Way to Russia Talk Lounge

Jerry H · Just Starting Joined: 11 Jun 2005 Posts: 1

We're from California staying in Sweden with our son and daughter in law, who live near Stockholm. We decided to go to St Petersburg for a visit because it is only a little over an hour flight from Stockholm. At first we tried to secure a visa on our own. But time was a limiting factor for us. We chose to go with a tour from an agnecy that specializes in tours to Russia. The agency, Iventus, made everything easy for us. We made one trip to their office in Stockholm. They took care of the rest while we travelled to north of the artic circle and then through Norway. So, here are our observations on our visit to St Petersburg.

1. We felt safe in the city during the day. It's a city of 4 million people and we took the same precautions against pickpockets that we would take in any large city or tourist oriented place.

2. We stayed at the St Petersburg Hotel. It is too far from the Hermitage to walk there. The Metro was only a 10 minute walk away, and that takes you right into the heart of the city for only 10 Rubles, that's like 30 cents US. However, the view from our large almost floor to ceiling window of the Neva River and the spires and domes of St Petersburg was nothing short of awesome. Though the hotel has some bad reviews on the Internet, we found the staff, hotel, and moring buffett quite adequate. The hotel is within walking distance, maybe 1/2 mile, to Peters Fort and the St Peter and Pauls cathedral. The famous ship, the Aurora, was anchored just across the river from our room. Everynight, we sat in front of our window and watched all of the boat traffic on the Neva. Late one night we saw the opening of one of the bridges from our room.

3. The Metro, subway, underground is beautiful. From above ground the entrances to the Metro are dreary. On our first entry, as we rode down the longest escalator that we have ever been on, we wondered just what lie at the bottom. We were amazed to find the underground stations to be the most beautiful that we have seen. We felt quite safe. We took care not to stand near the doorway and I insured that my wallet was on a cord around my neck and the wallet down inside my trousers. On our flight home, a fellow traveller told us that he has made many trips to St Petersburg and did have his pocket picked once while riding the Metro. He was shoved from behind. His reaction was to throw out his arms to catch himself. In that instant, the thief opened the zipper on our friend's coat and removed his camera, and quickly departed through the open door.

4. We attended the ballet at the Fontanka Theatre. We saw Swan Lake and loved the theatre and the ballet. Tickets were about 30 dollars US. We hired a driver to take us to the ballet and to take us back. That cost us another 30 dollars but was well worth it.

5. We used the InTourist representative in the hotel to book an all day city tour with our private guide and driver. This cost us around 100 dollars. Well worth it. Our guide, Natalia, spoke excellent English, and was fun to be with.

6. Traffic is insane in St Petersburg. I've driven in many cities in the world, but I wouldn't drive in SP. Pedestrians DO NOT have the right way. Be very careful when crossing any street. When we were on our city tour we came to an intersection where 2 cars and a bus were signaling to make a left hand turn. Our car was the third in line of these 3 cars. Rather than wait his turn, our driver saw an opening in the traffic and before the other 2 vehicles could make the turn, he cut past them and completed turn, leaving us breathless.

7. We were impressed with the amount of restoration going on. Most buildings have a dirty appearance to them. But we could see that a huge effort is being made to make the buildings look nice again.

8. There was very little litter, trash, rubbish, on the streets. Everywhere, even on a Sunday, we saw people at work sweeping and picking up trash.

9. Returning from the heart of the city on Saturday evening we were quite surprised to see so much drinking in public. The few street entertainers we saw were drunk, and with one exception, were terrible. The ones we saw were mostly drunk young men pounding away on guitars. The drunken displays did give us cause for concern and we made haste in getting home.

10. We looked for a supermarket to buy snacks. We only found two. One was behind the hotel and the other in the heart of the city on the main street. Both were incredibly small and cramped. I hope they have better markets in the suburbs.

11. The main attractions of St Petersburg are amazingly beautiful, but I wouldn't call the city itself beautiful.

12. We took a boat ride on one of the canals and consider it a must thing to do.

13. My wife collects nestling dolls. So she knows her stuff. She found great bargains by shopping the many street vendors and souvenir stores. She bought dolls for around 20 to 30 dollars that would cost 100 or more in the US.

14. We decided to have one really nice meal and chose the Hermitage Restaurant which is across the square from the Hermitage. We had an excellent meal with superior service in very artsy decor for less than 50 dollars.

15. Bank machines are every where. Whenever we needed money an automatic money dispensing machine was nearby.

16. The airport is small, more like something you would find at a regional rural airport. We expected much better for the fourth largest city in Europe.

17. If we would have had more time we would have taken a full day tour to the town of Norvogod. It's south of SP, about a 3 hour drive. Our guide said that it represent the real Russia, with St Petersburg being more like a Western European city.

18. There are a large number of parks with trees, grass, and fountains throughout the city.

19. Very few people speak English. Even in the hotel, most of the staff seemed to have only a very fundamental grasp of English. We did quite fine though.

In conclusion, we enjoyed our visit. The highlight was probably touring the Hermitage and enjoying the lively scene in the huge plaza next to the Hermitage. But we also enjoyed the ballet, beautiful chruches, strolling the busy sidewalks, and the view from the window of our hotel.

Camrade · Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:09 pm Post subject:

2Jerry H

There are 2 airports. I guess you've been to small Pulkovo-2 international airport. There's also Pulkovo-1 which is much bigger. But it's mainly used for flights over Russia.

And as you've guessed all big supermarkets and hypermarkets are situated out of the city centre, mainly on the outskirts cause it's impossible to build one in the 'tourist area'.

MrSpice · Lounge Wizard Joined: 14 Jul 2003 Posts: 3436

Jerry: In most cities, especially in Europe, the supermarkets are rather small. They are quite small in the center of New York City either. You have to realize that the fact that you have supermarkets in St Petersburg that are filled with fresh produce and food is quite an chievement - 10-11 years ago, there's was almost nothing like that available. You said that airport was small and not that great - you have seen it 10 years ago. It was a total dump - dirty, terrible service, picky customs agents, etc. It really has changed for the better in the last few years. There were very few international flights out of St Petersburg just 5-6 years ago. It is now becoming more hospitable to international tourism. As far as dirt is concerned - you should visit some areas in New York City. The same goes for traffic. When one drives in Manhattan (and I do every weekend), advanced driving skills are a must. I would not compare it to St Petersburg in complexity but it's close.

e · VIP Joined: 23 Apr 2005 Posts: 654

Most of the city, particulary in the central core was nice if not a little shabby. But its like that in every major city worldwide; outside the central core, or the areas away from tourist attractions --the working/middle class areas don't look as nice.

Shabiness aside, the place is pretty spotless as you say. Interesting compared to wealthier cities like here in SF or New York. Sick

If you think driving there is bad, visit Rome or Naples in Italy or better yet, any major city in Asia (except Japan and Singapore), or Latin America. Shocked