russia: saint petersburg...again

My train from Vologda to Saint Petersburg arrived one minute early, which is quite a rarity. Russian trains usually arrive exactly as scheduled, far more often than not. My train came into the train station further out from the city center, and I could've walked to my hostel, but I didn't. The metro system in Saint Petersburg isn't as extensive as the system in Moscow, but its still better than most cities around the world. The metro ride wasn't long, and the walk from the metro station wasn't long.

I wasn't able to check into my hostel yet, but they were fine with me leaving my bag in a storage room, then sitting in the communal area for a while. I charged my electronics, wasted time online, then several hours later finally walked out the door to start exploring.

The list of sights I wanted to see during this visit to SP was completely random. This first day in the city I stepped into a number of closed courtyards, because I love the photos you can make by looking straight up while standing in the middle. Kindof putting a frame on the sky, if that makes sense. I knew of a few specific places with courtyards where I could do this, and got lucky with finding a few more throughout the day as I walked around.

One of the places I wanted to see was just a random apartment building, but a photo online showed a photogenic spiral staircase. I found the correct address, but I wasn't able to find the specific entrance to see that staircase, argh. 

Another sight on my list was a hotel with a beautiful tiled entrance. I wasn't able to get the photo I wanted, because a car was parked in a place where I couldn't keep it out of the frame. Foiled, again.

Not too far from this hotel was a big yellow church. I had high hopes for seeing something pretty, but only the lower level was open, and that wasn't that interesting. Argh argh argh. The next sight on my list was another church, this one Armenian. The main sanctuary was open, yippee. From there I ended up at yet another church, this one also big and yellow. I finally had a smile on my face because the main area of this one was open, and it was worth seeing. Woo hoo! The interior was mostly blue, with some gold highlights.

There was a metro station nearby, and I hopped on that to get me closer to a sight I've wanted to see for a while. The Lakhta Center isn't really a sight where you learn something or do something. It's just an 'insta-sight' where you try to take a perfect photo for Instagram. The Lakhta Center is a business center, with unique architecture.

After taking my photos I walked back toward the metro station, being stopped along the way by an old lady who told me I should be wearing more clothes. Keep in mind that it was 22C/71F, and I was wearing a medium to long skirt and a t-shirt. I was not cold, and it was the middle of summer. For all the stories of tought Russians when it comes to weather, I've had waaaaay too many experiences with old ladies telling me I'm not dressed appropriately, making me think they whinge far too much.

I took the metro to a stop on Vasilyevsky Island, as I'd found an address where I could see a huge mural on the side of a building. 

By that point I was rather tired, but I wanted to take advantage of the crazy long days Saint Petersburg has in summer. The mural was big and colourful, and I was happy I made the effort to see it.

That being said, I went home from there. Riding the metro back to my hostel, I was able to check in and relax for the evening. I was hanging out in the communal area when I looked out the windows and realized I could see a stunning sunset with the main rotunda of St Isaacs Cathedral in profile. Absolutely gorgeous.

The next morning, when I finally got moving, the first sight I tried to see was a Lenin statue. I was disappointed when I got close, and realized the statue was on a university campus, behind locked gates. Argh.

Next up was another place I went for the solo purpose of taking a photo. I think this building was just a random office building someone realize would look good on Instagram, and the address is listed in a few places. The building has an interior courtyard, with the exterior of those walls all being windows/mirrors. With the summer sun, it just looks nifty in a photo.

As I was leaving this building, two couples were coming in to take their own photos, so it definitely isn't a secret place to take photos.My walk took me past one of the iconic sights in Saint Petersburg, St Isaac's Cathedral. I've been in the church a few times, and climbed up to the exterior of the rotunda a few times, both are worth doing, more than once. This time I didn't go in or up, but rather to the landscaped area in front of the church. There were red roses planted, blooming beautifully. I framed them with the church, hiding most of the people hanging out.

I ended up eating lunch at a sidewalk cafe just because I saw someone with a bowl of soup that looks good. I don't normally stop for lunch, but sometimes it is good to do something different.

During my visit to Saint Petersburg over New Year's I wanted to visit the museum of printing, but it was closed for the holidays. This time I was determined to make that visit happen.

The museum is set up in several apartments in a building, I think some of the apartments used to be part of a newspaper printer. One of the rooms I was able to see was allegedly where Lenin worked when he wrote for a small newspaper. One of the docents figured out I am American, and was determined to practice her English, so I just went with it. She ended up giving me a private tour, I was even able to go behind the ropes in the last room where you can see an old printing press. Fun, but probably not all that interesting for most tourists.

I kept walking, crossing the bridge that took me close to Finlandsky train station, which has a metro station underneath. From there I took the metro a few stops out, to a park. I walked past the park, heading toward a building that houses the Russian State Scientific Center for Robotics and Technical Cybernetics. I wanted to see it because it is different from most 'Russian' buildings.

Instead of taking the metro back to the hostel, I walked. My feet were tired by the time I got back, but the weather was great so I was happy to do it.

I had every intention of doing a day trip the next day, but I couldn't get moving. Instead, I packed up and checked out at nearly noon, whoops. After leaving my bag for the rest of the day at the hostel, I took the metro, a long bus ride, and a long walk out to a place called Lenin Shalash. I never figured out exactly what it is, but since the name included Lenin, I figured why not go see it.

I ended up seeing three statues of Lenin, but the museum type thing was closed because of Covid. Darnit. In other words I wasted about 4 hours, but oh well. Maybe I'll go again someday. Maybe.

By the time I got back to the city center I was tired and hungry, so I went straight to dinner. Yay for cheap pizza. After eating I went back to my hostel, grabbed my backpack and went to the train station.

I was in Petrozavodsk for the next two days, then came back to Saint Petersburg for one more day. I had booked another night at the same hostel as before, so the front desk people remembered me. 

I dropped my bag in their storage room, charged my phone for a while, then went out walking.

My first sight was a cemetery where a bunch of famous people are buried, Tikhvin Cemetery. It is next to a monastery, the cemetery is split into two sections. One section is for 18^th century folks, and the other side is for Masters of Art and Culture. You have to pay entry fees for both sides, which didn't make me happy. The ticket lady wanted me to pay the foreigner fee, but I insisted on paying the local fee, since I live and work in Russia. I chose to visit just one side, figuring I'd be back to the city another time to see the other side.

The 18^th century side was pretty, some of the gravemarkers were in better shape than others. Nearly all of them were quite fancy, and some of them were quite big. Most of them were crammed together, there wasn't a lot of open space between each dead person. When I die I want to be cremated, I have no desire for money to be spent on me after I die.

After leaving the cemetery I visited the monastery, since it was right there. The Nevsky Lavra is an important monastery if such things are important to you. I love visiting monasteries, but didn't find this one any more impressive than others I've visited over the years. 

Even so, I am always happy to step inside a house of faith for a few minutes.

I went out the back gate of the monastery, trying to get to a couple Lenins marked on the map. The first Lenin ended up being a giant profile of his head, high up on the side of a building. The other ended up being another statue behind a fence, so I'm not even sure it was there. Darnit.

Even though I hadn't seen a lot, I walked back to the hostel from there, which ended up being over an hour. The hostel put me in the same capsule as a couple days earlier, it was practically home, hahahaha.

The next morning I was up early to catch a bus to my next destination: Veliky Novgorod. I will definitely be back to Saint Petersburg.