Russia (St Petersburg) May 2009 D23-D29

From Russia with Love - today I will be stepping on Russian soil and look forward to gain my first impression on St Petersburg, the first Russian city I will be visiting after a 20 day Europe trip since 4th May 09. Either I love Russia or I hate it, this depends on the first two days.

I departed Tallinn, Estonia in an Eurolines bus (Euro$37) at 23.59 and at around 02.30, our bus arrived at the Estonian and Russian border immigration check points. After checking our luggage and passports, everything seemed to go on well as our bus headed towards St Petersburg. At 08.30, we arrived at the Baltic Station and without hesitation, I took an underground Metro to Moskovsky vokzal railway station, where my hostel is located. Frankly, my greatest fear in Russia is taking the Metro as I hardly understand the Russian words so it was a bit of struggle seeking help from locals and boarding the Metro from one station to another. However, with the help of the hostel location map and direction, I managed to find my way to my hostel, located in Sovietskaya street. After the hostel check-in , the first thing I did was to register my arrival with an accredited travel agency in order to comply with the local laws. A fee of 600 rub =Euro$15 was paid for this service. Having done that on my first day, I felt secured moving around the city

In St Petersburg, I stayed in Soul Kitchen Hostel ( Euro$11) for 3 nights. This hostel has excellent kitchen facilities so it was easy for me to prepare my own meals in the hostel.

As the hostel is located near the Nevsky Prospekt street, this made my walking tour to all the major tourist attractions easier. At both sides and ends of Nevsky Prospekt, I took my own sweet time to visit a number of tourist places marked on the city map (see pictures below).

As for my visit to the Grand Cascade fountains in Peterhof, I was fortunate to join up with two travellers from our hostel. Both the Grand Cascade and Hermitage Museum impresed me a lot.

In most tourist places including underground Metro stations, security police were seen everywhere. My four days in St Petersburg were free of any hustling or trouble from the police or local bad hats. Lucky me !

After a 4 day stay here, St Petersburg scores some brownie points from me as a modern, progressive and well administered city in Russia. A great place for tourists to explore and enjoy themselves in this vibrant city .

1) Nevsky Propekt - you will never get lost walking along this main street of Nevsky Propekt. For my 4 days in St Petersburg, I walked pass this street 5-6 times, day and night just to ensure that I did not miss out all the touristy places in St Petersburg.

2) Kazan Cathedral - built in 1801, this Roman style colonnaded arms of the Kazan Cathedral reach out towards the avenue.

 
3) Church of the Savior on Split Blood - took 24 years to build and 27 years to restore. Built between 1883 and 1907, this church has the look of the famous St Basil's in Moscow.

 

4) Gostiny Dvor - this old building was re-furbished into a modern shopping arcade

5) Cathedral mosque - very unique building. How many Muslim worshipers in St Petersburg ? I don't know.

6) Summer Garden - A great strolling place for locals and tourists. Lines of trees and statues can be seen in this loveliest park.

7) St Issac's Cathedral - I am impressed after seeing the golden dome of St Issac's Cathedral

8) Columns - standing tall on the opposite of Navy Museum and facing the Neva River - funny design !

9) Peter and Paul Fortress - the oldest fortress in St Petersburg dating back to 1703. 

 
10) Statues, memorials & monuments - an important landmark and a mark of respect to war heroes and statesmen leaving behind a legacy for all to remember.

11) The Bronze Horseman - the inscription in this statue reads " To Peter 1 from Catherine 11 - 1782 "

12) Grand Cascade Fountains, Petrodvorets ( Peterhof ) - Fountains ! Fountains everywhere in this "Russian Versailles", 29km from St Petersburg. Admission fee (350 rub -Euro$8.50) . The Grand Cascade fountains looked stunning from all angles - well worth the visit.

13) The Gulf of Finland - St Petersburg is so near to Scandinavian countries, especially Helsinki of Finland.

14) Russian concert - together with 3 travelers from the hostel, we paid 600 rub - Euro$14.50 per ticket to see a drama " Magic Flute" at the Mariinsk Theatre Concert Hall.

" Something to ponder in Saint Petersburg: St Petersburg and Moscow are the two greatest cities in Russia. The economic reform in the 90's had led to a greater prosperity in leisure industries such as food, entertainment, services & tourism. The better educated younger generations are more enterprising and innovative in running their businesses and in the process, they have accumulated immense wealth from their ventures. I spotted a number of 10-12 seater super size limousines in both cities - a new generation of fat cat businessmen are in the making ! "

" Leningrad, The Hero City, Peter the Great, Stalin, Lenin, Mafia - the good , the bad and the ugly - history has made St Petersburg a famous city. Having visited China, India, Egypt and now Russia - there are differences in what I see in these countries in terms of culture, food, religion, history etc but I yearn to see more as I continue my travel from here ....

The Secret of Life - Do not delay anything that adds laughter and joy to your life "