St Petersburg

(Moscow - St Petersburg 649km/403 Miles)
Total distance traveled = 12,260 km/7618 Miles

The trans-siberian railway stops in Moscow, but 'The Venice of the North' seemed a natural addition to my trip before leaving Russia.

I took another overnight train.It was the fanciest one yet,very new and clean with a tv in the room.It's a shame I didn't really appreciate these features, as I was asleep and wouldn't have understood anything on the tv anyway!

Arriving pretty early I'm the morning, I hung around the hostel for a while waiting to check in and took advantage of the free breakfast.The hostel was pretty nice but felt a bit cluttered and small compared to where I'd stayed in Moscow.

Heading out into the city I went straight to The Hermitage. A massive collection of art, which was a must see in St Petes.I whizzed through all the rooms pretty quickly, but it still took me about three hours!

I then headed onto The Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood, which was built on the spot where Tsar Nicholas II was killed.It was pretty impressive inside, with mosaics covering all the walls.

Outside the church I ran into Georgia again.We had a chat over a coffee, then both went in search of an 'alternative' art area.It was similar to a lot of small attractions in Russia - hard to find, and hidden in or behind buildings.

The exhibition we'd planned to go and see (the best photos of the year) wasn't actually starting for a few days.Instead there was a pretty crap selection of exhibits including a selection of photoshopped pictures of a man on a turtle.

There was, however, a nice looking beer garden on the third or fourth floor. So instead of looking at art, we drank beer and laughed at all the arty-farty, posing types.

In the following two days I visited a Political History Museum, and Secret Police Museum. Both were largely in Russian but hd supplementary English guides. Although interesting, they were pretty heavy gong and at times it felt like I was reading a textbook. There were interesting parts though,and I'm lad I could visit the office where Lenin planned and made speeches from the balcony. I also went to a moden art gallery and The Russian Museum to look and pictures and rest my brain a bit after all that reading..

After all the sightseeing, I relaxed with a few drinks in the evenings. The New Holland complex with Georgia one night, and a few different places with a Mexican lad I met at my hostel (Raul) the other night. It seems to be a rule in Russia that bars should be difficult to find. While restaurants and cafes are on main streets and easy to find, bars are in squares with hidden entrances and often next to garages, wasteground,or unlit abandoned warehouses. It made for a feeling of achievement when we did actually find them, but I'm sure it won't help their profits much.

On the fourth day I had a bit of time for one last look around before I left St Petersburg,and Russia. When I arived at the train station I was a little concerned about what kind of procedures I might need to go through. There were signs fo a Customs Office,which I presumed I'd have to visit as I was leavig the country. The office itself wasn't as easy to find as the sign though. Eventually I found it, with the help of a security guard, but it was closed. Next I tried to ask a ticket sales woman. Luckily there was a woman who spoke English in the queue who helped me to translate. After a lot o faffing, I got a response of 'You have a visa, so there's no problem'. Amazingly, there is no border control or customs checks between Russia and Belarus despite them being seperate countries. So I hopped onboard and spent another night sleeping on a train. This time, on my way into a country I'd decided to visit on the basis that nobody I knw had been and I knew very little about it.

More photos...

http://s214.photobucket.com/albums/cc250/davingtonsmythe/Japan%20to%20Russia/St%20Petersburg/?albumview=slideshow