St. Petesborough

St Petersburg is my official new favorite city. It supplants Istanbul, my previous favorite city. I arrived on the train around 10pm, decided to be bold and take the metro rather than pay 500 rubles ($20) for a taxi. I found the metro, figured out how to buy a token, asked which train to take in which direction and where to get off - all without a word of Russian spoken by me or a word of English spoken by anyone I interacted with. I love traveler's mime. It really should be a new official language. It can erase Esperanza as the official global tongue. Who should do the infomercial? I vote for Goldie Hawn. Should be interesting. Or is she still too A-list for an infomercial?

Anyway, there must have been a bit lost in the translation, 'cause I did emerge on Nevsky Prospekt, but about 2 miles from where I wanted to be. Now I know that I very easily could have taken a number of buses to my hostel, but at the time, the only option I was aware of was the old heel and toe action. Walking in St Petersburg down Nevsky Prospekt on a summer night is so fantastic that the experience was only slightly dampened by the 60 pound weight on my back. Everywhere I looked were gorgeous buildings, gorgeous women and shimmering canals. I survived the hike, found my hostel, checked in and hit the streets without the 2-ton weight on my back.

Now, some might say that going wandering in a strange city after midnight is the height of insanity. To them I say, "you've never been to St. P in the summer, have you?" There are people everywhere. Yes, many, if not most of them are drunk, but that doesn't change the feeling of community. There are roller bladers in workout clothes; Boys doing wheelies down a block on their stylin' mountain bikes; women who look like models with men that look like Geiko commercials. There are groups and other people out walking alone. I felt safe and part of an experience, a lifestyle. This is the short window of time during which Russians have a chance to get out of their warm houses and interact away from central heating. Summer is short but intense and it was about 75 degrees at 1 in the morning.

I found the Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood by accident by following a canal. For a second, I wondering if I had a wire switched and was St Basil's actually in St Petersburg? No, it's a different church, just based on St. Basil's in Moscow. Then, I found the Hermitage and the giant square. I wandered and wandered and was too revved up to go back to Hostel Nord. Until, finally, I realized that I'd miss the whole next day unless I got some sleep. Like a good girl, I went back to the hostel and hit the hay bale.

To see pictures, visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/christine7world/StPetersburg