St Petersburg

Yesterday I departed Helsinki on the morning train bound for St Petersburg. This is where things start to get a bit more adventurous as Russia really doesn't make a great effort to gear itself up for the needs of foreign tourists. Although the train journey was around 6 hours it seemed to pass quickly enough, and there was the excitement of the border crossing in the middle. Would the Russians let me in? As it was there were just the usual border formalities. Passport checked, visa stamped and on we went. The landscape around the border is pretty empty with lots of trees, the odd lake and marsh, but not much else so it was difficult to tell if there were any immediate differences between the two countries. It's when the train passes through the suburbs of St Petersburg that it really sinks in that you're in Russia. Vast areas of high-rise housing, all uniformly ugly with rows of identical grey garages to house the population's Ladas that seemed to stretch on for miles. Yet while the outskirts of the city are a Soviet concocted mess, the city centre was the same historic gem I remembered.

Having spent a couple of weeks in St Petersburg last year I've seen the majority of the main sights, so I'm not under any pressure to cram in and see everything that's on offer. I've heard that the Hermitage is free on the first Thursday of the month so I'll pop there shortly, which is itself a mere 5 minute walk from the youth hostel I'm staying in, and otherwise I'm planning to take it easy, wander around and generally enjoy myself.

Speaking of which, I've a bit of a sore head this morning having been out with an Aussie and another Brit from my dorm in the hostel. After realising that the eating place listed in Lonely Planet no longer existed we went for another place and we really came up trumps; delicious food, live music and cheap beer. Thus, having consumed several Baltika number 7 I'm feeling a touch worse for wear this morning, but I'm sure as soon as I get some fresh air and Russian sunshine I'll be really take on the day!