After sleeping in a bit, I got out and started walking through St. Petersburg in the hope of seeing all the sights in one day. I had enough time seeing as my train to Moscow only left at 23:55.
Since I am big into walking everywhere I decided that this is the best option to see everything.
From my walk yesterday I knew that the distances are quite far and you get easy 3-4km just walking to the Hermitage Museum from my hotel. Not sure how many km I walked but it feels like a lot, the good thing is that I can safely say that I have seen everything I wanted and more.
St. Petersburg has some great architecture and very colourful buildings but for me, it will be remembered as the 'city of overhead cables and wires'. Much of the architecture is spoiled by stupid cables over the street for the electric buses but also attached to buildings for street signs, electric cables an so on. Can only imagine how much nicer the city could be without having these constant cables everywhere.
Aside from that it is a very nice city and well worth a visit, it is also an expensive city though.
Having somewhat neglected the GXR A12-M in the beginning, I have used it with the Jupiter-8 for most photos today. It felt more 'at home' in some ways and the different perspective was nice although sometimes limiting and this is where the GR and Heliar 15mm came in handy.
Before heading to the station to catch my train, I had dinner at the Zoom Cafe. Yes, I got this from Tripadvisor where it's number 1 on St. Petersburg so it's not really a secret tip but a great tip. The
food, service, décor and even value were great so I can recommend it.
I had a bit of time to kill before the 'Krasnaya Strela' (Red Arrow) pulled into the station so have been taking some photos around the station. The train itself is very comfortable, clean and luxurious even whe travelling 2nd class. You get free tea and breakfast included in the price.
While there are cheaper trains, I would recommend taking this one for your journey. I did enjoy my journey in the train but ended up sharing my compartment with some rather quiet Russians.
I will get to Moscow in the morning and will have until the day after to walk around and explore the city. More on this in the coming days, for now enjoy the pictures from St. Petersburg.
Very nice, Christian. Have you ever been to Japan? I know you're going, so I'd like to hear how the overhead cabling compares!
ReplyDeleteI suspect you've seen nothing yet when it comes to overhead cables. Wait until you get to India, where everyone seems to splice in everywhere at random.
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying fallowing along with your journey. Your set of St. Petersburg gives a good overall picture from the individuals to the monuments. Take care
I liked the one with the girl walking and giving you a friendly smile. It looks like she might be a photographer as well judging by her camera bag. (think tank)?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments!
ReplyDeleteMartin, I have been to Japan twice and love the country, people and food. The overhead cabling there is at times even more excessive but at least it's kept away from historic sites and buildings.
Thanks Björn, looking forward to India. Glad you enjoy the journey and being part in it through my blog.
Thanks Art, she was probably a tourist just getting out of the Zoom restaurant but probably also a photographer who realised she is in my picture. ;)