RUSSIA & NEW YORK 2015: 2 St. Petersburg, Russia

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

After a good buffet breakfast at the hotel I went to the bank to change money – banks are open long hours, and I got the correct exchange rate with no commission and no waiting line. The temperature was minus 17, so we hired a car and driver to take us shopping. We were first sent to a large, expensive department store that had little of what we were looking for, and no shoes in my size. It is really a collection of over priced individual shops. Marilynn needed a SIM card for her phone, so we got directions to a place to purchase one. Marilynn and the driver, who spoke very little English, went in to get it.

While waiting in line another customer suggest to Marilynn a large market area where everything is for sale. Our driver was in a panic about going there, so phoned the hotel to tell them where we wanted to go and they said we must not go as the place is full of thieves and pick pockets. We insisted, so away we went, with our driver hovering over us after arrival. It is several square blocks covered with dozens of small shops, many open air in spite of the temperature. The shop keepers are largely from the "Stan" countries, such as Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and so on, which is likely what panicked the Russians. When they found we had visited their various countries there was much hand shaking and friendly smiles

In the end we got everything we wanted at very good prices – bargaining in this area is normal. At the end of the day we had a parka for Marianne, underwear, boots, gloves and so on. There not only was no problem in the area, everyone was very friendly and helpful. The driver must have been driving the hotel nuts as he reported to them every few minutes. Marilynn finally talked to the hotel to say that we were very experienced travellers, that we knew how to be pick pocket proof, that we were fine, and please tell the driver!

Back at the hotel we dropped our purchases in the room, had lunch at a local restaurant (at 4 PM) and walked to the Hermitage in the Winter Palace, only five minute away. Marianne was very interested in the art works and displays, so we moved a lot slower than we I'd expect. Had we known she would be so interested we would have taken an afternoon instead of the hour and a half we had before the 6 PM closing. When walking back we stopped at two different pubs for drinks and a meal of appetizers. Children are permitted in bars now that there is a no smoking law.

On the way home we made a very rustic snowman from balls of snow from the ploughs, and I taught Marianne the art of making snowballs, which then resulted in a three way snowball fight.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Our shopping spree yesterday ate up a fair bit of the cash, so I had breakfast before the others and walked to the bank on treacherous icy sidewalks to buy more roubles. The rouble is still falling, as I did better than yesterday. We were picked up at 10 by a driver and an English teacher guide for a three hour drive around the city. When I said we wanted to include the subway in the tour her day immediately went off the rails, but after much hand wringing she contacted her office to ask about the change in plan, where we would sacrifice a visit an administrative centre for the subway, and it was approved.

The tour covered most of the key points in the city, and although she treated the three of us like she was herding a grade 4 class, she was very knowledgeable about history, something she imparted with a non-stop monologue. St. Petersburg is a truly beautiful city, with many incredible historic buildings and monuments, but I think the highlight was descending 80 meters below the city to take the subway to three of the ornate, historic stations.

We had the driver drop us off at a hotel where we agreed to meet Alex, a professor of history who does tours on the side we met yesterday at the Hermitage. We had a light lunch including decadent pastries, then took two connecting city buses to the original train station for the half hour ride to a city named for the poet Pushkin. There we taxied to the palace of Catherine II, a tough lady who got the job by murdering her husband. It was colder here, but that was an advantage as a warmish spell had turned snow to slush, and coated iced sidewalks with a thin layer of water in St. Petersburg, making them dangerously slippery. We witnessed one old fellow being carried off after a disastrous fall.

The palace is spectacular, and worth the trip. Unlike the Hermitage, it has less displays in the huge, incredibly ornate rooms, but the architecture and rich decoration gave an idea of the vast wealth at the disposal of these rulers. There are other palaces in town as well.

While waiting for the taxi back to the train, Marianne and I built a small snowman, which she then proceeded to demolish with snow balls! We missed the train to the city by seconds, so had to stand on a freezing open air platform in wind for 20 minutes until the next one arrived. Fortunately the trains are well heated. There was no problem getting a taxi back to the hotel, where miraculously my missing suitcase had arrived. We had another delicious meal with hot wine in the hotel restaurant before heading to bed. We'll need to be up at 6 AM for a 7AM transfer to the airport to catch our flight to Murmansk, where we expect to experience real cold. We are all having trouble sleeping through the wee hours due to jet lag.