St. Petersburg! Our hostel is awful, but a quick walk around the city and White Nights makes everything worth it. We made it to St. Petersburg at 6:10am yesterday. The train ride was 12 hours and really not too bad. Much better than I was expecting since we had sleeper cars...then again my standards of living are significantly lower now. The taxi drove a few of us around the city, just to see a little bit of it before getting to our hostel. We were in a pretty nice area driving down a side street, smiling at each other, thinking to ourselves, wow, we got a place to stay in this area? Finally some relaxing, clean, comfortable living! And then we reach the end of the street...and then we turn onto a main street, and then we turn onto a side alley...and then we see where we are Actually living. Great. Grafitti, broken beer and vodka bottles. The alley smelled like pee and sewage. It was gravely disappointing. Tatiana was extremely upset...she was told it was a nice place and the reviews do say it's nice. Like I said, the city makes it worth it!
We carried all our luggage in, only to be told that we couldn't check in until 1pm. I suppose that's normal...but we were all so tired. They let us put our luggage in the office and we walked around St. Petersburg and took pictures for the remaining 6 hours until we could check in. Once 1pm came around we finally got to see our rooms. Fortunately, what I imagined was so horrid that, even though it's still pretty bad, I wasn't too disappointed. I guess. It got a little difficult listening to everyone complain so much, though. It is what it is! Complaining only makes it worse. I tried to meet some other people staying in the hostel, but they're a little strange. There is also constantly blaring top 40 music in the hallways. Strange! Still, I'm okay with it. I'm in a room with Andy and Berenice. Andy keeps me sane; thank goodness he's on this trip. We all took naps and then went out to see what the deal is with this whole White Nights thing. What a night. The streets are closed down, everyone's happy and smiling (seeing smiling Russians is rare). The three of us started at an English pub and then walked around/bar hopped for a little while. We then went to the street that looks out over the Volga. Lanterns were floating into the sky, the bridge was lit up. Great view. At 1:30 am, the fireworks began. I hate to say it, but 4th of July has Nothing on this firework show. They lasted until 3am (yes we were out the whole time). The sun had barely set, and it was beginning to rise again. Words can't really describe, and the pictures don't do it justice...but here they are anyway:
Our hostel.
They hadn't had WiFi in 12 hours...can you tell? I've never in my life met a group of people so constantly glued to their phones. It actually drives me completely nuts.
We carried all our luggage in, only to be told that we couldn't check in until 1pm. I suppose that's normal...but we were all so tired. They let us put our luggage in the office and we walked around St. Petersburg and took pictures for the remaining 6 hours until we could check in. Once 1pm came around we finally got to see our rooms. Fortunately, what I imagined was so horrid that, even though it's still pretty bad, I wasn't too disappointed. I guess. It got a little difficult listening to everyone complain so much, though. It is what it is! Complaining only makes it worse. I tried to meet some other people staying in the hostel, but they're a little strange. There is also constantly blaring top 40 music in the hallways. Strange! Still, I'm okay with it. I'm in a room with Andy and Berenice. Andy keeps me sane; thank goodness he's on this trip. We all took naps and then went out to see what the deal is with this whole White Nights thing. What a night. The streets are closed down, everyone's happy and smiling (seeing smiling Russians is rare). The three of us started at an English pub and then walked around/bar hopped for a little while. We then went to the street that looks out over the Volga. Lanterns were floating into the sky, the bridge was lit up. Great view. At 1:30 am, the fireworks began. I hate to say it, but 4th of July has Nothing on this firework show. They lasted until 3am (yes we were out the whole time). The sun had barely set, and it was beginning to rise again. Words can't really describe, and the pictures don't do it justice...but here they are anyway:
Our hostel.
They hadn't had WiFi in 12 hours...can you tell? I've never in my life met a group of people so constantly glued to their phones. It actually drives me completely nuts.
Picture credit to Andy on that last one. I was too much in awe to take my own. Really though, the entire sky was filled with these fireworks. I promise you've never seen anything like it. Got back to the hostel around 3:30am. Worth it.
Marvelous fireworks!! How strange it must be to have it sunny at 2 a.m. So sorry about the Youth Hostel. Very proud of you for your "grin and bear it" attitude. Keep us posted on your travels through St. Petersburg. Can't wait to have you home soon! Tuna Casserole and Enchiladas sound good? Sorry, I don't cook bear!
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