Spent the day in transit from Tallinn to St. Petersburg, most of it at the border crossing. We will never again complain about US Customs.
Left Tallinn at 7:30 am for the drive east. Stopped in Narva, the town on the Estonian side of the border. First, the driver had to stop and complete some paperwork for the bus. We then drove to a different area of town for a very nice lunch. Coffee served with dessert whether asked for or not. With all of the lectures on crossing the border that we had gotten from Dalija, we all drank it out of fear of not being allowed thru. Next stop was at the Estonian border crossing, where our passports were collected and stamped to show that we left the EU. Then on to the Russian crossing for 4 separate checks, including one to verify that our passports had been stamped by Russian customs prior to a check that our passports had been stamped by Russian customs. Then on east thru Russia. The blog photo is a Swedish fortress on the river at the border. The countryside is rather drab and impoverished until St. Pete, which is a curious mix of the ancient (buildings) and modern (freeway). Since this is a holiday weekend, there was no traffic. Our hotel, the Sokos Hotel Vasilievsky, seems to be well-located, though we will get a better idea tomorrow. We have dinner shortly at a restaurant around the corner, courtesy of Odysseys. Tour of the city tomorrow, including the hermit place that everybody talks about. I'll check in at the end of the day.