St. Petersburg, The First Week

What should I write? St. Petersburg is simply overwhelming. Admittedly I'm not terribly fond of Baroque Style but in the way it appears in this city it impresses even the skeptic, I think. Plus it is mixed with classicistic and Jugendstil. Each of you reading this should at one time come here and experience yourselves. And the weather is just fabulous here to since I arrived...

So Monday I moved back to my hotel/camping place (ideally located only about 15 minutes from the city center on the motorcycle) which is so comfortable that in the end I decided not to rent a room but stay in my Datcha as I don't have to pack things and take them to a room etc... As I am practically only there to sleep it is really nice not to have to unpack and pack every time but to have the comfort of having everything at hand. And I like my order that I have introduced which avoids having to look for things. The place is also comfortable to 'work' and having the refrigerator next to me and the bathroom behind me is very nice. Not to talk about my bed that I find just right and hotel beds aren't always. Plus I have all my music at hand (there is a fantastic radio station here that plays jazz all day). I only can fully recommend this way of traveling. All I really need is water every few days and occasionally a refill of my gas bottles. Maybe the only downside is that no maid is cleaning up, but I can handle that easily. And meanwhile I learned to appreciate my air conditioner which keeps the place nice and cool even with over 30 C outside...

On Tuesday I visited our bank and was received by Alexandr Konyshkov the 'ruler' of the 'North-West Hub' and also had dinner with him on Thursday. He was a great help to get me oriented and invited me to take part in an interesting customer event, an art show about 20th century Russian art and got me a private guided initiation tour to the Hermitage. On Thursday I went out to dinner with him. It is a great feeling to still be considered part of the Raiffeisen Family. As he has left for vacation today, I'll have lunch with his deputy Vycheslav Chaynikov tomorrow. And as I had to get a new laptop for my netbook showed signs of going into Nirwana the bank's 'hackers' helped to set the thing up in English as my Russian would still not be good enough to deal with that machine...

To list all the places I have seen meanwhile would probably, no, certainly, be boring. I'll try to get more pictures in my blog, but it is really hard work to select and comment, so please be patient... and I still have to do Tallinn... But I have been to the Hermitage once and will go once more on Tuesday. The real sensation, however, was that when I unsuspectingly was looking for the mens' room somebody tipped on my shoulder. I turned around and there was Mrs. Posekany the first secretary of Dr. Stepic. She also has retired recently and was on a trip with her husband... Needless to say we had to take a picture and send it to Dr. Stepic...

I have extensively criss-crossed the city on my Yamaha and up to now shot over 600 pictures and video clips and more to come... The motorcycle is really the ideal means to move about as it greatly saves time and I can park everywhere. The downside is, that the speed limit of 50 km/h is highly theoretical and the drivers here consider the wide streets as drag strips. As I only can reach 80-90km/h in the city due to only 10 hp I am constantly being overtaken left and right... So I had a few hairy situations already but am becoming an even more defensive driver by constantly checking what is happening behind me. Yes, and also red lights by many are only considered a recommendation... But during the day the traffic is such that it's mostly only me who is moving...

Yesterday I went outside of St. P. to Kronshtadt which was the main Russian navy base that Peter the Great built as sea defense what was then an island in front of St. P. (now it's connected via a dam to protect St. P. from floods). It still is a navy base and was a 'closed city' until the nineties. Now it is becoming a tourist spot, however, I only spotted one decent restaurant, the owners of which were extremely nice and helpful... In that respect much has changed. The grumpy service that was so much the standard until a few years ago I yet have to experience. Even at the local market about 200m from my hotel the people are extremely friendly and helpful, especially if you struggle with a few words of Russian.

The only slightly negative experience I had yesterday at Peterhof the famous summer residence of Peter and his successors. It still is the habit of many museums (not in the city so much, maybe except the army museum I went to today) to charge up to double and more. As I before had visited Oranienbaum, the also magnificent summer residence of Peter's best friend Count Melnikov I only got to Peterhof at 18:18. Now from 18:30 to 19:30 there are reduced rates. But they still insisted to charge the full price for foreigners which just for the visit to the gardens would amount to a hefty 

9 EUR. Well, ten min later at the cashier next to the first one I got the ticket for the 'Russian' price of 1,10 EUR.

The palace has the dimension of Schönbrunn with a much larger garden and world famous fountains. By the way, the official line is that the Germans totally destroyed the palace. More recently historians have found out that it was Stalin who ordered the destruction (by air) after he found out that Hitler wanted to throw a party there. All the furniture and art that could be taken out had already been taken out by the Russians before the Germans could get their dirty hands on it so that although the palace is a (fabulous) reconstruction the interior is largely original. As it was too late I couldn't get into the palace anymore and will have to do that on my next visit... 

The reason I was late was that I had spent too much time at lunch and at Oranienbaum which also is magnificently restored (like almost all the palaces I have visited until now) and has a lovely vast garden with some follies hidden in several places. But also here, the game with the different prices... It is even more irritating as practically all the places charge double but don't provide any explanations in any foreign language... But there my Russian lessons begin to show some dividend: in several places I was able to fool the cashiers... (as practically all who know me know it gives me pleasure no end...)

And before I forget: on Wednesday night I took a boat tour through the canals and out to the Newa and around P & P Fortress to watch the bridges being raised. This is happening every night about 2a.m. to enable larger ships to get through. But somehow I have the suspicion this now has become a tourist gag as I noticed that some other bridges than those on the route of the tourist boats weren't raised anymore... anyway, it is quite a sight and as the tours start at 1 am it is a great opportunity to experience the 'white nights' as it still doesn't get fully dark and by the time the tour ends one can see that it is getting light again.

Today I went to see the Church on Spilled Blood that was erected on the spot that Tsar Alexander II was blown up in 1881, St. Isaac's Cathedral, the Army Museum and the Peter & Paul Fortress all highly interesting and spectacular but they all can be googled... and in due course I'll put some pictures in this blog...

But now it is past midnight (again) and I have to get this out as some of you want to know what's new. Well, that's it for today and my next report should reach you from Moscow as I plan to leave on Wednesday... till then...