Well fuck, it's that point in the trip where we have done a lot and I've drank a fair bit so my memory might be a little muddy but let's try and recant everything that happened between arriving in St Petersburg to now.
That second day we had a guided tour of the Hermitage in St Petersburg. Our tour guide olga was amazing, so enthusiastic and interesting to hear from. We rode the metro to the hermitage and went via the deepest metro tunnel in town, aspx 86meters deep. Crazy to to think I've been both 86 meters above the earth and below it this trip.
The hermitage was once a palace, I don't think I could stand cleaning the joint because it is fucking massive, but it is now a huge museum housing all kinds of art and artefacts from the Russian empire. It is said that if you spent one minute in front of every piece there that it would take you seven years... unfortunately our visas don't last that long so instead we got a massive 3 hour crash course. We saw pieces by Monet, and da Vinci, we saw the throne room, and ball rooms and massive roofs painted to look like sculptures.. it was an overload. Everything has been soaked in history or masterworks and my god is it intense. Three hours in a museum is long at the best of times but with detailed stories attached and the little bits and pieces in every piece to look at it was almost too tiring to even stand and soak it all in, but amazing none the less.
Oir lunch was at a nice little local Russian place, followed swiftly by a visit to the church of the spilled blood. This is the church where a tsar was killed and so his son set up a memorial church in his honour. These Russian orthodox churches are really quite beautiful. Outside is usually any number of orbs or do,es decorated in colour or gold and inside they are covered, as in not one inch is spared, of religious depictions. Wether it is painting or scripture or sculpture not one surface remains untouched. Also apparently if you've seen Anastasia it means something, but I, not sure about that.
The evening saw a few of us wander down the main shopping district and back to the hotel. Now it's not like I don't already know I look like a tourist, but that doesn't mean that every other Russian scumbag pickpocket needed to try and get me. If that's your game dude be good at it, don't just expect me to stop do you can try and rip me off, were both better than that.
That evening a few of us went off to a craft beer place not far from where we were staying. It was awesome. I can't seem to stay away from the craft beers, even in a country famous for it's vodka. They had some beautiful IPAs and Kreigs on tap, as well as a cheeky imperial stout. It wasn't supposed to be a big night but uhh yeah, it was kinda big. The following morning was slightly thick, but that's never stopped anyone, so a couple of hydralites and it was out into the world.
The last day in st Petersburg began with a trip to the faberge museum. This was a beautiful fine art museum, and along with that came a security check and some high fashion plastic covers for my boots. Inside were 9 of the legendary eggs. They are so beautiful and elaborate and may never be replicated again. The eggs were made for the romanofs over several easters during their reign. Some just had a little picture or a hen within, but others held photo frames of family members or replicated a tree with a small bird inside. Each one was amazing to see and truly stunning.
The rest of the museum contained everything from silverware to cigarette boxes. These items were also created by faberge masters and had their own level of beauty within, and within a few rooms paintings that looked as though they were glowing on the walls that they stood. So we easily spent an hour or more just soaking up the stunning artworks within.
After such a big end morning it was time to go to the vodka museum. Walking through town we passed a lovely snow covered park and the back of saint isacs cathedral, but more on that later. The vodka museum held some nice old pieces within, but all the information was in Russian... and the audio guide was over and hour long for a room not much bigger than an average one bedroom apartment. However the entry included a vodka tasting, so that made up for it π the first was a basic 5times distilled vodka, smooth and easy to drink. The second was infused with juniper and it had a gin aftertaste, not for me. The third was infused with pine nuts, it was different and I'm still not sure how to feel about it. The bar had a 1500 dollar bottle of vodka as well as a bottle shaped like an AK47. Was really funky.
After the vodka it was time to hit another cathederal. Buying tickets was difficult with the language barrier, and the woman selling me them didn't seem to understand that I wanted entry to the museum and the climb up to the top. The climb, while not as big as the belfry in Bruges, was trickier because it was about 200steps spiralling straight up. It gave a wonderful view of the city and caused me some serious jelly legs on the way down. Inside it was once again lovely and laced in gold and with some nuns and priests singing in the background it really added to the atmosphere.
That night was a new experience of travelling. An overnight train. While not particularly luxurious, I must say that twit was slightly more comfortable than on the plane. At least we got to lie down instead of staying seated like on the busses or planes. The only issue was it left late and we had to get off early, so I maybe got 4 hours sleep. This was followed by a 40 minute trip to the hotel, and a 3 hour bus/walking tour. I slept through most of the bus portion because a) I was tired as fuck and b) our new tour guide speaks like white noise and in a whisper like tone and could not be fucking harder to hear.
We finally got out somewhere near the red square and st basils, the famous church in town. We walked around and saw some churches, they are fucking everywhere in this town alongside the theatres. We also saw a great many plumes of smoke emitting from a power station or something similar near town. Then the red square and its lovely Christmas market. Before hittin the market it was necessary for a quick venture into lenins tomb. The man has been dead many a year and his body looks almost like a wax figure, and not gonna lie was half expecting him to get back up.
We met up and had a cheeky nap before heading out to dinner for some more traditional Russian foods. This included a beef borsch, it was delicious and full of flavour, and a couple more shots of vodka π
Today it was back with our stupidly fucking quiet tour guide for a trip into the city to see the kremlin. Again a lot of security, honestly it's crazier than the states. But to get inside the huge red walls and see the kremlin inside was really cool. Inside we weren't allowed to go to many places but saw the building Putin works in and the churches used by e royal families. One for baptism and birth, one for coronation and one for burying. It's practically a city within the city and has even been saved from destruction several times over.
We followed this with a quick tour of the metro. The brown line, yes it's a big brown ring line like a huge areshole around town, holds some great art within many of its station stops. The great thing is that the trains run so fast and frequently that we could get off, look at the mosaics or stain glass windows, and get back in within about 5-10 minutes. If that was Melbourne you'd be waiting a fucking half hour between stops.
Curenntly im just chilling in the hotel and getting ready to see the Russian ballet tonight. There will be a Prima ballerina and all, and it's pretty exciting to have such an experience. There's only a few days left in this strange yet beautiful land, and I'm going to try and fit in as much as possible.
The next update will most likely come the day before or the day I leave. Hope you've once again enjoyed this cheeky update, chatchya soon with some more adventures and tales.