It's 10:00 PM and I'm in St.Peterburg
I have decided to make an anachronical entry into my blog. I should start by talking about my time in Moscow but given I will be experiencing more of that city tomorrow, I thought it best to stop with St. Petersburg first.
I took a night train from Moscow to St.Petersburg tonight (and I am taking another one tonight to get back) and was pleasantly amused by the comfort and great sleep (albeit it short) I received from sleeping on the train. Upon my arrival in St. Petersburg, I discovered I made two vital mistakes... I hadn't prepared for cold or rain (given it was blazing hot and humid and sunny in Moscow) and I wasn't prepared for the cyrillic alphabet or speaking Russian. But resourceful as I sometimes am, I percevered (although a bit cold) and saw St. Petersburg in all its splendour (and lower points).
First off... breakfast with coffee... I needed that... Okay, next, a trip to L'hermitage. Although there usually is a long queue to get in, I discovered that if I acted like the Russians (and skipped in front of the line) while pushing my way to the ticket booth, I got my tickets quicker and got lots of respect from the ticket booth attendant (and some surly looks from the Japanese tourists but hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em). Pleasant discovery: if you are a student, you get in for free at L'hermitage! Okay, you are wondering what l'hermitage is. Well, apart from being an amazing architectural masterpiece where the kings and queens of Russia poured fortunes (and many Russian lives) into the construction of this palace within the city, it also contains one of the most exquisite European arts collection with plenty of Picasso's and Riopelle's to pass around. After an amazing morning viewing these pieces, I took a walk over the Neva river (brrr.... Cold wind from the Finish sea.... brrrr) and visited Peter's fortress which was to be used to defend Russia against the Swedes but never actually got used (other than emprisonning political prisoners during the Bolsevik revolution). Back to l'Hermitage and off to find lunch... Cafeteria? Why not?
Well, I was not very well received... English is not liked in some parts of Russia... Or maybe they thought I was American? I got my food (and I didn't see any spit in it). Then off to Petrodvorets, Peters palace away from the city. Only problem is its 29 km away from the city centre. Lonely planet talks about this nice double decker bus you can catch from in front of the Baltic Station. Well, lonely planet dates back to 2002. After 15 minutes of frantically trying to find the stop, I asked one of the security guards to help me out. Although he didn't speak English, he understand what I wanted to do. He walked in front of the station and pointed to this yellow minibus... I asked: "Petrodvorets?"... He said "Petrodvorets". Okay, so I get in, I ask the bus driver the same thing... He says "da". Okay, good. I ask how much. In broken English, he says: "three". Three roubles? Can't be... 3 USD? Maybe. Well, I figured out it was 30 roubles, about 1.50 CAD. Ok, not bad. So I join the ride. But how will I know when to get off? As we drive around in the minibus, we start carrying more and more people. Soon, there are people standing in the minibus. It's been around 50 minutes drive... Yikes. Did I miss it? I ask the old man sitting next to me: "Petrodvorets?". He says "da". Okay, good. 2 minutes later, he points and says: "Petrodvorets". Bus driver stops, looks at me and I say "spasiba" which is thank-you in Russia.
As I stare in total amazement at the gardens of Petrodvorets which puts the Versaille gardens to shame, I start to wonder... How the heck am I going to get back to the city in time to catch my night train? hmmmm.... After spending some quality time in the Garden, I head back to the main road... There is a bus stop, good... But all the bus stops are in Cyrillic letters... not so good. I ask the first bus that comes along: "metro?" (thinking that I can find my way once I hit the subway map). He looks at me incrudely: "da" as if of course. Okay, good. I take out some roubles to pay... He starts yelling at me... I think he wants me to pay later. Okay, I go sit down. I see he has the same conversation again with the next person. He seems to be the only bus driver that wants to get paid when you leave the bus, not when you enter it. Okay. Well, we get to our metro station, 1 hour later. Okay, metro stop... This should be a breeze... Well, it actually wasn't so bad... I had to make out the cyrillic letters but I found my stop on the map and figured out which line to be on. And once on, I count the stops (7 in all) until I get to my final destination... Phew!
Now, let's find a place to eat. I'm getting hungry. The lonely planet recommends this quaint russian restaurant on a side-street. I have a bit of a hard time finding it (all the street names are in cyrillic as well as the restaurant name) but finally fall right into it. There is a live band, good. A cute Russian girl comes and sits me down, good. She doesn't speak a word of English, not so good. I ask for the English menu... She looks at me strangely and comes back with the menu, a bit hesitant. I open the menu, a bit hesitant but see everything is translated into English, good. I smile and nod. She returns the favor. I get a bliny (stuffed pancake) and an espresso (to enable me to write this blog). Life is good. I'm tired, lonely (I miss my Jessica), lost and in a strange country where I do not speak or even read the letters of the language. But I have eaten and I have found my way and I have seen beautiful things today. I survived another day while travelling.
I took a night train from Moscow to St.Petersburg tonight (and I am taking another one tonight to get back) and was pleasantly amused by the comfort and great sleep (albeit it short) I received from sleeping on the train. Upon my arrival in St. Petersburg, I discovered I made two vital mistakes... I hadn't prepared for cold or rain (given it was blazing hot and humid and sunny in Moscow) and I wasn't prepared for the cyrillic alphabet or speaking Russian. But resourceful as I sometimes am, I percevered (although a bit cold) and saw St. Petersburg in all its splendour (and lower points).
First off... breakfast with coffee... I needed that... Okay, next, a trip to L'hermitage. Although there usually is a long queue to get in, I discovered that if I acted like the Russians (and skipped in front of the line) while pushing my way to the ticket booth, I got my tickets quicker and got lots of respect from the ticket booth attendant (and some surly looks from the Japanese tourists but hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em). Pleasant discovery: if you are a student, you get in for free at L'hermitage! Okay, you are wondering what l'hermitage is. Well, apart from being an amazing architectural masterpiece where the kings and queens of Russia poured fortunes (and many Russian lives) into the construction of this palace within the city, it also contains one of the most exquisite European arts collection with plenty of Picasso's and Riopelle's to pass around. After an amazing morning viewing these pieces, I took a walk over the Neva river (brrr.... Cold wind from the Finish sea.... brrrr) and visited Peter's fortress which was to be used to defend Russia against the Swedes but never actually got used (other than emprisonning political prisoners during the Bolsevik revolution). Back to l'Hermitage and off to find lunch... Cafeteria? Why not?
Well, I was not very well received... English is not liked in some parts of Russia... Or maybe they thought I was American? I got my food (and I didn't see any spit in it). Then off to Petrodvorets, Peters palace away from the city. Only problem is its 29 km away from the city centre. Lonely planet talks about this nice double decker bus you can catch from in front of the Baltic Station. Well, lonely planet dates back to 2002. After 15 minutes of frantically trying to find the stop, I asked one of the security guards to help me out. Although he didn't speak English, he understand what I wanted to do. He walked in front of the station and pointed to this yellow minibus... I asked: "Petrodvorets?"... He said "Petrodvorets". Okay, so I get in, I ask the bus driver the same thing... He says "da". Okay, good. I ask how much. In broken English, he says: "three". Three roubles? Can't be... 3 USD? Maybe. Well, I figured out it was 30 roubles, about 1.50 CAD. Ok, not bad. So I join the ride. But how will I know when to get off? As we drive around in the minibus, we start carrying more and more people. Soon, there are people standing in the minibus. It's been around 50 minutes drive... Yikes. Did I miss it? I ask the old man sitting next to me: "Petrodvorets?". He says "da". Okay, good. 2 minutes later, he points and says: "Petrodvorets". Bus driver stops, looks at me and I say "spasiba" which is thank-you in Russia.
As I stare in total amazement at the gardens of Petrodvorets which puts the Versaille gardens to shame, I start to wonder... How the heck am I going to get back to the city in time to catch my night train? hmmmm.... After spending some quality time in the Garden, I head back to the main road... There is a bus stop, good... But all the bus stops are in Cyrillic letters... not so good. I ask the first bus that comes along: "metro?" (thinking that I can find my way once I hit the subway map). He looks at me incrudely: "da" as if of course. Okay, good. I take out some roubles to pay... He starts yelling at me... I think he wants me to pay later. Okay, I go sit down. I see he has the same conversation again with the next person. He seems to be the only bus driver that wants to get paid when you leave the bus, not when you enter it. Okay. Well, we get to our metro station, 1 hour later. Okay, metro stop... This should be a breeze... Well, it actually wasn't so bad... I had to make out the cyrillic letters but I found my stop on the map and figured out which line to be on. And once on, I count the stops (7 in all) until I get to my final destination... Phew!
Now, let's find a place to eat. I'm getting hungry. The lonely planet recommends this quaint russian restaurant on a side-street. I have a bit of a hard time finding it (all the street names are in cyrillic as well as the restaurant name) but finally fall right into it. There is a live band, good. A cute Russian girl comes and sits me down, good. She doesn't speak a word of English, not so good. I ask for the English menu... She looks at me strangely and comes back with the menu, a bit hesitant. I open the menu, a bit hesitant but see everything is translated into English, good. I smile and nod. She returns the favor. I get a bliny (stuffed pancake) and an espresso (to enable me to write this blog). Life is good. I'm tired, lonely (I miss my Jessica), lost and in a strange country where I do not speak or even read the letters of the language. But I have eaten and I have found my way and I have seen beautiful things today. I survived another day while travelling.
posted by Serge LeVert-Chiasson at
10:51 AM
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