Best Eastern Polustrovo St. Petersburg

... it was 24 hours, and worried about what to do next.We sat around for about 15 mins, and couldn't buy anything there as the 2 staff members were both very drunk/drugged up/hungover/coming down from their night out, and were obviously in no state to work. There were 2 Russian ravers sitting opposite us, who started speaking to us and even though we both couldn't understand anything, ended up having a conversation with them for a while. They were both obviously in the same state as the ...

... nearly next to the building. Today while over in Petrograd, a guy asked me what bus to take to Chernyshevsky metro station. I love this place. Although I said the same thing about Moscow, I love this in a different way. Walking down the street, it's like culture and history ooze out of every building. This is the home of Akhmatova, Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Zoshchenko, Nabokov, Shostakovich, Rimsky-Korsakov! This is the haunt of the twisted Raskolnikov ...

... think that the Russians had it right when they put gold up everywhere. Nowadays you can get a mirror anywhere in the store. Though I do have to admit visiting room after room of gold columns, intricate tapestries, and magnificent, renowned art begins to feel as if you're eating an entire extra large box of chocolates. It is a bit much and you end up with a headache. I often wonder what it would be like to live semi-permanently in such a place as the royal family did not too long ago. I ...

... because they have this unofficial rule that one step has to separate you from the next person. On the actual metro it's completely different. Sometimes during rush hour you get packed in so tight your feet barely touch the floor. It's a nice way to meet young Russian men, girls. 8:45 - Hopefully I arrive by this time at a metro station Chernishevskaya because the school has a private bus that takes we students to the campus, which is another 5 ...

... New Year as Michael has offered to fly them to Australia then which they were ecstatic to accept. Mike: Russia was one of those places on this trip I had always been fascinated to get to, and it didn't let me down. This experience was made sooo much more enjoyable and interesting by the generosity of our new friend Katerina in offering to be not only our guide, but also to stay with her family in their small apartment (at no cost). To experience ...

... are quite incredible with marble, chandeliers and other decorative work. Unfortunately, there are only a few photos of this as we discovered that taking photos is not permitted (after we'd already taken a few) for security reasons. Some of the workers turn a blind eye but security guards are another matter.

... beauty of the room itself and this happens over and over again. There are literally hundreds of rooms to explore. We spent about four hours in the museum. We saw incredible artwork, priceless antiques, rare stonework and ancient artifacts. When we left we still had a feeling that we had left much of the Museum unexplored. We left, not because we had seen everything but because we still wanted to see so many ther things in St Petersburg. Leaving the Hermitage ...

... three hours were up, wishing us well until we meet again the next day for a tour to Peterhof, Peter the Great's summer palace outside the city on the Gulf of Finland. We started our longish trek back towards the hotel and made it only several hundred yards before the sky opened up and rained harder than anything we had experienced so far on the trip. Fortunately we had (1) umbrellas, and (2) our jackets, but most importantly, we found a covered entrance to a ...

... still the '80s) we decided we still had some strength in us (by this time it was already 5.30 pm), and walked to St. Isaac's Cathedral where we climbed all the way to the top, and enjoyed the lavish view of the whole city. We had decided to go to a place we had heard lots about, a small pub/restaurant/Dovstoyevsky's-hang-out- place, called "The Idiot" (after his book). I have never been to a cooler place, only a few dim lights, a really artsy atmosphere, and lots ...

... elected president. He is a very strong leader and I think that is what it will take to keep this diverse country unified. · The way the art treasures in the Hermitage are cared for is a disgrace. It is the only major art museum I have been to where they allow you to take pictures if you buy a permit. The artwork is jammed together, the lighting leaves much to be desired and you cannot begin to appreciate the quality of what is there because there is so much of it so poorly displayed.