The beginning........
Trip Start
May 03, 2007
1
65
Trip End
??? ??, 2008
St. Petersburg,
Russia
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Before I begin I ought to mention the build up to us leaving the country. We were blessed with not only one, but two surprise leaving parties. Each of which were complete surprises to me and were very emotional. Thank you to those of you who were involved both in arranging them and for being there to celebrate with us. We were once again astounded by the generosity of those around us, friends and colleagues. Thank you all.
So, the 3rd of May came around along with a few tearful farewells - I managed to hide my tears but I cannot deny that on the morning of our departure, after waving goodbye to my sister, Jemma, as she turned off the M11, I was feeling very sad about leaving and quite anxious about the year ahead.
The arrival at Heathrow airport did no more to heighten my excitement. We waved goodbye to Bob and Joy and headed off to check-in and then through to the departure lounge for a hearty breakfast which was funded by a couple of very good friends - you know who you are. Thank you. x
So, a few hours later, nerves back under control, we found ourselves in St. Petersburg airport. We'd booked our hostel for the first few nights and all we needed to do was get there.
At this point I should tell you that, although I'd made an effort at learning the Russian language I knew little more that a few words. I could say things like 'the boy is under the ball', 'the girl is on the bench', 'an old, white car'.......all statements which would not help us in any way.
Cathedral
Not only was there the language barrier but the Russians also have a different alphabet which made sign reading a bit of an issue.We knew that we had to get a Marshruktka (minibus) from outside the airport to a certain Metro station and then get a Metro train to central St. P and then follow a map to our hostel. No problem.
We found the number K13 just as it was driving off. We ran and waved it down - the driver seemed reluctant to stop but did eventually. We got on and he drove off. There were a number of people already on the bus and they seemed quite aggitated. Only after we'd left the ground of the airport did we realise that we were on the wrong minibus. All the other passengers seemed to know it and this is what they were, very loudly, trying to tell us. Turns out that they are a little lazy with the numbering of their vehicles. The sign on the front window was K13 - but the sign on the side read K15. Great. We were lost already and we'd only just stepped out of the airport. We ended up at the minibus 'station'. An area of concrete on the side of an urban road where the minibuses all seemed to stop. Everyone else got off, except us and the driver. After about 5 minutes, with the help of a map and what little Russian I knew the driver diverted his course and dropped us off at 'the girl is on the bench'. A lucky start.
We managed to make our way through the Metro system slowly. We needed to take time and translate the station names. We also discovered that station names are not displayed clearly so we had to keep a count of the stops until we reached ours.
St. Petersburg itself was the same as many other European style cities. Lots of shops and tourist sites.
It was very cold and very windy. We ate good food and walked until our feet hurt.
I got ill, recovered and then we went by train to Moscow..............
