Back from St Petersburg
Wednesday: Russia, Here we come!!! Quite excited, as we are talking about a country you don’t go to, too often. We were kinda ordered to be on time, 7.45 as we left at 8. So, all of us were day, but our bus was late...hmmz...could have stayed another 15 mins in my bed. In the bus, all the ladies got a rose, because it was Women’s Day, how cool was that? It was a little silly though, because none of the roses survived the 8/9 hour busride...
At the Finnish border we had to show our passports and walk over the border to the other side. Then back in the bus, new border. We had to fill in some paper and all my stuff fell on the floor over and over again and after 3 times I was slightly pissed off! Again we had to show our passports and then we could get back in the bus. We drove a little further and then a guy came into our bus, wanting to see our passports, but then, then we could finally enter Russia. Stopped at a place to exchange our money, changed 80 euros, got some 2500 roubles back. That was a shitload of money! ;) Bought something there, but didn’t really have a clue how much it costed, apart from the fact that it was cheap. Again a stop a little further in Russia and there was a stinky loo, but a sweet dirty cat. Oh, I loved him and I wanted to take him with me, but I figured I shouldn’t. Got a little tour through St. P before we arrived at our ho(s)tel. The bus parked in a different street as the one at the ho(s)tel was a 1way street. Arriving there I was shocked, our ho(s)tel was packed and they were still renovating it. You couldn’t even see it was a ho(s)tel...Our room was okay, our view was fantastic (Street view, packed because of renovation) and it smelled, because of the renovation. Already figured we’d be woken up at 8, because the guys started working then. Well, Russia isn’t NL. Never seen a guy there... Had dinner with the Austrian boys. All restaurants were full, but eventually we ended up at a chinese place. They waitress spoke very poorly english, but at least she was trying to and she was really helpful. The food was delicious and in the end it costed us about 7.50 euros for meat, rice and drinks. In the evening we turned on the telly and Titanic was on! Spoken in Russian, but it was cool.
Thursday: Went to buy bread at one of the small supermarkets nearby. Well, the lady there was plain rude! You couldn’t get anything there yourself, but the lady had to get it for you. Fine. But she didn’t even come to us! And when she finally came, she was so cranky...tsk tsk tsk...little bitch that she was! The bread was okay though and that was what mattered actually.
Done a citytour with the bus. Pretty Russian, not too new, not too comfy, but it was fine, apart from the gearbox which obviously wasn’t working properly. Our guide spoke very good english, the only annoying thing was that in practically every sentence she used the folling words: guys, meanwhile, well, actually, believe it or not. Once you notice it, you’ll listen to it and that’s getting annoying! There are so many beautiful buildings in St P (Rather not see the inside as what matters most there is the outside, because that is was people see...). At one of the photostops we saw the typical Russian sickness. A guy was standing there with a bear, who had to do things and as a tourist you could have a photo taken with the little sweetheart. So...so...insane! They should chain the guy and make him do all those things! Also we went on a boat, the Aurora and Lyssa and I got a little pirates of the Carribean feeling. Tried to make some smooth moves, but it was so slippary on the boat that we were wondering how on earth Orli Bloom managed to stand on the boat ;) Annoying thins are the guys on the street who are trying to sell stuff to you ‘student price, special price for you, come and have a look etc...’ BUGGER OFF!!! We then headed to the mac to get lunch (that is 2 buses) because we were on our way to Catharines Palace (or something) a little outside St. P. When we arrived a lady shouted something at us in Russian, which we obv didn’t understand. It turned out there was no water anymore. Ok...i don’t need water...I just want food. We went back to the bus as we couldn’t get anything and then it was told we could get something, so we headed back to the mac. We couldn’t get inside, because they had locked the door, so all of us had to order at one desk outside. After the few Russians that had queued up in front of us were done, it was told they didn’t have hamburgers anymore. And then it turned out they didn’t have food anymore. Always friendly those Russians... We then went to a supermarket to buy stuff. The palace was nice, a little bit too much gold though, but you’ve got to spend your fortune on something...
In the evening we had dinner at the Pizzeria. The pizzas weren’t too good, but we had fun with the Dutch, French, Germans and Hungarian girl. Later that night we done a game of cards, which was huge fun.
Friday: Again we had to buy bread at the bitch’s store and again she was cranky as hell!! We then had to go to the Hermitage museum, and we had planned to walk, but out guide had arranged ‘taxis’ for us. Just a passing car that would bring us to the museum. Lyssa, Orsy and I sat down in a old, barely driving Russian car and we were going to have one ehm...unusual ride. First thing to know is that traffic in Russian is MAD! Second is that the car was OLD. Third is that the driver was MAD and fourth is that I figured we wouldn’t make it in one piece. Surprisingly enough we did, but really...if you’ve got to drive in Russia, take the tram or the metro!! We had to leave our coats and bags at the cloak room at the Hermitage and again we met a very cranky russian...Officially you had to buy a photocard in order to be able to take photos, but hardly anyone bought one and still we took tons of pics. It was a 2-hour guide, which was way too long, I cannot spend that much time in a museum with paintings. And therefore I’ve spend enough time in the museum so that I won’t have to go back to any in the next 10 years! Had lunch at the Subway, and it was soooo cheap!! We then went to another church and you also had to buy a photopermit there. Did so, only 75 eurocents, and this time we got a sticker at our camera, which was the proof you had one. After I was done i handed my sticker to Lyssa and that way she could take pics also. More whiny ‘special price, just for you’ people *sigh*. Headed back to hotel. Whiny woman there. She couldn’t change 1000 roubles (30 euros), but she had the change in front of her, what is your problem woman?! Went to supermarket to look for a breezer or smirnoff or something, but all they had was beer...and beer...and beer...never had seen so much beer at one place! Stupid. Then went to the mac to get ‘dinner’. Wanted nuggets and a milkshake. They didn’t know what i meant by milkshake. I repeated m-i-l-k-s-h-a-k-e. Still no clue...then explaining. Like ice, but you can drink it. Ooooh...shake!!! That was the word i had to use...hmmz...stupid...milkshake or shake... Back at the ho(s)tel Lyssa had a little blonde moment. She opened the door to go to the toilet (we didn’t have that in the rooms), then closes it, makes some funny noises and then starts to explain she saw a certain frenchie with nice eyes in his grandpa-like underwear. Turn off!!! But it did cause some laughing in room 406! :D in the evening we again played cards and Rodrigue was there also and in a restaurant someone had done a shit on the bill. Others confused, but he meant to say cheated on the bill. *snort* i prefered shit on the bill, was quite hilarious, esp with the french accent.
Saturday: Had breakfast at the ho(s)tel for 3 euros. Was okay, but not like we are going to do it any other time though. Wanted to go to Peter and Paul’s fort with the metro and typically we got in the wrong metro, however it wasn’t such a big mistake as it turned out well. Walked a bit around a the fort and then we saw something...strange...unusual....unhealthy perhaps? It was about -10 and there were people standing against the wall...in bikini etc, enjoying the sun!!!!!! Walked back over the river to the main part of the city and we went to the F1 store. Unfortunately the stuff they had there was too expensive, even the Jordan and Jaguar merchandise was full price! Headed back to the nevsky Prospect and stopped in front of the subway. Yes/no? It was either an ‘I don’t care’ or ‘I don’t mind’ so we decided to sit down there and have a lunch. While queueing up we saw the Austrians and French sitting there and waved at them. Lyssa went to them as she wasn’t hungry and when we had our bread, they had left and Lyssa was also nowhere to be seen. We wondered where she could have been and assumed she was with the Austrians and French. Thought it was pretty stupid just to leave and not let any of us know she’d be joining the others as you are in a strange city. Turned out she was with them indeed as they’d passed the subway later on. Looking for postcards, which were extremely hard to find. Wanted to buy a nice card for Muck, but there weren’t any envelopes. Figured you’d get them once you’ve paid so i went to the desk and as she scanned my cards I asked if she had an envelope. ‘no.’ Ehm...okay...replied with an ‘then i don’t want this card.’ And handed her back the postcard. I am not going to send that without an envelope! Lady behind my had also postcards and she did get the envelopes for them! I didn’t, eventhough they were standing right infront of me. Has it got to be that obvious that they can’t stand tourists? At 6 we had a sunset tour organised by Russian students. Sunset was long gone when we were able to see it, but hey. We went to their university, which from the outside was an awesome building, but from the inside it was ugly and old! Then again, it is the outside that counts. Students were very pleased with the study equipment they had there and after seeing it, i started to appreciate my school even more. Eventhough it’s butt ugly, it is soooo luxury!! We then went to a church and all of us marched in, while there was a mis (sp?) going on. Felt quite uncomfortable at that moment. There were people praying and listening and such and then a group of students marches in. Some completely ignored the forbidden to take pics sign and behaved like shit. Great...left pretty quickly and then we went to have dinner at the pancake restaurant. Delicious!! And again sooo cheap! Had like 3 pancakes and a tea for less then 5 euros! It’s like a fastfood restaurant. They haven’t finished your pancake instantly so you get a number and they’ll bring it to you when it is ready. I had ordered one with apple and the guy came to our table and looked a little confused, thinking: shit, which of the 2 pancakes was it? Went away to a different table and then came back with the last pancake, which was for me. Turned out to be the wrong one as it was with cheese (not as good as apple) Then Estelle passed us, telling us she had been giving the wrong pancake. Turns out we had eachother’s! Then went back to the ho(s)tel to play another game of cards.
Sunday: Long long boring day coming up. Read something, then stood up, turned on the telly. Watched top gear, spoken in Russian and Jeremy’s voice there is hilarious!!! So strange. Also Richards and James’ voices are silly. Then went to the supermarket to spend the last bit of my money. Had an icecream at the mac and went back to the hotel. Turned on the tv and kept on switching the channels to see if they’d show F1. They did!!! And I could even see the start and the first couple of laps. Oh, I was sooooo pleased with that (not with the winner though...) Ran to Orsy’s and Claudias room and told them there was F1 on telly. Then watched the start, kinda pissed off that Chris had problems. Kinda pissed off that Nico had problems, but it turned out he drove a hell of a race! Left the ho(s)tel at 3 to go back to the civilised world again. At the border we had to show our passports 5 times!!! Fortunately they quickly checked the bus and we’ve only had to wait for about 30 mins before we could move on to the next passport control. By the way, there was a long queue of trucks waiting to cross the border. Felt a little sorry for them, as there were 286 waiting to cross. It’s not funny if you are nr 286... Also we had a doggie in the bus to check for drugs etc, but he couldn’t find anything. Ehm, all in all the trip back went pretty quickly.
To make it short: St P. was a great city, that is, with buildings and such. The traffic sucks, the people in general are unfriendly, and plain rude sometimes. They hardly speak english, which I thought was slightly strange. Also, I didn’t feel really safe there and I am glad to be back here in Helsinki, the civilised world, however I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this trip to Russia...