Gail and John'sTravels: St. Petersburg, Russia

We arrived in Russia at 8 AM on a cold, wet Thursday morning. A bit of a relief after the hot days we’ve managed to survive. As we left the ship for a tour of St. Petersburg, we were warned about the immigration police. What an experience! Each of us spent several minutes being glowered at by a group of wrestler-sized women who do not have the ability to smile (we were also warned about making jokes). Does anyone ever come back here a second time? A number of passengers complained to officials about their treatment.


Our ship in a busy harbour

Once we got through, and it took quite a while to process all of those heading out on tours, we finally got a look at the city some 3 miles from the cruise docks. For a city that was first formed some 350 years ago, it is pretty spectacular. There are blocks and blocks of apartment buildings, many very utilitarian in style, from the Soviet era. In the older part, the magnificent buildings are reminiscent of Italy (Florence, Venice), with lots of canals and bridges. We got to see a number of cathedrals, museums, libraries, fortresses, the Neva river, and Nevsky Prospect, the main shopping street of St. Petersburg (Paris anyone?). We spent some time at the Cruiser Aurora, the World War I boat that signalled the start of the Bolshevik revolution ... there is some pride evident here. This bus tour took us to these various sites, with 10 to 15 minute photo-op stops. We were also ” forced” to shop at a souvenir shop ... imagine 7 buses descending on a store at once. On a positive note, we were greeted with a shot of vodka as we walked in .... not a bad way to warm one’s cockles at 10 AM ... very civilized I would say. This was also the one and only very important washroom stop.