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Annie and Dave's World Tour
Dave says...
Our final couple of hours in St P. as we catch the overnight train to Moscow.
A few observations from St P to help give you more of a flavour of the city.
i) there are very many street vendors, from whom you procure water, chocolate etc. But they have a great aversion to giving change (eg try to pay for a 35R bottle with a 100 note and they generally refuse point blank.) This 'exact money only' approach has been a little confusing at times. Russians don't seem to belive in change much in general
ii) St P is a very glamourous city, with an attitude and streetscape which reminds me very much of New York (A-M strongly disagrees on this point, I should add and belives that it is quite like Amsterdam). Very many 4X4s and dodgy looking cars with blacked out windows (as well as Ladas and more traditional motors spewing out lots of smoke - Environmental protection doesn't seem to be so important here!). A lot of the shops are 24hour operations and the city has a very vibrant feel to it. A very high proportion of the women stagger around on high heels which seems a little impractical, but essential to having that 'St P look'
iii) Russian TV seems OK. A random search discovered football (champions league), ice hockey (St P vs ?), BBC World, and Poker (Party Poker European Poker). At that point 'we' were satisifed on the TV front and searched no further....
iv) more weddings today (6! that we saw). We were in agreement that the brides generally scrubbed up a lot better than the blokes. There is a little ceremony that you perform at Spit Island (in the middle of the very wide Neva river) where the happy couple drink champagne, then once they have finished their glasses, they hurl them against a rock to smash them. Then they kiss whist the crowd shout something enthusiastically, then then do a slow waltz to music supplied by a handy trumpeteer (and then the next couple line up for the same glass smashing,kissing, dancing and music - all most original). It was all good entertainment for the gawking tourists such as ourselves. I couldn't help feeling that one of the glamourous brides let herself down a bit by lighting up a crafty superking-length ciggy once her champagne drinking / breaking was done
*Foodwatch*
Last night's fare was excellent, again. Fried potato pancakes with sour cream, sausages with tomatoe / onion / cabbage, and some chicken kebab. A crafty pint of Baltica for one pound 60 to wash things down.
Deano - you will be pleased to know that I had an all you can eat buffet for lunch today. A quality and value proposition! A-M tucked into red caviar blini for a more sophisticated (yet happily substantial fare).
Today's activities - we caught the Metro out to one of the islands this morning and then walked back to the city. For those of you interested in such things, it seemed a very functional and reliable operation, if a little dour and gloomy.
This afternoon we walked around the Summer Gardens (until it rained) and climbed up the dome of St Isaacs Cathedral.
Roll on Moscow...
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