Babushkas, the "Strutters", blinis and more
 

I just got back this afternoon from two marvelous weeks in St. Petersburg. We had visited Moscow several years ago in February, but this was our first trip to this impressive, young city of 4.5 million.

We went for various reasons. We hosted an exchange student many years ago and have kept in touch with her. Her family also owns an apartment here in Spain two hours away and have asked us "When are you coming to know MY city?" more than once.

So, coinciding with the end of the Volvo Ocean Race, we decided to try to organize the visas and tickets for late June. Since we were being given an apartment for our stay, we planned on visiting more in depth than we normally would have been able to.

It was a very exciting time for us. Our German exchange student left for his home after half a year with us just hours before we left for St. P. The back and forth to the airport and last minute plant watering, animal medication list, etc.. topped off our usual pre-trip routine. We were also very excited to be reunited with our son after a couple months of not seeing him.

We arrived in St. P. at an ungodly hour but our host was waiting smiling at the arrivals area to whisk us to our apartment, driving us the "long" way around since some of the bridges were now open for the awaiting ships to come into port, so traversing the city was not possible.

The next day we were collected and taken up to Kronstad Island ( interesting history and cathedral by the way) to try to see the Volvo boats come into the area for the final of the race. We could see them at a distance, so that was better than nothing. The trip down dirt roads towards viewing points was hilarious as at one beach we came across a slew of cars, music coming from a hut, and lots of what looked like survivors of a sado-masochista beach party. And I am serious!

Girls wearing black leather mini skirts showing a black thong.. tatooed -bodied rough looking guys, naked from the waist up, others drinking in corners and in cars.

The looks on these people's faces when they saw us walking determinedly towards them was a picture worth a thousand words. Needless to say we stayed only long enough to realize this was not the best view point anyway.. so off towards another road!

Satisfied having seen the boats sail by we went for lunch and later to town to the port activities at the Peter and Paul Fortress area. We spent this day and the next enjoying our friends and our son just socializing and stopping later for coffee before retiring.

We could see that S.P. was going to be very special and Russia still a country of contrasts to say the least.

The following days were filled with long walks to try to get in some of the popular tourist sites and some nice meals. Having had breakfast at home we walked the two blocks to the metro.

I remembered the "babushkas" ( not a real definition, but I used this word to describe the real Russian working woman) in the Moscow metro.. the women in the glass boxes at the bottom of the escalators. In Moscow they mostly seemed very old and sovietically "grey". Here they were of various ages. But what a boring job! Their only entertainment must be watching the parade of workers, lovers and students endure the seemingly endless trip down into the guts of what is the world's deepest metro.

Some people embrace and kiss all the way down.. others read a page or two of their book, an occasional rebel sits down ( prohibited) as the rest of us look on as the breeze coming up dries the humidity off our face.

The service between trains is amazingly efficient. Waiting times of three minutes is normal, and half that during rush hour.

So off we go. Of course.. to the most famous site.."The Hermitage" I would like to give one word of warning to those trying to see the Hermitage on their own.

I had very limited internet access during this trip and I did not take note of tips about entering the Hermitage. I only remembered reading somewhere about getting a group tour through the Museum office.

So after waiting what seemed like 30 minutes in the VERY long general ticket line formed in the garden area, and not moving more than 6 feet, I went off in search of this office. It is accessed under the arch and up some steps. The woman at the Museum tour desk (up some more steps and through a door.. NOT the two cashiers behind glass), can put you into a group when there is space. I am unaware if you can book any of this in advance... hopefully one of you can insert instructions of how best to do this.

Of course, there was no space. .."Come back tomorrow, maybe tomorrow, you try everyday.. I don't know.. you can call me.. but not sure.. etc.etc.etc."

I went back to the line with my husband and son and after 15 more grueling minutes of getting nowhere fast we left for happier activities. I will jump ahead here and tell you that after several DAYS of no possibility of getting into a group tour through the museum office, we booked a private tour for two for 3,200 R. (about 80 E), through an agency called Nevsky Souvenir. Our guide was very good and it was an excellent choice.

The Hermitage is overwhelming. In the end you walk past priceless objects and more objects and suddenly we found ourselves next to an unfinished Michaelangelo sculpture. You were also allowed to take photos of the paintings. You are very near the art work, unless,of course, three cruise ships tours are sharing the rooms with you, as seems to be the case most days in the summer.

The Hermitage has a small café and internet (fee) so after walking for 3 hours we were ready to chill out with a sandwich and catch up on news back home.

After a stop at a tourist office we headed off for our first meal. We ventured into a place recommended off a list of Russian restaurants from the tourist office. It was one of many tasty Russian fast food places that we would NOT have entered had it not been recommended. It was called "Frikadelki" along the Griboyedova Canal, just off Nevsky Prospekt. This was cafeteria style, so it was easy to point.

No ambience, but the food was tasty. We were able to make ourselves understood and for our first adventure, it was just fine. Many of our other meals would be at table- clothed sit down restaurants that were more memorable, but one CAN eat decent food in S.P. without breaking the bank.

As you walk down Nevsky Prospekt, or near very high end restaurants you will see "The Sturtters". Anyone who has been to Russian or is afficionado to "Russian Girls" will know exactly what I mean.

Usually tall, blonde, tight sweater, jewelry, heavy make-up, short skirt..maybe plaid, and sometimes thigh high stockings with elastic band, high high heels.. heavy bracelet.. large bag.. and a look to see who's watching as they pass you by. They seem to be on a mission. And the ones hanging around the clubs, I understand, are very very provocative.

It made people watching very interesting!

I hope to finish this tomorrow with a list of some of our favorite eateries. We used mostly "In Your Pocket" and "Where" magazine while we were there. Then, once I found internet cafés ( there are not very many and the ones on N. Prospeckt are very expensive 100R/hour) I checked out tripadvisor , etc. for posted suggestions as I had unfortunately left my two page S.P. list at home near the computer!

Oh, no! I have nightmares about losing my lists of places to see and to eat. Thanks for this report. We have two days in SP on a cruise and will be going with a guide. I felt a little wimpy doing that but the more I see about SP, the more I think we made a good decision. Looking forward to more.

i reckon people watching wouldve been our favourite activity in moscow and st petes

there are certainly some good looking women and i dont know how they keep their figures - they must eat their fair share of fried food- we didnt see many overweight people anywhere in russia apart from the babushki

maybe it is all the walking they do- those distances between metro connections are enough to make an athlete out of you

as for fast food places
we enjoyed elki palki - not really fast food but it is considered touristy
but hated teremok outlets - good toilets but thats about it
i did have a choc pancake there which was just ok

we didnt get to the hermitage - economic summit was on
but not really sorry - the treasures there are such a contrast to what the average russian calls life that we werent in the mood
sell a chandelier i say and get the moskovsky vokzal some decent toilets -cant believe that they can operate like that

Sounds like you had a great time. I'd love to hear more about the rest of your two weeks. I too ate at Frikadelki when I was there. I remember it fondly. Cheap and decent cafeteria style food. Easy to point to things. As for the women, we joked that the spikes on their high heels must act as ice picks because we were falling all over the place, and they weren't, on St. Petersburg's unpaved icy sidewalks.

I have been puttng off re-writing this as I lost the entire report by doing some flick on a key here more than a week ago. So until I do it in Word.. I will piece-meal it, I guess.

A private guide is the way to go there for a short vist. Off a cruise ship I believe you have no other option anyway.

We saw all the main highlights of the city, and were escorted to some of the further away places, like Repin's home and studio near the Gulf of Finland. This is Russia´s Rembrandt, and was a very nice museum, completely rebuilt after a fire devastated it completely.

We had to wait awhile for another small group to finish as they wanted to put the tape on in English /Spanish for us. We strolled the grounds while waiting. Our host used to walk here with his father as a boy, so he was enjoying the morning.

Walking through his studio made seeing his room at the Russian Museum all the more meaningful. In fact, The Russian Museum was after lunch but overload on Hermitage day.. so the Repin room was a breath of fresh air. His portraits are exquisite.

We also went to Katherine's Palace on the way to the airport with our son. This was another procedure to get in-. Similar to the Hermitage but we were there early enough it was going to be feasible. Two hours standing in line when you go independently. You become convinced very quickly, Russian hosts or not, a tour is the way to go. Or... off season.

I think our host was also surprised at this long wait and could understand the frustration for the independent tourist.

Katherine's Palace was very opulent, so when we went to Peterhof, we just bought the ticket for the grounds. We arrived at Peterhof by boat, and many did not realize that the boat ticket does not include any of the site. So, you have a few more tickets to buy once there. The gardens were stunning, and we spent the next 2 hours or more just walking through them.

We arrived before 11 a.m. to see the fountains when they first turn on. I think that was worth it, since there is music, etc. This would be a lovely place for a picnic near the water under some trees before catching the boat back.

That was the extent of our out of city trips. In town we strolled, took the English boat ride on Fontanki Canal. I later took another one off the Moika canal (which I love). They were both informative. The Moika Canal tours are an hour after the F. Canal tours so if you miss one, just go two canals over and find the other one if time is of the essence.

I love to stop and have a coffee or pastry every couple of hours, so I was hunting down recommended sites in these free guides.

One near the Spilt Blood Church is called "Stollen". Great raspberry, apple or apricot "pies", and I saw people eating more lunch type foods, too. Prices here are reasonable. They have another branch near the Marinsky Theater I realized, much to my delight!

Also across the canal from the church is a lovely café called "Café St. Petersburg". It is modern on the inside and we had a quick, delicious, inexpensive meal before the ballet at the Hermitage theater, 10-15 minutes away.

Do try ice cream with fresh fruit, or milkskhakes or fruit shakes or fresh juice instead of coffee. It will usually be cheaper and a nice change from my routine coffee stop. A nice place on Nevsky Prospekt was Abrikosv, or something like that. I had a nice bowl of ice cream with fruit there for 110R while coffee was closer to 140-180R.

We ate all our meals out so we were able to try several restaurants. The majority were upscale, but we managed to go at lunchtime and get the business lunch.. which is usually about 300-600R (7-15 euros) without drinks or dessert.

We enjoyed the food and the view at
Flying Dutchman, the moored boat near Peter and Paul Fortress, across from the Hermitage practically.

Russian Vodka Room. Their business lunch menu is half price the a la carte so although it is in Russian, go for it. They speak little English here but the chicken cutlet was good as was the summer soup. You can use the English menu to help find something on the business menu. You will not be offered this menu unless you ask for it, which was the case in many places....

Next door almost is Stroganoff. I ate here alone one day. The interior is very plush, leather booths, nice decor, nice bars and many foreign buisnessmen having lunch. Seems it is the best steak house in S.P. but I had the business lunch which was very non-Russian but good for 300 R. It included a water or drink.

Since dessert was not usually included we would save that for a later stop in the afternoon. One place which is a must stop IMO when in S.P is www.terrassa.ru. This place is gorgeous and a nice respite from the traffic below. Just behind the beautiful Kazan Cathedral ( hey.. no entry fee!!)in the only modern ( highly controversial )building and on the 6th floor is this lounge/restaurant. Very very pricey but worth the splurge. Blankets provided for breezy evenings.

I visited the Blockade Museum. Now this museum is in a very intresting part of town. A nice residential type area, and around the plaza where the museum is you have at least four nice places to stop . I ate at Jules Bar, and a lovely young girl helped me through their menu. I saw VOX, and a few others nearby, too. Another day I went to Botanika, an excellent vegetarian place, at the end of the street after touring the Applied Arts Museum ( great interior).

I failed to mention the first day the tourist offices were out of maps. So using a clumsy one in a free guide book we managed somewhat. Then I was hoping to get a bus map and finally realized they do not have them. I guess I could have bought one at a bookstore but by then I was not so in need of it, so passed.

The blue and white Smolny Convent complex is also stunning. You can get there on busses 5,7,11 running along Nevsky Prospekt. Get on the bus, then the collector finds you and asks for your 20R. Much nicer than the metro, although for long distances I like the train, but give me a bus anyday.

I went to a Cossack dance show across from Smolny, although the ticket info says it is in Smolny Concert Hall. NOT SO. This dance show is across the main street in a convention looking modern building with flags on it. Tickets for this were surprisingly cheap.. 360R (8-9E).

I bought it at one of the many ticket kiosks. The ones on N. Prospekt charge 10-20 R more for the tickets than at another kiosk I saw in a different part of town.

I had another bowl of ice cream with fruit at the hotel next door and chatted with a very sweet young man whom I wished well. He is studying and working. One of the many hard- working, honest people who will never be able to afford to practice their languages outside their country I am afraid.

We are so lucky to be able to travel, if that is what we like to do.

The show filled up with cruise ship attendees. It was fun watching them and talking to my seated neighbor. The show had silly parts, lots of ballad singing, many many costume changes, some dancing in the first part but nothing to blow you away at all.

The women's costumes were very attractive.

But after the intermission, and especially the last 20 minutes, were what I was expecting for the entire show, I guess. They got standing ovations and the male dancers really showed their stuff those last minutes. A nice night out.

Since I was alone, and the metro was very far from here, the tourist office had looked up the bus route for me. I did not relish walking to a metro stop by myself at 10.30pm. Thus I learned the bus and felt much better about it. The buses always go to SOME metro stop, so I got off near Moscow station and got myself back to our apt. outside town.

Having this white nights light makes going home late feel much safer I have to admit, although once my husband left and I was alone for 5 days I did look over my shoulder more once out of the metro.

One area that will certainly merit a return trip will be when the New Holland area is finished. A British company, I believe, won the project which will include an Amphitheater, and I am not sure what else.

Also, the Marinsky II Theater project,

http://www.arcspace.com/architects/p...kij_index.html,

I understand, has been put back into competition as the approved and winning project has been deemed too modern and an eyesore for such a traditonal area and they will not carry it out. However, they are hoping to have a new traditional solution executed by 2011. Good luck to them.

Controversy and the possible loss of World Heritage status surround the criticized Gazprom tower. See article.

http://www.luxist.com/2007/09/06/the...eritage-title/

I went to the Monastery Alexander Nevsky Laura one day. This is an interesting complex. The monks also sell bread here, which was interesting to see. The cemeteries are also full of famous musicians, novelists, etc. Follow the canal around a bit and get a feel for the solitude.

Wandering around, enjoying the parks, although the famed Summer gardens are closed, was enough to fill anyone's afternoon and mornings. The people watching is so varied,and the "strutters" are the most fun, frankly. They are gorgeous..some more so than others and they know it..

Do not expect a lot of people to understand any English NOR the Latin alphabeted names for your metro stops or restaurants. Know the street number of your restaurant as the name outside may NOT/ and most likely WILL not resemble the name you have in your English guidebook. Street numbers ae conveniently written on maps as some streets are quite long.

Internet cafés are few and far between. The Hermitage has a nice one in their café area for 50R/hour. Then there are two on Nevsky Prospekt in the higher numbers.. around 90, next to a PUMA store, but up one level. 100R/hour.

I found a really cheap one on a canal, I think 81 griboedova canal.. but not sure. It is next to a Russian linen store.It was only 40R/hour and the boy was really nice. Mostly kids playing games there. The Moscow train station also has a lounge area, also 120R/hour I think. But these are all quite spread around. This is the most sparse internet café situation I have found in Europe.

Maps: We ended up with four different ones. One had larger letters. Another more streets.. another only the central, but very clear area. Another better monuments. All were free.

If you have the chance to go to something at the Marinsky, do so. It was the highlight of all events for me. The ballet was excellent, and the theater is worth a visit in itself.

Getting around. We used the metro and saw two stops that are worth getting a ticket and going to visit. Pushkinskaya and Mayakovskaya. Ask your hotel if there are more. Tickets 20R or a card for 10 rides good for 7 days is 165.

Beware as some guide books still have the old route map on the cover. Can be quite deceiving, and confusng to say the least.

The 5, 7 and 11 buses will take you quite a distance.. over to Smolny Convent area. The 5 actually seems to go almost all over town as I saw it near the Stroganoff restaurant also.

The Engish boat tours on Fontanki Canal and Moika. 500 R. The Moika tour goes towards New Holland also which the F.Canal does not. I enjoyed them BOTH.

Taxis:: We only took one.. and negotiated him down from 500R to 400R at night, but our hosts said it should have cost 300R.
Just offer them 200R in the city if you must take one.

The mini buses: I only learned one route that served our plans two days but never again. I would LOVE to be able to read the signs quickly enough as they speed by to see if they are going my direction.

You just raise your hand, they stop, charge you about 26R and let you off on their route anywhere along the road. These are very quick and popular with people as it saves you from walking to busstops and most likely gets you closer to your final doorway. Good luck on that one!

S.P is a very walkable town, and it is pleasant strolling anywhere OFF N. Prospekt. I really do not like this avenue except once to see the bridges and gawk at the lovely architecture. There are some amazing buildings there. But it is so busy.. just jutting off to the left or right and walking along the canals to other neighborhoods was great. I made it a point not to hang around N.P. too much. Just too full of people and groups.

Shopping: I am not a shopper and found nothing to bring home except two paper calendars ( bought at the bookstore under Singer Café on N. Prospekt). This was where we bought a Berlitz phrase book ( VERY handy) and magnets. I understand the upstairs café is pleasant and it certainly has a nice view.

I never saw them cheaper elsewhere. I also bought a LOT of beautfiul stickers for children with real photos of animals and things at a normal paper store in a residential area. I also bought a telephone book as I need a new one. ( A few extra letters in it, of course).

We bought boxes of chocolates, but we are not impressed. So, if there are gifts to be bought, I am not the one to ask on that. The Russian honey I bought is good. I was looking at tablecloths, even on off the path side streets and they were VERY expensive.

The supermarkets had anything you could want. The juices are delicious and a much better variety than here in Spain.
The Land supermarket in the basement of Vladimirsky Passage is very good. The theater kiosk there was nicely attended also, although she spoke little English. The bakery on the main floor is one of S.P.'s best, they say. It certainly was full. This building is to the right of Regent Hall when you come out of the metro.

I had a good bliny with mushrooms, cheese and duck nearby at Bliny Domik at Kolokolnaya, 8. It was very large and freshly made. Cannot complain, but only if you are in the neighborhod! 200R

For "to die for" pastries and creme brulée among other scrumptious looking delicacies.. go to Garcon, also behind the Kazan Cathedral. Almond croissants.. hmm. My mouth is watering remembering them.

We went to the Jazz Philharmonic for a concert of the Leningrad Dixieland Band. This was a great outing. Tickets were 800R, and we had a decent quick dinner across the street at Trotsky Most. Nice place, but discreet resident cat for those who are allergic.

We had a great time. Seemed like only one other tourist there at the cocktail tables. A nice crowd and excellent music. We were very glad we did this. They adore Dixieland music and Jazz in S.P., thus a Philharmonic soley for that gendre.

Drinks and snacks were pricey. Vodka, of course, is always cheap!

Personal safety: We were quite anxious at the beginning, as we were the first two days in Moscow years ago on our own. Of course we felt none of this while we were with our hosts on the outings.

However, our anxiety quickly disappeared. We had no incidents whatsoever but were constantly warned to be careful with our things.

My son's friends, however, were all robbed of all their jackets at a disco while they were dancing.

And then one day when I was alone I was approached three different times by people asking me things.. all young men.. and very close, so I darted away or stood in my tracks.

I observed them later as they moved on and they did NOT re-ask the next person they crossed paths with anything, so I am still oblivious as to what they were proposing or asking for. I was a bit unnerved that day but that feeling quickly disappeared.

I am not going to bore you with any more of my details, but just to say that you could be as long or short in S.P. and be sure to have a rewarding trip. I'm in no hurry to go back, and am also "palaced-out" but in a few years, when some of these new architectural projects have been executed it might be very interesting.

"Where" magazine, and "In Your Pocket" and "Fodors" all essential!

Thanks for reading to the end! Hope this helps someone.

I forgot to add a very nice chic restaurant we went to called X.O. It got good reviews so we stopped for an early light dinner. This was perhaps the most "gourmet" meal we had, and the most expensive, but we would go back.

The owner was very interested in knowing how we had heard about them as they do not get many foreigners. I had seen it in "Where" magazine.

Zhukovskogo ul., 10
Tel: 719-65-42
Daily 12-24; Metro Mayakovskaya

I also took a peek into Xren, as it was also recomended but ended up continuing onward that day. http://www.xren.info/

We also had a fine meal at Jean Jacques on Marata. Very nice waiter and delicious food at reasonable prices. They have two locations.

Jean Jacques Rousseau
Restaurants & cafes (231)
French cuisine
Gatchinskaya ul., 2
Tel: 232-99-81
Mo-Th, Su 10-24, Fr-Sa 10-6; Metro Petrogradskaya

Marata ul., 10
Tel: 315-49-03
Daily 0-24; Metro Mayakovskaya

Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to prepare us a very interesting report of a city we rarely get to read about. I deeply appreciate your experience and travel advice on St. Petersburg!

As we are off to SP, your report was very timely for us. Thanks for taking the time and I will book mark it for re reading next week..

thanks for the info....we will use it during our august trip

Glad it came at a timely moment for you. You will have a wonderful time, I am sure.

This is just excellent, Lincasanova. Thank you so very much for your very personal and detailed report. You've given me much to look forward and to think about; it sounds like we both like to get slightly off the beaten track when travelling so I appreciate all your pointers, especially the bus and underground information, and of course the restaurant recos.

I've just roughly put my itinerary together spanning 19 days in October covering SP, Budapest and London, 5 full days of which will be in SP. I hope this will suffice to spend a bit of time seeing the main tourist attractions (I'm not a fan for spending hours on end in one location) and the rest to just walk the city and explore, stopping and eating whenever and wherever I happen to be. My 'raison d'etre' for visiting SP is to see Rembrandt's 'The Prodigal Son', but for all I've been reading on how long it takes to get into the Hermitage, I hope that it won't take up an inordinate amount of time to accomplish this task alone.

Thanks so much once again, and I hope you won't mind if I end up asking you a few more Q's once I've finalised my plans.

M

If you like Rembrandt then you must make a point of going to the Russian Museum to see Repin's room and his portraits. Very soothing to the eye.

Ask me anything you want.

I think 5 days is fine.. as I certainly could not have stayed much longer than that had we not been invited to that apartment situation!

If you go to the Hermitage Museum Tour Office the very first morning you arrive, I imagine you will be able to set something up through them on one of your days, which will be a bit cheaper. Otherwise, you will just have to bite the bullet and go for a private guide, which in the end is worth every ruble. Time will be of the essence for you.

This office is under the main arch before you actually access the garden area where the line begins to get tickets. The door will be on your right. There must be some kind of a sign, because I found it fairly easily.

Also, October is probably a totally different situation. There are no cruises then.

As weather will be cooler you certainly will enjoy some of the pastry shop recs! Maybe not as much ice cream though!

I hope they still have the boat tours in October. They are seasonal, I think.

Have fun planning. It can be quite a challenge at first. I would really suggest a city bus tour the first day if you see one and it is convenient, only because some things are quite spread out, and with the inclement weather you might have in October, strolling for hours like in the summer, may not be so pleasant.

We were going to take one but our son was so tired he thought he would fall asleep, plus the traffic was quite heavy that weekend day, so I was not too interested in sitting in traffic.

Have you ever been to Budapest? One of my FAVORITE cultural capitals.. I have a couple reports with recs if you click on my name.

I've just remembered some fun info about how these Russians in St. P. celebrate their wedding day.

Some grooms wear a banner, and he and the new wife go in an outlandish stretch limo, or with lower budgets, on a bus along with their guests to do the S.P. romantic photo tour of the city. Daily you come across tens of brides and grooms posing in front of the Hermitage, alongside Peter teh Great or Pushkin statue, the Church of Spilt Blood, along a romantic canal, etc. while their guests follow and observe them constantly toasting with glasses of champagne, waiting for the photographer to finish and move onto the next stop.

The groom also locks a lock on a bridge iron post declaring everlasting "locked-in love and unity" and throws away teh key ( I think!).

At times the friends make two lines with arms raised high with their champagne glasses while the newlyweds walk through this human cheering "archway" back to the waiting limo.

We had fun checking out how many different limos we had seen in one afternoon.. Hummer super stretch.. hot pink super stretch.. black.. pink.. purple. Seems to be a flourishing business.

Wow, this is an amazing thread! We will be on a Baltics cruise with our 18 year old daughter. Will be doing the DenRus 2 day Value tour during the day and really want to avoid the ship tourists the night of Sept 1 so am in touch with DenRus about a guide and private car for the evening of Sep 1. We are not used to having private guides. We like to wander places on our own and people watch and go to pubs and outdoor cafes. But we realize this is different. We will have just 4 hours in the evening - would love to hear any suggestions you have. We are not shoppers. Daughter likes icecream - we like pints! We like to people watch. We do like to listen to music but maybe just strolling around and hitting outdoor cafes or pubs is better. Thank you for any thoughts and suggestions!

St. P and Moscow (in the fall of '08)were both part of the biggest culture shocks I ever endured anywhere, only because it was my third visit to Russia, the first two being in the grim USSR days. Just picture the populace sans the stiletto heels and worldly fashions, the luxury cars, the...oh, well, you get the idea. As I say, many of the ultra-dramatic changes have been for the common good, while just as many have been less than favorable. Can you possibly imagine citizens longing for the "good old days"..? Some do, vocally.

Stu T.

lovetotravel2, if you like ice cream then St. P is the place for you! It's sold allover and is absolutely lovely.

Don't worry about shopping, I didn't find StP to be a shopper's haven, though IMHO your visit isn't complete without perusing the aisles of Dom Knigi bookstore on Nevsky and checking out the souvenirs in the stalls behind Church on Spilled Blood (even if you don't buy). Dom Knigi sells amazing postcards of the city and has an English section.

Since you have a night for yourself, I would stay along Nevsky Prospect in the area between the Hermitage and the Fontanka Canal, where the action is.

Sounds wonderful! Thank you.

Bookmarking.