Pulkovskaya St. Petersburg

... evening. So my sulking over my own stupidity was interupted by an invitataion to join them all in the kitchen for some chili and honey vodka. Since I was still in St Petersburg, it was my birthday and there will be more palaces and art for me to visit and admire on this trip, I sucked in my quivering bottom lip and drank with new friends. Great decision, as though the vodka was an acquired taste we headed out to sample the local beer and ...

... little incident in 1917 (I&#8217;m sure you heard about that whole revolution thing). Anyway, this palace is nowhere near as opulent &#8211; or restored &#8211; as the other palaces we have visited. Only half of this palace is open to the public. The other half is a research institute of some kind. We stood outside and waited in the rain to get in this one, too.<br><br>I have to admit, this one was a little creepy. There are mainly only vignettes in the rooms with ...

... in some dark building when a guy sat down on the bench next to me. I had my headphones in and at first couldn't understand what he wanted. I then realized that he was asking me for my autograph. I asked him why on earth he'd want my autograph and he noticed my accent. So ensued the usual set of questions (where are you from?, why are you here?, what do you think of Petersburg?, etc.). Glad to have some Russian practice I chatted with him briefly (of course being wary of keeping my ...

... somewhere between this time. I like to take a nap before dinner at 7:30. Once again I make small talk with Svetlana Alexeyevna. I bring my textbook out because she usually gets mad if I read any of my English books, like Dostoevsky. She really does want me to learn the language and I think that's very sweet of her. I practice new phrases and words with her over dinner and she teaches me new things, if I can understand. After all this I'm pretty ...

... luxury. The rooms are made even larger than what they are by the use of mirrors, intricately carved gilded molding, and spectacular painted ceilings. To create a feeling of space arches had been created between rooms that as you looked through them you could see endless gold. The most famous room is the Amber Room. This room had been totally decorated with amber beginning in 1717 with amber as a gift to Peter 1. During World War 2 it was all stolen by ...

... this is cyrillic and bears no relation to our letters, but this is what it looks like. When it is our turn to open a door, we find a small closet with a cashier's window where a woman changes currency. We shove money through the window to her and she shoves money out with a legal size printed record of the transaction. Easy. We stop at a small grocery and get water for the room and for touring, some Russian chocolate bars ...

... guides in our hotel room) has said that Nevsky Prospekt is the city's seething main thoroughfare, its lifeblood, and everything we saw on our walk confirmed this. The architecture is grand, with a capital G-R-A-N-D, and that is not just the odd building or two. Most of the entire thoroughfare is bedecked with wonderful buildings. They are too numerous to name, but I've included a sample in pictures. And sure enough, it was packed ...

... have a long hallway with elevator looking doors. These doors align with the doors of the carriages. This also prevents people from jumping tracks. Fast Food My body missed US more than I was willing to admit - at least it missed the "American cuisine." During my short stay at St. Petersburg, I went to KFC, Pizza Hut and MacDonald´s for dinner. I even made myself dinner on another night - instant noodle with 2 eggs, finished off with a nice piece of ...

... Orthodox cathedral . After a few drinks , a group of us enjoy a standard kebab at the railway station . Equally popular in Russia, kebabs are cheap and delicious. It's time to go . Tammy and I board the night train to Moscow. We are in separate carriages and I sleep right through the entire journey . In a reclining chair with my wallet stuffed down my pants. You can keep your mitts off my roubles. Next ; A glimpse of Moscow.

We went to Pushkin. It used to be called Tsarkoe Selo [2007: And it is again, now.] Both the town and the site are called Pushkin after, you guessed it, Pushkin. Peter the Great built the palace for his wife, Catherine in 1725, as a summer home... Afterwards we visited Pavlovsk where the palace of, get ready for a shock here, Paul is. We took a tour inside Pavlovsk. Back to the hotel for lunch ...