Russia

9th of September
We couldn’t get into the room until 12.00 and as we arrived already around 9.30 we left our luggage and went for a walk around town. The area around the hotel is pretty empty but we managed to find a cafe (by asking somebody on the street). There we had a light breakfast. The cappuccino was good, as was the grapefruit juice but the prices were pretty much the same as in Sweden. We felt a bit tired after the train ride but we kept on strolling around. It was Sunday morning and pretty desolate. We headed for the Peter and Paul fortress which was quite close by.

The fortress was established by Peter the Great in 1703 on a small island on the Neva River. It is the original citadel of St. Petersburg and the fortress contains a number of buildings including the Peter and Paul Cathedral, where all Russian tsars from Peter I to Alexander III are interred (and a couple of imperial martyrs).

We walked around, took a couple of photos, enjoyed the views and eventually made our way back to the hotel. On the way we had a look at the Warship "Aurora" which houses a museum and permanently lies in the Neva River close to our hotel.

We had a good rest at the hotel which lies north of the river while the City Centre lies on the southern side. We then walked to the northern part of the centre and had dinner at a fancy Italian place (the closest restaurant we could find). The food was good but pretty expensive. We walked through a lovely park on the way home. It looked beautiful in the afternoon sun and it was filled with statues. The day after, we found out looking at the map, that it was the "Summer Garden". We had a nice walk home, crossing the Neva River and seeing the sun setting behind the Peter and Paul Fortress. That night we slept like babies!!

10th of September
Ready for some serious sightseeing! After the breakfast buffet (well, I have had better, I can tell you that much) at the hotel we took the metro into town. The plan was to walk up the Nevsky Prospekt, probably Russia’s most famous street and an essential St. Petersburg experience. We had some trouble with the direction when leaving the metro station but then managed to get on the right track. It’s pretty packed with people and one has to be alert. We saw the statue of Catherine the Great, walked through the "fashionable" (mom, don’t go to St. Petersburg for shopping) arcades of Gostiny Dvor, one of the worlds first indoor malls, built between 1757 and 1785. We entered the still used "Kazan Cathedral" and took some sneak photos (as you are not allowed to take pictures in there). We visited the "Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood". The name refers to the blood of the assassinated Alexander II of Russia, who was mortally wounded on that site on March 13, 1881. Construction began in 1883 under his son Alexander III, as a memorial to his father. Work progressed slowly and was finally completed during the reign of Nicholas II in 1907.

We then walked to the Winter Palace and looked around the "Dvortsovaya ploshad" one of the most impressive and historic spaces of the city. We stood next to the Alexander column, 47,5 meters high and raised in memory of Alexander the I commemorating the 1812 victory over Napoleon. The Winter Palace houses the Hermitage, which is one of the largest museums in the world, with over 3 million works of art (even though not all are on display at once). It is one of the oldest art galleries and museums of human history and culture in the world. The vast Hermitage collections are displayed in six buildings, the main one being the Winter Palace which used to be the official residence of the Russian Tsars. We looked around the outside and decided to dedicate some more time to visit the following day or the day after. We went for an hour to an internet cafe and then had dinner at the "Face Cafe" a really good place with delicious European-Asian fusion cuisine to very reasonable prices. We then walked quickly (almost ran) home to avoid the dark.

Bye for now, dear friends and family!!!

Fredrik and Sabrina

So we got on the train in time, no problem.

We even found our bunks, even though we needed to ask 3 different people. The wagon was divided into compartments but still open in a full isle. Each compartment had 2 bunks over 2 benches (which could also be covered with a "mattress"). There was a small table between the benches and across the isle were two seats with a table between them. The smaller table across the isle could be folded down so that another bed could be prepared. We had the 2 upper bunks and shared the space with 3 other people, none of whom spoke any english. Tea was served and after a couple of hours people started making themselves comfortable and so did we. Then the lighs went out and it was time to sleep. Luckily we had our headlamps and could read some more before sleeping.

Then at about a quarter to 12 the lights were turned on again and the Latvian border personnel came to check our passports. That took about 30 minutes and then the lights were turned off again. 12.45 (actually 01.45 local time but we didnt know that at the time) the lights were turned on again and now it was time for the real deal. The russian border control. First somebody came and wrote down our passport numbers. Then a couple of minutes later a woman in a fur hat (like in the movies) came and wanted to see our passports, entry cards and visas. She was accompanied by two colleagues, all pretty grim and serious looking. They spent several minutes examing my (Fredriks) passport, first normally, then they got out the blacklight, then they whispered a bit, turned the pages, examined the stamps etcetera. Finally they almost reluctantly turned over the passport. Pfff... I dont know if it was that they had never seen such a handsome guy before. ;-) Then the customs officers came and said something in russian. I just tried to give them my passport again but they didnt want it. Sabrina just said -"Niet", no in russian. Then they managed to say something like - "baagaaashhh". Ahhh, they were wondering where our luggage was. We pointed and that was that. They snooped around a bit, looked in some hatches and on a shelf and that was it. When all that was over with we could sleep until 6.30 our time (7.30 local) when they turned on the lights again. Grrr...

At 7.30 (8.30 local time) we arrived in St. Petersburg.

As it was sunday morning the station wasnt too crowded and we managed to take a metro to our hotel. We have found out that it is more difficult to read russian than we thought. The weather was spectacular (even though its a bit colder than Riga. Maybee 15 degrees) and we walked the last bit to our hotel. Its called Hotel St.Petersburg and fits exactly what we had expected. We will show you some photos and you will probably understand why.

Take care!!

Lots of love,

Fredrik and Sabrina