene, left fairly swiftly.
For the rest of the day, we headed further north again, taking us over the river again, where a bunch of mental cases were running about on the ice in the middle of the river (not to seem like pansies, me and Craig ventured out a few steps for a photo snap). In all honesty, it must be pretty safe are there were some old fellas sitting on stools fishing
Frozen River Neva
Me and Craig on the River Neva through holes they had cut in the ice. Walked through Peter and Paul Fortress, the original citadel in St Petersburg, founded by Peter the Great. It was pretty grim in truth, but managed to find a nice badge to put on my rucksack, so not a complete waste of time.
Was following a Lonely Planet guide we snaffled from the hostel, and thought we would try and visit a couple of the bars that came highly reccommended...shame they were both either shut down or they had completely vanished. Got a few dirty looks off Craig and Rosie as it was my idea, but managed to find a nice boozer where we had 3 bottles of heineken, served lovely and warm. Lesson learned, stick to pints.
Stocked up on a bottle of voddy, 3 x litre cans of Russian Beer, and 1 x 1.5 litre plastic bottle (!) of Russian beer. Seems like a good idea really, but didnt get a chance to test if the screw top would maintain the fizziness, it went down the hatch fairly quickly. Played cards for shots of voddy (following Russian tradition, it really isn't that bad if its straight out the freezer),
Bar Dacka
Me and Craig after a few Voddy's then asked one of the lovely lassies on the hosting desk to point us in the direction of some nice bars, to which she duly obliged.
Headed down a couple of blocks to our destination, Bar Dacha. Was fairly pleasant, Craig was as smug as a bug in a rug as you are allowed to smoke indoors in Russia, and seen as every man (mostly woman, actually) and their dug smokes (no wonder for £1 a pack), it made for a hazy atmosphere. Had a few here, I must have stupid tourist mug written on my forehead, as Craig and Rosie both got charged 300 rubles for 3 beers, and unless the pints I asked for cost 133.3333333333 rubles, the bar maid helped herself to 100 of mine. Headed to a pubby/clubby place next door, Fidel i believe it was called, before calling it a night around 3.
Had great aspirations of waking up early to go to the Hermitage today, but alas, slept till after midday. Quick shower however, and we were right as rain to head out. Decided to leave our visit to the Hermitage, one of, if not the largest museums in the world, until
tomorrow as it takes a fair old while to get through. Instead headed to the Russian museum, highly reccommended by the Lonely Planet guidebook (alarm bells). In all honesty, me and Craig were bored shitless. Was just a rake of art. I was certain it would be like a national history museum, with loads of weapons and armour etc, but no, plain, shitey art. Rosie seemed to enjoy herself though, and I guess if it's your thing it would be quite exciting, there was certaily enough of it. (After getting back to the hostel, found a better guidebook which correctly calls it the Russian Museum of Art).
After an hour and a half of walking around, the highlight of which, for me, was looking out the window and seeing 8 cats, probs all best mates, hanging out on top of a big crate (pretty special), we headed round to the spectacularly named Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. It is a pretty spectacular building all round, interior and exterior. It looks like what I think of when I think of Russian architecture, with the circular bauble things on the top of spires. Very nice indeed. It is named
so as it is built on the assassination site of Tsar Alexander II and is a dedication in his memory.
As I write, Craig is swotting up on Moscow, and Rosie is aslumber on the couch, can't hack the pace 😊. Overall we have had a great start to our trip, St Petersburg is a beautiful city, I would definitely come back in the summer when the weather is fairer and the rivers are running.
We have been informed that this evening at 1am the drawbridges are all being tested before they all open after the thaw, so will head up their later for that experience. Plans for tomorrow are to finally head to the Hermitage, which will more than likely take up the whole day. The folks in the hostel are having a Vodka party tomorrow night, which is a shame as it is the night we are leaving (unless that is the reason for the party...), but we should manage a shot or 12 before heading down to the station for our train which leaves at 10.15pm and gets into Moscow at 05.30am (grim).
I hope everyone is enjoying reading the blog, I am certainly
enjoying writing it. Will update in a couple of days once we get to Moscow. Much love to every body.
Spaasiba (thanks)
Stevo xx
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Nastya
non-member comment
Privet! I am definitely enjoying to read your blog) It seems like adventures of Scots in frozen Russia have already begun:) Welcome to Moscow. Btw, if you wish to visit an exciting museum here and tired of art then there's a historical one I can offer you. It' called the Kremlin Armoury. There you can find weapon, costumes, carriages, coins etc. Good luck!