A nice early start today but that didn't matter as we were off to the motherland. We woke at 6am & got ready as quietly as possible so as not to disturb our other 4 roommates. A quick 7 11 coffee & we were on our way to the airport for a quick check-in before boarding our flight. The first leg was a short 70 minutes which was fine as we were surrounded by screaming babies. Thank god for portable music players. We arrived in Tallinn, Estonia, where we would have a few hours to wait for our connecting flight. Sometimes waiting in an airport can be a little boring but this tiny little airport is the best we have been to. They have free wifi & coffee. Lots of gadgets to play with. A library that you are able to just take books for your travels. And lots of friendly staff. We both skyped our parents before the time had come to go through passport control. We had a nice sandwich before boarding & then we were on our way to Russia. It didn't take long, just a nice 40 minute flight, before we arrived in St Petersburg. Our contact was waiting at the airport & took us to the hotel. It was a quiet ride as he didn't speak much but that didn't matter. One thing we did see was the freeway closed off with police everywhere. Next thing about 30 cop cars came down the other side of the road with a limousine nestled in the middle. Maybe it was Putin. When we arrived & checked in we met 4 others & our guide. The others on tour at the moment are great & there is another 7 still to come as their flight was delayed. After a short debrief the 6 of us already here wandered to a restaurant for dinner. We had a nice feed & chat before exiting at 10.30pm into bright sunshine. They have white nights here at the moment so it never gets dark. We have seen dark days in winter but it's nice to see it the other way round. We wandered back to the hotel and grabbed some water before retiring for the evening. It's now 12.30am & still light. The city has a great feel & everything we see is so big. Big buildings, big statues, wide roads etc. It really feels like Russia. So far those on our tour are awesome, of course all Aussies & Kiwis, & we can already tell we are going to love this country.