St. Pete Day 8

/

Today was our last day in Russia, and I think we're ready to come home. I slept in late, but met Rimma and her friend Ksenya downstairs, along with Chuck. We set out in Ksenya's VW Golf for the village of Pushkin, where there are palaces that once belonged to the Czars. In fact, it was once called the Czars' Village, but has since been renamed. Sunday mornings are sleepy in St. Petersburg, so traffic was light and Ksenya was an excellent driver, we made our way out there in about half an hour, despite the rain showers. We parked the car and headed for the gates to the park that contains Catherine's Palace. We paid our entry fee and then strolled around the park for about an hour, the girls giggled about something (probably us) while Chuck and I merrily snapped photos of the surrounding lakes, trees, and paths. The fall colors were showing, and I hope my photos turned out, though I'd have been happier if we had some more sunlight.

Eventually, we made our way to Catherine's Palace, where we paid 500 rubles each (250 for the girls, since they're students) to get in. Once inside, we had to check our coats, then put on some dorky little booties over our shoes, so we didn't track any mud or dirt throughout the palace. We then found out that our tour included a guide, who was available only in Russian, so Ksenya and Rimma tried to discretely translate as we made our way throughout the palace.

Now, I appreciate everything we've been taken to see, but today was the day that I reached my limit of gilded cherubs, parquet floors, and fancy chairs. We've seen so many palaces and museums since we've been here, that my interest was rather waning, and my thoughts turned to the trip home. Eventually, we made our way to the Amber Room, which was rather interesting, though not really worth the cost of admission, in my book.

After the tour ended, we milled around the gift shops for a bit, then headed back to St. Petersburg. Traffic had picked up a bit more, so it took a little longer to get back to the hotel. We thanked Ksenya and Rimma, and said goodbye, then Chuck and I headed to the Quo Vadis? Internet Cafe to get online, as my dial-up has been nearly unusable for the last several days from my room.

We spent about two hours online, where I wrote up a bunch of weblog entries, and attempted to order some food via the cafe's intranet. Apparently, they didn't actually have any of the items I tried to order, and it took Chuck several tries to actually get his sandwich, so I gave up on that.

After logging off, we returned to the hotel in time to run into Dr. Vajpeyi, who was still looking to buy a Russian Hat. We walked with him to one of the stores we'd scouted yesterday with Rimma, and he bought a fine looking hat, of much better quality than the crap they sell tourists near the monuments and museums.

I stopped to buy some vodka that I'd been asked to bring to the U.S., and then we went back to our rooms and started packing. At 7:00, we met Alexey downstairs to go to dinner, which took us to a place called FX-017, which was, well, a bar/restaurant with a nautical theme. Chuck and I both ordered the steak with pepper, which turned out to be really good, we got it well done, but it was still tender. I take back what I said earlier about Russian beef, it's good in St. Petersburg, only the stuff I had in Moscow was bad.

After a couple hours of socializing, we returned to the hotel so we could do a bit more packing, and so that I could pawn off a bunch of stuff on Alexey and two of the Russian women from Herzen that joined us for dinner. I had some things, like UNI-branded highlighters and pens, that I'd been giving out as small gifts here and there, and I didn't want to haul them back to the U.S. with me. I also gave away two paperback books that I'd finished reading, an unused box of laundry detergent, one unused bar of soap, and a few other odds and ends that lightened my baggage considerably.

We then decided to cross the street to The Office, the fake British/Irish pub located there, and I had a pint of Heineken while I finished writing the few remaining postcards I had left. We talked with Alexey about his upcoming trip to UNI in January, and I got him to agree to mail my postcards for me tomorrow, as the post office is closed.

Around midnight, we bid everyone goodbye, and I returned to my room in time to catch a (thankfully!) hot shower, put on my last clean change of clothes and finish packing all my stuff. I was pleasantly greeted with my first useful dial-up session since Wednesday morning, so the Gods of Internet Access have smiled upon me long enough to write this.

I've got about an hour and a half until we're supposed to meet in the lobby to load up and head to the Airport, so I'm going to sign off now and finalize all my packing.

It's been an amazing trip that I'll never forget, and I've made a lot of new friends. Russia is different from the U.S. in more ways than I could imagine, but people are people no matter where you go. While I don't think I'd like living in Moscow (or any big U.S. city, for that matter), I could certainly handle living here in St. Petersburg. It's friendly to English speakers, has great restaurants, and is just a supremely beautiful city. I hope I get to come back during the White Nights some summer, especially after the ongoing restoration of the city has had a few more years to restore the glory to the old European buildings.

Maybe then they'll even have wi-fi...

St. Pete Day 7

/

I got up Saturday to find I had no hot water, though I'm sort of getting used to this. I managed to get the trickle of lukewarm water collected in a glass that I could slowly shampoo my hair clean, and used a washcloth to tidy up the rest of me as best I could. I then went downstairs to meet Chuck and Rimma for a shopping excursion. We walked through several stores that sold hats, scouting for Dr. Vajpeyi, as he told us earlier he wanted to buy a Russian Hat, but not the crappy kind that they sell to tourists by the major attractions. One of the Russians told me that many of those are made from dog fur. Yuck.

We also walked into a store called 505 that sells all sorts of multimedia, such as CDs, DVDs, and Computer Games. This store advertises on TV, and is located just off Nevsky Prospect, but it's completely filled with pirated goods. They're generally clever fakes, with all the DVD cover art and the discs are even pressed, not burned, but they're all pirated. You can get movies for 120 roubles ($4), and computer games cost roughly the same. Audio CDs were 75 roubles, or about $2.50, and they have a pretty good selection.

I don't know how the movie studios or music publishers can sell their wares when the pirated goods are so cheaply available. You can buy legitimate DVDs in Russia, but they're about $20, so you can see why most people don't do it.

After 505, we went to a shopping mall of sorts. It's a bit different from the average U.S. mall, or the big mall we saw in Moscow. It's all one giant building, but all the shops are sort of combined. Take a shopping mall, empty it into a Wal-Mart sized building, then make it so that you have to pay for each section at a different register, and you'll get the idea.

I purchased a few bottles of Vodka and some chocolates, as well as a couple more postcards. Chuck did some souvenir shopping as well, and we wound up waiting at one counter for about 15 minutes, as the keeper of that area had left someone else to watch her shop, but that person wasn't actually authorized to sell us anything. Ahh, that Russian Customer Service experience.

Shopping in Russia is unique, even in grocery stores, most of the goods are kept behind counters, so you have to get the attention of the clerk, and then point out every single item you want to buy, as they gather them all for you. While this certainly prevents theft, it is far from efficient, and results in long lines even when goods are plentiful. One morning I wanted to buy some more water in the grocery shop adjacent to the hotel, as the St. Petersburg water is not safe to drink. I had to wait about 10 minutes while the woman in front of me did her grocery shopping, one item at a time, and the clerk scurried about the store retrieving the things the woman called out.

Many shops also have "helpers" who follow you about the store spying on you to make sure that you're not stealing something. They can help answer questions too, but that seems to be a secondary function, as they're obviously watching you the whole time, craning their necks to look around columns to make sure you're not pocketing something. Theft must be a major problem, as even things costing relatively little are often tagged with the anti-theft devices that we normally only see on expensive items in the States. For instance, each of the little 250-ruble bottles of Vodka I bought had to have their tags removed before I could leave the store.

After some more shopping, the three of us clink-clanked our way to an Italian restaurant on Nevsky prospect. We supressed a giggle when a young guy named Alexander promptly came up and announced to us in English that he'd be our waitress during our meal.

Chuck ordered some spaghetti with shrimp and black noodles, and I ordered a pepporoni and bacon pizza, which was quite good, they bake them there in a brick oven. We bought Rimma lunch too, as she'd put up with us dragging her everywhere, and we knew that if she had to pay herself she probably wouldn't be able to afford much to eat in this place, though it was pretty reasonable by U.S. standards, costing less than $10 for each of our lunches indvidually.

After lunch, Chuck and Rimma did a little more shopping and I returned to hotel, as I was already hauling enough stuff around. I then caught a quick nap, and was woken up by a cell phone call from Chris. He said that he was going to meet Katherine and Chris at a place called Patio Pizza to eat dinner and asked if I'd like to join. I said that I had a late lunch, but that I'd go have a coke or two, and maybe an appetizer or something, so we met up near Kazaan Cathedral a few minutes later.

Much to my surprise, Patio Pizza turned out to be the same place I ate lunch, I just hadn't tried to translate the Cyrillic at the time, and it was more upscale than a place called "Patio Pizza" sounds in English. So, I ordered a Coke and some garlic bread, and chatted with the others while they ate. For dessert I ordered a vanilla mousse, which turned out to be a cake topped with various berries, and it was quite tasty.

After dinner, Katherine and Chris wanted to go to 505, as they'd heard of it, but didn't know where it was. I guessed wrong on the cross street a couple of times, but eventually managed to lead them to it, where they added a few titles to their personal movie and music collections too.

I then said goodbye to them, and returned to my hotel to watch a movie on my laptop, and fall asleep at a reasonable hour.

St. Pete Day 6

/

Friday started off with us meeting a young Russian named Kate for a trip to the Yusupov palace. This too was a fairly exclusive tour, something that required special arrangement by our hosts, and not open to the general tourist public. For those that don't know, this is the palace where Grigory Rasputin, the strange svengali-like monk, was murdered. Or, at least where the murder started, depending on which version of the events you want to believe.

The palace is now a working office building, but they've kept much of the interesting area preserved. They provided a tour guide for us, who spoke only Russian, but Kate did a decent job of translating as we looked at all the glamourous dining rooms and ballrooms. Eventually, we got to the basement where Rasputin was fed some cyanide, which apparently had no effect, so then they shot him, after which he fled, so they shot him again outside, then mutilated him some more, and dumped his body in the river.

After looking around the palace, we stopped by the courtyard outside, which is where the likely-fatal shooting took place. We found that it now holds a playground.

Chuck and I came back to the Herzen hotel late to meet Rimma for our trip to the Hermitage, since we were already behind schedule, we wound up eating at McDonald's again, as it's the only place to get "fast" food in this neighborhood without risking your health at a street vendor's cart. Today we decided to try the "Big Tasty", which is sort of like the "Big 'n Tasty" in the U.S., but it has some sauce on it that I didn't really care for. Rimma was amused by the fact that on the giant banner outside the McDonald's, they just wrote "Big Tasty" in Cyrillic, there's no translation, so they just spell it out, as well as it converts.

We then set off for the Hermitage, well aware that we were only going to see a small fraction of the building. We paid out entrance fee, which is somewhat high, at around $13 or so. Starting with the ancient Egyptian exhibit, we then tried to cover as much ground as we could in the two and a half hours we had. We saw mostly European paintings from the 17th-19th Centuries before our feet gave out, and we headed for the exit. It took us 10 minutes to find the exit, and we wound up in a part of the museum which Rimma had never seen on her previous dozen visits, so I hope that conveys some sense of the size. I think you could easily spend a week just in that museum without seeing it all.

After the Hermitage, I got a text message from Chris, inviting us to join him for dinner near the American Consulate. Chuck and I met him near the Kazaan Cathedral, and he flagged a random car to take us there. We wound up meeting Katherine, the Danish girl from our previous night of fun, plus two new Danes, Christian and Jakob, as well as Chris's German roomate, Martin at the Polyglot Cafe, which is just across the street from the Consulate.

I sat with the Danes and talked with them for a bit, they were greatly pleased to learn I had a Bestefar, while most Americans certainly do not. I had a Carlsburg beer, and after hearing a North American woman exclaim that the Cafe had great hamburgers, I decided to order one.

The burger wasn't all that great, it was okay, but it was one of those where the meat is over an inch and a half thick, which is really more than I was looking for. I will say that the french fries were the best I've had in Russia, not counting the McDonald's fries, which are really a separate category in my book. After following my meal with a piece of delicious cheesecake, we went across the street to stand in line at the Consulate.

I was surprised to learn that the security guards weren't Americans, but they took our passports, ran us through security, then eventually admitted us. Inside was a party in the Marine barracks, where they've got a bar set up that's not unlike what you'd find in a posh frat house in the states. We were pleasantly surprised to find that it was a non-smoking bar, and that pool and popcorn was free. Katherine and I snacked on popcorn while playing some 8-ball, and I had a truly terrible Long Island Ice Tea. I started drinking rum and cokes after that, as they were a lot more palatable. We met a few more Americans, including Tim, a 50-something guy from Maryland who was working for a State Department contractor to repair the Consulate hot water system. I mentioned how our hotel didn't have any hot water either, and was treated to a 10 minute lecture regarding the intricacies and lunacies of Russian hot water plumbing.

I finally managed to disentangle myself from Tim, and talked to a few of the Marines who were stationed there instead. The party was probably about 35% Americans, 40% Russians, and 25% other nationalities. We got the distinct impression that many of the Russian women there were looking for Americans who might some day take them home to the States.

After losing badly at pool a few more times, Chris bought us a round of shots of Absinth. Now, as far as I can tell, this isn't the illegal stuff that makes you hallucinate, it's just called the same thing. In any case, I didn't hallucinate after two shots of it, though it I've decided it is certainly vile, as it tastes much like black licorice, which I don't like. As to why it took me two shots to realize this, I cannot say.

Around 1:15 we left the party so that Chris and Martin could try to make it home before they raised the bridges in St. Petersburg. Katherine lead Chuck and I to another club called Rossi's, which was crowded, but had a good band playing covers of American rock tunes, including the Vanilla Ice Classic "Ice Ice Baby".

I should also mention that Rossi's has what the Russians call "Streepteez", as do almost all of the larger clubs in St. Petersburg. That's not to imply that the places are seedy, in fact, they're nicer than any of the bars in Cedar Falls or Waterloo, they just happen to have topless a woman who comes out to do a single pole dance every 30 minutes or so. It's not a strip club though, they don't interact with the audience, or take money, and they are far from the focal point of the club. So it's more like a distraction than something you'd actually go to the club for, but I mention it here as it's something you'd want to know before going clubbing if you're going to be uncomfortable in the presence of a topless dancer.

Since I'm a bit less prudish than the average Iowan, I took it in stride, and we danced to the Russian cover band until around 3:00, when we hailed another pseudo-cab and went home. I promptly collapsed into bed without even remembering to see if I had hot water for a shower.

St. Pete Day 5

/

Thursday morning started with a trip (via the Metro) to the Fortress of Peter & Paul, where the city was founded in 1703. Our hosts had arranged a special tour of the mint that is housed there, which was pretty interesting. A young Russian woman named Tanya accompanied us, and she translated for the director of the mint museum as he showed us around the place. One of the artists who designs the coins and medallions was on hand too, and we admired his handiwork, and were presented with proof sets as gifts as we left. We then went to the cathedral of Peter & Paul, which is the final resting place of most of the Russian Czars and Czarinas. Peter The Great, Catherine The Great, and all the less-great monarchs are entombed there beneath the floor. They recently added the bodies of the last Czar, Nicholas II, and his family, who were murdered in the early 20th Century.

We caught the Metro back to Herzen, and bid farewell to Vladimir and Pitr, who had to return to MISiS in Moscow. We then met Marina, our guide for the latter portion of the day, and convinced her to let us swing by McDonald's for some lunch, as we hadn't had time to eat yet.

McDonald's here is about the same as anywhere else, though they charge you for ketchup, and the fries seem slightly slimmer. It's also cheaper than it is in the U.S., though not by a large amount. The restaurant was packed, as it's apparently a popular place amongst young Russians, as it's an affordable place to eat on their budgets. We bought Marina a strawberry milkshake to drink as Chuck and I wolfed down our Big Macs, which tasted just like any other Big Mac.

We then set off for the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. The Spilled Blood is in reference to the church being on the location of the assassination of Alexander I. The actual cobblestones where he was blown up are still left undisturbed inside the building, through a hole in the cathedral floor. The church was a bit different from all the other ones we've seen, because it was never really a "working" church, it served more like a monument, though during the Soviet Era, it was used to store potatoes. Fortunately, much of the mosaic work survived, though the marble floor did not. The church has been fully restored now though.

After the tour, we were returning to Herzen when we spotted Anna, our guide from the Russian Museum. We caught up to her, and had some time to give both her and Marina a few of the small UNI-branded gifts we brought with us, plus I unloaded a package of Twizzlers on each of them, which they seemed to enjoy.

Anna then asked us to join her for coffee, but Chuck begged off. Dr. Vajpeyi was around though, and he joined Anna and I at Lenin's Mating Call (which is porno-free during the day) for a couple of drinks and conversation. It turns out that Anna has traveled quite extensively, as she also works as a fashion model (which came as no suprise, given her height and good looks).

After about an hour, we said goodbye to Anna, and picked Chuck up to go out for dinner. We walked in a new direction of the city and located a Rock and Roll club that looked promising. Unfortunately, they wanted 100 roubles each for us to enter, and wouldn't show me the menu at the door. I told them I wasn't going to pay money when I just wanted to look at the menu so that I could decide whether or not I wanted to eat there. This is probably the best example of how many Russian restaurants and businesses haven't really mastered good customer service yet.

We decided to skip that place on principle, and walked another few blocks before finding a fairly upscale restaurant decorated in pink and silver. They had menus in English posted, so we went in and ordered. I had spaghetti, Chuck had salmon, and Dr. Vajpeyi had some veal, I think. The food was good, though the waitress was constantly coming over to rearrange our knives and forks, taking some away, bringing others, when many of them had never even been used. It was sort of amusing, since we could discern no pattern to when certain knives and forks were taken away, and others were brought. The meal was pretty good, though expensive, I think it was around 2000 roubles for the three of us, which is over $60, and we didn't even have any alcohol.

We then wandered our way back to Herzen, where I turned in for a night's rest, having been out late enough the night before.