Wow........ Russia is crazy! We arrived about 1:00 today into St. Petersburg. I was nervous about coming to Russia this morning. Add to that when our flight took off about 10 minutes into the flight (which was bumpy as we were coming out of a storm) the pilot turned the plane around and hovered in the clouds some more and announced in Finnish, then Russian then English that there was a technical problem and we were heading back to Helsinki. That was all he said. I was freaked out thinking our plane had some major problem and a engine might fall off. Much to our relief we landed safely and taxied to an empty parking lot where we sat for an hour while they determined if the plane was fit to take off again.
The pilot then came back on explaining in Finnish, Russian then English that the problem was fixed and we would be taking off, assuring us that it was not a safety issue but a navigational issue. With that we tried again and took off then landed in St Petersburg after an hour flight.
Once we landed we had to line up for the passport control and hand them our papers, at the passport control the booth was lined with mirrors (to see the backs of our heads?) and a measuring system on the side (to see how tall we were?) after much shifting of papers and stamping (no speaking) they waived us through in which we proceeded through the customs hall, since we didn't have anything over $3000 to declare we passed through and were met at the baggage claim by a nice russian girl holding our name on a sign.
I paid extra for the hotel to come pick us up. (For my peace of mind) I read too many stories on how impossible it was to get a cab unless you speak Russian and the only public transport was a bus which took you to a metro, etc. After seeing the state of the bus's and taxi's we were very glad to be in our nice Mercedes provided by the hotel. The drive in was from another world! There were stark contrasts between really poor and really rich. The taxi's and public transporation cars were so old and decrepid as were many personal cars, then you had brand new Hummers, Mercedes and Lexus SUV's on the road. In the suburbs we could see the comunist block housing, stark, grey and scary looking. As we got into the city the buidings became more colorful but again they were either nice and restored or falling apart decrepid.
After checking into the hotel we ventured out to find a way to get some money and lunch. We happened upon a bank and went inside to exchange money. To get into the bank they required us to show our passports (strange) then showed us to a nearby desk to wait and exchange our money, the security guard then let us out. The adventure continued as we found a McDonalds, inside was packed and the line very long, we waited, and waited and not going very far, waited some more. We then realized we needed to be agressive and not let the Russians cut in on us. Then it was time to order and discovered the young man taking the order spoke no english... can't blame him as we don't speak Russian but I would have thought the younger generation would be taught english??? Anyway through much pointing at pictures and other peoples food we managed to order a big mac, fries and 2 drinks.
With some food on our stomaches we headed out on the streets to sightsee, we walked over to the Hermitage, a difficult endeavor again since there wern't many cross walks and the streets were a chaotic traffic jam. Dodiging cars as we crossed for our lives, we made it to the square that faces the Hermatige, the place is huge! The buildings go on and on, I've heard they put a lot of money into restoring it, even with that it still looked very run down. I imagine that a place that big is just too large to keep up. Wood was rotting away from the window seals, etc. We just walked around the courtyards, we will try and cover the museum all day tomorrow. They say if you looked at all 3 Million (Yes 3 Million) pieces of art for only a few seconds each it would take you 11 Years to see everything.
Well we just have one day tomorrow and will let you know how much we conquer. After walking around the Hermitag we walked over to the "Church of Spilled Blood" this is where one of the Tsar's was assisnated so they build this monument in his honor, it's pretty cool covered in mosaics on the inside. Again because of communism?? Lack of money?? the place fell into disrepair and was turned into a warehouse, but with some recent refurbushment and probably lots of money they restored it and it opened up again as a monument in 1998.
We then spent the early eveing walking to a Russian Orthodox church and happened upon their church service, which was cool to watch, lots of singing, reciting, singing, kissing of pictures and crossing, as well as insense.
We got back to the hotel around 7pm and instead of venturing out to try and find dinner, we wimped out and opted for dinner in the hotel with a nice english speaking staff.
The city is amazing with great museums and sights but exhausting at the same time, lots of cars, noise, exhaust (tons of exhaust) and little green space, the buildings contrast just like the cars, either really old and falling apart or restored and new. Don't get me wrong I'm glad to be here and experience it but it's the hardest city we've traveled in in terms of just getting by in language, culture, etc.
Anyway tomorrow we head to the Hermatige and will let you all know how it is. Chris is already sacked out. Good night!
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