St. Petersburg, Russia

  St. Petersburg, Russia
Thursday, October 11, 2007

Church of Christ on the Spilled Blood

First stop - a gentle dipping of the toes into the waters of culture shock.  Almost too like a city at home to be honest - it feels more like a weekend break than the beginning of a big adventure.  Nonetheless, it's a good introduction to Russian 'hospitality' - an oxymoron if there ever was one!

It makes even a simple trip to the local shop seem like a big expedition.  Armed with our 'Point It' book and translations of all the vegtables req'd for our stir-fry we felt quite confident in our ability to complete the transaction.  I beamed at the scowling young girl behind the counter (all Russians scowl, I know not why) and muttered 'ches-nok' hoping to be rewarded with the sight of a few cloves of garlic.  Not so - the scowl became more scowlish and I was answered with an angry "What?" (I take the liberty of guessing the response here - that was certainly the meaning, whether the utterance was quite as polite I cannot say).  Thankfully I was rescued by a nice lady, who, through some leap of the imagination, figured out what I was looking for.

I should say that I quite enjoy these unfriendly encounters (and there have been quite a few in just 3 days here) as do I enjoy walking down the street that looks like a bomb has recently struck (the street where our hostel is looks like it has just been taken out by the american air force) - it makes the Russian experience somehow feel that bit more authentic.  Of course there is plenty of grandeur here too - buildings not dissimilar to what you would see on the streets of Paris, beautiful churches and mosques and the famous Hermitage museum but in truth the most fun I've had here has been strolling the backstreets and people watching.  Cities and buildings just don't really light my fire ( a task that seems particullarly difficult in St. Petersburg - just ask Jonathan who spent an evening walking around shaking an empty box of matches at shop assistants before figuring out in in a city thats doesn't appear to sell matches they might just have lighters!).

In summary St. Peterburg is a great place if you are very much into your classical art and architecture. One of jons favourite moments was when he discovered that beer was about 30cents a 500ml bottle! 

Photos to follow