Yay for Berlin public transport – schedule printed for us from the internet with down-to-the-minute times for the train and bus to the airport.
Air Berlin were due to strike this week, making us nervous that we would miss our flight to St Petersburg. Luckily they only had a small minor demonstration flanked by a massive contingent of heavily armed police. Peaceful protests here seem to be ‘protected’ by massive police presences – apparently to preserve the Germans right to autonomy.

Arriving in St Petersburg, we attempted Russia immigration, a slightly imposing fortress of difficult visa regulations and pale-faced immigration staff in small dark boxes. Surprisingly it’s pretty straight forward, with our bags ready to be picked up on the other side, no issues.
After a quick visit to the currency exchange (now endowed with a stack of rubles) we headed for the public bus. Info from the tourist desk said to get on any number; I’m not so sure she meant the non-express, 1970’s soviet era, about-to-overheat gem that we got on. A quick disagreement with the ticket lady, who simply held out her hand and grumbled in Russia; we headed towards the local metro to get a train into central St Petersburg. This was a pretty seamless affair thanks to a lovely Russian babushka, who spoke no English but obviously knew where we needed to go. 10/10 for sign language, Nice Russian experience no. 1.
After a few tired 30 minutes walking to our hostel in the back blocks of an old socialist style apartment block, we headed to dinner and then for a night cap. We managed to find a small cafe for coffee, not to dissimilar to a cafe in Cuba St in Wellington or George St in Dunedin 🙂
Given that it’s summer and pretty far north, it doesn’t get dark until 2 am in the morning, only to begin the sunrise at 4. This gives the illusion at midnight that’s its only 8pm outside and messes with our body clocks!

The next day we set off to see many of the attractions that dot Nevsky prospect, the main boulevard. The old Russian orthodox cathedrals are pretty amazing, if not a little overwhelming with the gold leafed icons everywhere. It’s also a little odd that the Christian cross is replaced with a cross that has 3 cross pieces, over a crescent (an Islamic symbol); apparently a hang over from one of the Tsars.
We headed to the Russian museum, a massive complex held in the Mikhaylovsky palace. There was some beautiful works, a few recognisable pieces, in amongst a beautifully restored palace. The blue/red/yellow/green colour scheme is pretty soothing to the eye, however the massive chandeliers can be a bit daunting. Getting a combined ticket we had 3 other parts of the Russian museum to do over the coming days so we thought we would pace ourselves.
Walking around the city for the afternoon, we found a beautiful Russian deli and treated ourselves to some macaroons – delicious!
The city is massive, each block many hundreds of metres long, so after many blocks and a cheap dinner we headed for an ‘early night’ (albeit bed at 12.30am – it’s still bright outside).