Russia makes no attempt whatsoever to make life easy for tourists. Right from getting the visa to enter the country in the first place, down to small things like buying a cup of coffee. I guess it doesn't need to, tourism being such an insignificant income to a country basking in oil-generated billions (well, obviously not everyone basks in this, the transition from Communism to capitalism creating one of the largest (if not the largest) in-country gaps between rich and poor in the world). The good thing about the challenge of being here, though, is that managing to complete these normally simple tasks is very rewarding, and overcoming the larger obstacles feels positively brilliant! Plus, in hindsight, some of the situations we've found ourselves in have been downright hilarious. One that comes immediately to mind is Paula's attempt to post a card in a post office (which was only slightly trickier than buying it in the first place, now I think about it, as Russians must send cards for different reasons than us because there definitely isn't a parallel range of card messages, and they must also deliver all cards by hand, as shops that sell cards do not necessarily sell envelopes). Anyway, to make things easy, we clearly wrote down the Russian for "stamp", "envelope" and "England" on a piece of paper (and for those who don't know already, and I have to admit to not doing until shortly before we left on our travels, writing Russian is no easy task, requiring knowledge of not just a new language but a new alphabet as well). Paula handed said piece of paper to the old lady behind the desk (we'd found the post office itself relatively quickly, only walking past and missing it the once) but received only a blank look and confused Russian mumblings in return. What did she think we wanted?! For her to stamp her feet, envelope herself in a large union jack and whistle the national anthem of England! We were in a post office! Anyway, after a while Paula then produced the card to further demonstrate our quest, and the old dear gradually became slightly more inspired, eventually finding a massively oversized envelope and some stamps, all of which came to the equivalent total of about 20 pence! In a city where it costs more to eat out, shop or stay in a hotel than in London! Including the envelope! Well, Paula posted it, I give it a fifty fifty chance. Incidentally, while we were there (which was a long time - I completely updated my old photo deleting whilst waiting for Paula), not a single other soul entered the building, which perhaps (although of course I hope not) may prove to demonstrate Russia's postal service's efficiency!

So anyway, the city of St Petersburg... Not what I was expecting, I have to admit! I was anticipating an elegant city, with a dramatic skyline and peaceful, ambling riverside promenades. But it's just too big to be "elegant" (and the 4th biggest city in Europe, it turns out). "Powerful" is a much more accurate word. The main street must be several kilometres long, and virtually every building along it is grand and stately, if not palatial. Likewise the main river fronts. In fact, there are smaller buildings hidden down side streets that wouldn't warrant a double take if they were the main front to a city square in many other places we've been to. And there aren't just a couple of large churches, as a plethora of onion domes pop up across the skyline, on both sides of the river (which is dramatic, that bit was right). It used to be the capital, we found out, which partly explains its size, and I don't think, unlike many European counterparts, that it's ever been seriously destroyed in war, so its streets of 18th and 19th century mansions have remained intact, and not needed to be filled in by any lesser 20th century replacements.

Fortunately, we'd learnt our maps lesson in Warsaw (which is that an 8 cm by 12 cm map in the Rough Guide doesn't necessarily equate to the same distances for every city - it seemed to take us an hour to cover every centimetre through Warsaw, and after a couple of days of walking we were absolutely knackered!), so didn't aim too high, eventually just covering most of the major streets and buildings over two full days (should have been an allocation of two and a half, but finding the central ticket office and buying train tickets was a tad lengthier a task than planned - see note on things not being particularly easy...). Museum visits were much less mentally taxing than those at our recent stops, and we took in the incredible Hermitage, with its lavishly decorated palace halls and corridors and its billions of pounds worth of artwork, the amusingly dated Museum of Political History, and the Kunstkamer. The Kunstkamer is an ethnographic museum that tricked us into visiting it by being called the Kunstkamer and not the St Petersburg Ethnographic Museum, and we were lead to believe by the Lonely Planet that it was full of two-headed goats, one-eyed dogs and other similar weird stuff that was collected and preserved by Peter the Great (founder of St Petersburg) to satisfy his fetish for "monsters". I know, I know, we deserved whatever we got for going to such an apparently low brow cultural institution, but we fancied a change from wading through another four hours worth of modern history. Although it turned out the ethnographic bit was pretty good! The single room of what turned out to be mainly deformed foetuses was a tad vulgar and quickly uninteresting, but the majority of displays, on the cultures of North American Indians, Japanese Samurai, African tribes, etc, complete with lifesize wax models, were really well put together. Ethnographic museums of Europe, I apologise for previous insults and take it all back! I have to share just one brilliant little story I read as well, about a Westerner's experience of a particular African tribe:

"A European travelling along the coast of Guinea, saw people chasing a runaway. It turned out to be not a small thief, but a candidate for the village chieftancy. A chief's life with this ethnic group was full of numerous prohibitions - he couldn't touch the earth with his feet, he couldn't eat in public... So, after the old chief is dead, the probable candidates run away. The first one to get caught is the one who ascends to the throne". Brilliant.

So St Petersburg was definitely a shock to the system! I'd be lying if I said I'd found my first taste Russia warm and friendly, as it isn't, at least by its facade. Some people can turn out to be friendly, but rarely are as a first impression. And you have to work hard to make your way from task to task, and place to place. But it's without doubt a fascinating place, and navigating the country should prove to be a fantastic experience. Next stop, the even bigger Moscow!...

Although quickly, hostel dorm-mates review, Sunny Hostel, St Petersburg: dorm-mates still more scarce than in the early weeks, but the variety remains! I'll have to do a nationalities tally at some point soon. Anyway, the outstanding dorm-mates were Germany-based Indian guy, Avi, and his Russian girlfriend, Sveta. His turn to visit her, and a romantic weekend away (she was Moscow-based). Really nice people, shame we were about to leave when we met them (although probably not from their perspective, as the ideal romantic weekend away perhaps doesn't include hanging out with a pair of English tourists!).