Once you’re at the door of the hotel, you can check in. The hotel will take your passport, because they are required by law to register you with the local Militia (Police). You can get your passport back the next morning (you did bring a photocopy of the passport didn’t you?). Once you drop your bags and head out the door you’ll find that Russians (especially the younger ones) are friendly, helpful and speak reasonably good English. This is because the school system switched from teaching German as the second language to teaching English, sometime during the sixties. Far from being grey and dour, most people are brightly dressed, especially the girls.
St. Petersberg is considered the most European of the Russian cities. It was founded in 1702 by Peter the Great after his decade long sojourn through Europe during his father’s occupancy of the throne. The Neva River is the major waterway and is supplemented by a number of canals designed along the lines of Venice. One tip is to not get caught on the other ‘western’ side of the river after 2am in the morning as the bridges all open to allow sea going vessels through and reclose at 4am with no way to get across. The city is actually called “The Venice of the North’ due to the number of canals. The river is frozen between late September and middle of April though in June/July you can get days over 30 deg C.
The other thing you’ll notice is the architecture and colouring of the building. St. Petersberg received a real pounding during the 18 month siege by German forces during WWII. To their credit the Russian trotted out the old building plans and rebuilt the city they way it was before the war. Thus you’ll see fantastic Italianate architecture along with the pastel hues (they have a city bylaw that specifies the colours you can use) on the buildings.
Now let’s orientate ourselves. If you followed our recommendation and booked in at the Corinthia Nevsky Palace, then if you stand at the front door facing the street, you’ll see an 8 lane road with plenty of cars – do not venture close to the edge of the footpath as Russian drivers are less than law abiding or skilful, or even sober. If you look right you’ll see Moscovskaya (Moscow) Railway station. Alongside it is the Stockman and Galleria shopping centres. Stockman has a good supermarket section in the Basement. If you look to the left, you’ll see 3.5 kilometers of Nevsky Prospekt going down to the river.
There is so much to see in St. Petersberg, I’ll concentrate on only a few. The first and most obvious is the Hermitage. Built by Catherine the Great on the riverbank it houses one of the most significant art collections in the world. It takes a day to get around it, even walking quickly. You’ll also find a two-tiered ticket system, with foreigners being charged more than Russian citizens. Sometimes you’ll find touts selling discount tickets. Sometimes they’ll work, sometimes not. The next thing to do is take a water tour of the canals. It costs 300 roubles (about $8 AUD) for an hour, but the commentary is only in Russian.
Down towards the river is a shopping centre called Gostinitzy Dvor. It was the only place you could get foreign goods during Soviet times. Near here is a ticket booth with tours of the Tsars summer palace at Peterhof. You can book English language tours to the palace, which is 20kms from the city. Once you get there and get into the foyer, you can see why there was a revolution in Russia. The opulence on display in contrast the lives of the ordinary person in Russia at the time guaranteed some upheaval. There are 159 fountains on the grounds with special access to/from St Petersberg for the Tsar. Cost was about 2000 roubles (about $50 AUD) and takes half a day.
One of the things that people associate with Russia is ballet. St. Petersberg is the home of the Mariinsky Ballet (formerly the Kirov). The Balshoi Ballet is in Moscow. Here is another tip for the unwary. Balshoi is also the Russian word for ‘big’ and there is a ‘Balshoi’ something in every city, usually the Teatr (theatre). So, if someone tries to sell you a ticket ‘for the Balshoi’, it won’t be for the Balshoi Ballet, unless it’s very expensive. If you really want to go to a show, it can be very expensive. We were quoted about $350 USD for a ticket to a genuine Mariinsky Ballet show. Sometimes the trainees for the ballet get to put on a show at a much more wallet friendly prices. Talk to the concierge at the hotel for tickets. The prices will be as good as you can get yourself.
In terms of food, Russia is going the way of the rest of Europe, with Italian restaurants on every street corner. There is a chain of Chinese restaurants called Ni How (‘hello’ in Chinese) that have cheap good quality food. The best restaurant according to locals is called ‘Frigate Blagodat’ and is housed in a three masted sailing ship moored in the river. It was the best grilled salmon I have tasted and the total cost was about $110 pp for three courses and French wine. It is a bit of a hangout for wealthy businessmen. Interestingly, none of the restaurants served Russian Vodka, only Absolut. Russian Vodka is much, much better and Stockman, near the Moscovskaya station, have Russian Standard (one of the best brands) in Bronze, Silver and Gold qualities.
In and around St. Petersberg, there are two places worth visiting for the adventurous. The new high speed train and the lack of darkness means that a day trip to Moscow or even an overnight is very doable. The train takes 4 hours and departs on the hour, so a 6am leave gets you to Moscow about 10am. Just book a city tour (takes about 5 hours) with one of the reputable operators (check Tripadvisor). They will pick you up at the station and drop you off. Another trip is to Novogorod, the ancient capital of Russia. It is a 3 hour coach ride from St. Petersberg and takes you back to a much older time.
Cheers
Harry
The cruiser Aurora fired the first shot in the 1917 Revolution