My eyes flitted open this morning….where the hell am I? I thought to myself. I'm in the Azimut hotel in St Petersburg, Russia. How the hell did I get back here? Oh yeah, my big mouth. The events of the past week come flooding back to me and I get dressed and head down to breakfast. I was amazed at how much breakfast had improved, but alas they still only had the one crap little toaster that only takes 2 pieces of bread and barely works.

I have set the meeting time for the orientation for 9:30am, rather late by my standards, but a good thing as it is still minus seven outside even at this late hour. I am actually wearing a skirt and stockings and wonder if this will be ok in the awful weather, turns out I am still acclimatised.

I walk out of the hotel and down to the Victory church with my group following along behind me. I give my little spiel on the church and then head to the Church of St Nicholas, a big blue baroque construction that took forty years to build. Then its past the famous Marinksky theatre and onto St Isaac's church, eventually coming out at the Hermitage which is now covered in scaffolding.

I set a time to meet under the Alexander column and continue through to Nevesky Prospekt and past the Kazan church and finish up and the Moscow style, Church on Spilled Blood, my favourite Russian Church.

I then run back to Admiraltyskaya metro station to buy metro tokens and then go and see Irina at the Hermitage to buy tickets. I have about half an hour to kill before I meet the group, and there is a military band playing Russian music outside the Hermitage, I sit and watch them looking at the amazing looking men in their uniforms.

I meet back up with the group and take them inside to store their bags and coats. I have left a bit too much (better than too little) time and we have to wait around for the guide. I drop the group off with the guide and then head back to the hotel on the metro. I swing past a nearby supermarket so I can get some food and spend the rest of the afternoon catching up on paperwork and watching TV. Not surprisingly, after yesterday's effort I end up in bed by 6:30pm and sleep right through until morning.