Monday : Sunny then stormy

Terrible sleep last night, the bloke below me was jumping around in bed all night. Tossing and turning shaking the bunk bed probably because there was the snoring tractor on the other side of the room keeping everyone up. Kim told me that she had a bad sleep too, and that I have given her my cold, because now she has a sore throat and a case of the sniffles.

Well at least the weather was fine today. We got out of the barnyard right after breakfast which we ate standing up because there were no seats or places to sit left. Well as if the hostel wasn't full enough, it looks like it rents out couches when there are no beds left.

We made our way down the Main Street, which was very quiet at this time of morning. To the church of spilled blood, I shortened the name a little. Through the Russian doll market and past a monument of Peter the great to the summer garden.

We were at the garden for awhile, just sitting in the sun and walking around looking at all the statues, fountains and couples having their wedding photos taken. Its certainly is wedding season here in Russia, we have seen so many brides in Moscow and even more in SP. Some of the dresses that we have seen have been pretty full on and been showing a lot of skin. It's pretty cool that this garden is free to get into, there is no way that a garden like this would be free in London.

After a rest in the gardens we walked along the river over to the other side past a 19th century built battle ship called Aurora. It was part of the Baltic fleet and took part in the Russian revolution in 1917 firing a blank shot at the winter palace (hermitage) signaling people to storm the palace which was the start of Communist Russia. Its now maintained by the cadets at the local navy school.

We were soon walking behind the Peter and Paul fortress, so we picked up some lunch to have on the island. After our little lunch break we headed over to walk through another island which was a very nice looking residential part of town, when a freak downpour happened. It was fine again soon and we kept walking. We didn't see many tourists in this part of town, which was strange being so close to the centre. There were lots of bars and restaurants down pretty tree lined streets with trams shaking the ground as they ran up and down them.

We headed over to look at the big gold coloured dome topped Saint Isaac's Cathedral. We passed the bronze horseman, another big statue to Peter the great. once at the huge cathedral we found out that its apparently a museum more than a church these days, and it was getting pretty late in the day so we didn't bother going in. We just sat down on a bench in the park behind the cathedral near the square for a while admiring the view.

We then headed back to the hostel, picking up some dinner and getting all packed ready to leave early in the morning. Our room had a new lot of people and to our shock the snorer was still there, he has extended his stay to over a week. Well at least we only have to deal with him for one more night.