Fun Bits about St. Petersburg

Random fun facts about St. Pete's:

Women:

The women of St Petersburg has to come first.

Hairstyles: The big stylish look right now is two tone. one color in the main portion and then a strongly contrasting color for bangs and the part around the face. Striking. Also, loads of bleached blondes as in every part of the world, but a surprising number of natural blondes went dark brunette/black. I guess that close to Scandinavia, blonde is a bit boring.

Shoes: High heels all the way. I'd go so far as to say stripper heels.

Clothes: The tighter the better. I'd say that there is no ideal Russian body type. I base this on the number of not so attractive ladies of a certain age wearing the skimpiest clothing possible. Anything you've ever seen in a store and thought, my god, not even a prostitute would wear that, well, you'll see it on a Russian woman. I saw low-cut on top; belly shirts are still in; see through with a cute bra is popular; clothes with holes in them are BIG; and short shorts are a must.

Best outfit: Pink sequin daisy dukes with pink sequin halter ending just under bust with pink crocheted (completely see through) "coat" and a pair of spike heels. A girl out with some other girls for a night at the clubs was seen wearing this.

Facial expression: absolute liberation from the obligatory social smile. Russian women maintain an expression of tragedy/disdain at all time. There will be no smiling. Ever.


People on the Streets at Night:

Clubsters, ugly men with gorgeous women, roller bladers (VERY popular in Russia), cyclists - all seem to be stylish young men with kicking mountain/stunt bikes, drunks, passed out drunks, couples, families with small children, tourists, runners, students, men playing chess, random musicians, scary motorcyclists who ride on the sidewalk and other pedestrian areas.

Language:

All of the young people can speak English and none of them will. Yes, those are absolutes and thus incorrect, but you get the point.

Hostel Nord:

Awesome! Great staff. Good showers - always an important point with hostels.

Locks:

Everyone has these cool magnetic locks. It's really cool and I don't know why we don't have them at home.

Public transit:

Buses are a lot more fun than the metro. To pay for your fare you sit down (or stand if it's crowded) and wait for the fare collector to come take your money.

Restaurants:

Service in Russia is a joke. Allot 30 minutes to getting the menu, then another 30 to place your order. The food comes in the standard time frame but then it takes quite some time to get the check. All of this with a godawful attitude. Customer service doesn't seem to be well-known here. But then again, neither does tipping. Connection?

Ethnic Composition:

White as far as the eye can see. I saw a couple of Asian tour groups.



That's all for now.