RUSSIA - St Petersburg

We got in to St Petersburg slightly late at around 11. It was a real shock. For the first time it felt like we were travelling properly. Unlike Scandinavia where most people speak english no one here does. This does make easy tasks like buying a train ticket difficult. I spent some time in the summer learning about the Cyrillic alphabet (the alphabet they use) in order that i might be able to recognise some of the owrds when we got here. In hindsight i am so glad that i did this as it did prove useful in regonising words on the Metro. We got to the square adjacent to our hostel. It was a lively place inhabited by some shifty characters. At one point we got followed by a wierd guy speaking Russian at us. We followed the instructions to get to the hostel and still couldn't find it! I asked a group of Russian guys who had obviously had a couple of drinks if they could help. The situation seemed to get worse as they asked us to follow them, but as it turned out our suspicions were completely wrong, they were very kind and phone the hostel for us and found the entrance. The entrace was rubbish, it looked like a bunker door and when we got inside the stairwell it did not get much better, looking like it had been bombed! However getting up to 3rd floor and another bunker door we were welcomed by a nice guy and asked to take our shoes off. What an ironic contrast. Inside was warm and friendly. I suppose it must be a major problem looking after communal spaces in private buildings.

Next day we walked into the centre. After tourist information we found our way to the main square, Winter Palace bordering it on one side, unfortunately covered in scaffolding on that side.

Following Tourist info advice we went up the dome of St Isaac's and got a panoramic view of the city. The grandeur of the surrounding buildings was evident. We walked to a peninsula opposite the Hermitage and for some reason saw about 7 Bride and Grooms and wedding parties having their photos in the vicinity. It seems the place to be seen and pictured as a newly wed, may be it is a tradition? Hermitage/Winter Palace in the background.

On to the Peter and Paul Fortress which contains the first building built in St Petersburg. A little like Scandinavia there were loads of different museums, we decided to take in the Church, the St Petersburg Museum and the Museum of Russia Space Exploration.

On the way back we went to the train station in order to get our tickets on to Moscow. This proved to be much more difficult than any of thought it would be. After about an hour of struggling with it all we got a local to help us, we got a ticket each for some train on the right date late a night. They had absolutely no patience for us english!

Next day we went to The Cathedral on Spilt Blood which is based on St Basil's in Moscow, it was fantastic inside and out. Mosaics covered every wall internally.

Just behind the cathedral is a souvenir market where i bartered and bought a Kossak hat. So expect a few pictures of me in Siberia wearing a cool hat! We then ventured to the Hermitage which has to be one of the biggest Art Museums i have been in, we got lost several times, but i eventually found my way out. We got on the overnight train to Moscow that night and arrived early this morning. More to follow.