Well, we're nearing the end of our stay in St P - we leave on the 'midnight train to Moscow' tonight!  This is a fantastic place to visit.  Although it resembles a typical European city in may respects it is really so, so different when you get more under its skin.

We had a great place to stay (Nord Hostel) - the most central location (just yards from the Hermitage) and we met so many interesting people mostly doing the same as us. Surprisingly, we met loads of Scots (none doing the trans siberian though), and a host of other nationalities.

We've done most of the typical tourist sights - as you'll see from the photo albums. But we've also done a fair bit of walking around the city and today (Monday 18/9) went to Peterhof by hydrofoil and came back by bus and metro. Peterhof was excellent and a great break from cities.  The cascades were well worth seeing.

Yesterday was a little bit hazy after a night in the local, next door (and I mean next door) bar.  We'd had a hard day on Saturday getting around the city and had returned after a bite to eat for a quiet night in catching up with washing the smalls etc! Having stuck my head into the kitchen, Marianne (a lone traveller from Australia (formerly owner of the Alpine Bar & Restaurant, Kooma in the Snowy Montains) and Darius (yes that WAS his name) from Melboune) were contemplating a late night beer. We'll you know me - I said we'd join them for one. Along the way we met up with Cheryl (Portland, Oregon) and we headed for the bar that was recommended as a 'cheapie'.  It was full of lively studenty types but we managed to get a few peevas (beers) and as the night went on they seemed to get cheaper. The vodka was good value at about 10p!!.  We met up with some folks - a Dave B lookalike and Elena who had just arrived back from her Crimean holiday - and approached me (as a sugar daddy!?!). It was good late night crowned off in suitable fashion by a KFC (the restaurants in the are are open 24 hours). 

But back to St P.  A visit to Menshikov Palace required us to to put on tapochki (slippers - bits of old carpet) over our shoes. After room 2 were were having trouble walkikng and M was targetted by a old baboushka who told her in no uncertain terms in Russian that she had the wrong size and to go back and change.  Well, if you'd seen the look (stupid girl!) on her (the baboushka's) face as M headed back suitably contrite - if the camera had been ready .....!!

A few thoughts:

• the metro is great, and easier to get around than expected - the stations are also a fanastic bit of architecture & have great chandeliers, etc.
• St P isn't cheap
• James Cook Cafe is a good place to have snack/beer/food and catch upon the internet (with own laptop)
• life is great!
• Hermitage needs days and days but we headed for a few favourite painters and paintings and still spent nearly 4 hours in the buidling
• back to the student bar - it was easier to go to the toilet in Nord Hostel than wait in the long, long queue in the bar!
• nice to go around the canals and river
• Da Vinci restaurant - give it a miss depsite what Lonely Planet says.  It is overpriced and by god, the waiting staff are surly in the extreme.
• St P is opulent and it is very hard to imagine what it has gone through in the past especially the 29 month seige and more recent times.  We don't have a clue what they went through.
• tip for train from Helsinki - I saw the looks folks were getting from the Russian border guards and just in time saw why - they hadn't folded their immigration form into the passport.  Well the smile I received explains why!
• one of our hostel-mates was stopped during the early hours of Sunday morning (while we were in the bar downing voddies) and was robbed of his camera phine money etc. They simply drove off.
• final good point - posting a parcel from the main post office.  They take what you want to post and wrap it up etc - imagine that at the GPO!