Rushin’

St. Petersburg, Russia

Only desperate people buy underwear at the airport. But, Saturday we were pretty desperate since our bag still hadn’t been returned. As such, we spent close to $100.00 on underwear at the airport. It was painful.

Fortunately/Unfortunately shortly after this desperate purchase, our bag was returned by the person who took it and it was forwarded to the Helsinki airport where we were able to pick it up just before boarding the Princess Anastasia for our two night cruise to St. Petersburg, Russia.

With no cell or internet service, I wasn’t able to post this blog until we disembarked - but, all in all, it was a super cool experience.

This cruise ferry runs a pretty neat gamut between four stops (Helsinki, Finland; St. Petersburg, Russia; Tallinn, Estonia and Stockholm, Sweden). You can check-in or check-out at any of the ports and some even allow for overnight stays in St. Petersburg.

Our schedule allowed for us the to do a Two-Day/Two-Night check-in in Helsinki, day trip to St. Petersburg and check-out in Tallinn. This is the only way to for US citizens to enter Russia without obtaining an outrageously high-priced visa. Basically, the rules are that you can’t leave the city of St. Petersburg and you can only enter and exit via this cruise ship.

Having read up on the passport control and immigration policies, we were a little nervous that we might be denied entry or heavily questioned once we arrived in Russia. Though, we met a few other Americans during our time on the ship, the passengers are mostly Asian tourists and Russian and Finnish Nationals. Everything we read said that Americans entering have their passports heavily scrutinized and we have a passport stamp or two that might raise some red flags (like our visit to Turkey).

Josh is perpetually worried that I will make a scene every where we go and I could tell he was sweating it as I entered the passport control area alone.

It actually wasn’t too bad. They definitely looked through my passport hardwe than any other passport control we’ve been through. The officer looked through every stamp, then viewed the passport through a fancy light. Then stood up to get a better look at me (I was too short to see fully over the desk), she had me take off my glasses. It was intense, but the only two questions she asked were what my job was and if I had a military service ID.

Once both of us cleared customs we were on our way into downtown St. Petersburg via cruise shuttle bus. I really wasn’t sure what to expect, but St. Petersburg was totally different than anything I had imagined.

One of the really beautiful things about traveling is getting to examine your own culture, beliefs systems and biases from another perspective. I guess I was picturing St. Petersburg to a regimented, heavily militarized city full of brutalist architecture and communist flags. I don’t know. But, that was definitely NOT St. Petersburg.

St. Petersburg was quaint and walkable. The buildings were ornate and brightly colored. There are winding cannals running parellel to the streets and beautiful bridges connecting each side of the city. We could have just as easily been strolling down a Parisian street from the look of things.

Dandelion seeds filled the air and it was bright and sunny the whole day. Everyone was very friendly. A few people we talked to did a double take when asking where we were from and seemed surprised. But for the most part we were able to keep a low profile and just enjoy the beautiful day.

The night before I made friends with two Russian women (we ended up sharing drinks and then dancing till 2 am in the ship’s disco as the only three patrons). By, we, I clearly mean me and the two Russian ladies. Josh peaced out before the dancing began. It was really nice to have little girl time with new friends. Even though there was a huge language barrier - some things like Vodka and dance music are universal.

Plus, my new Russian friends were happy to practice their English and I enjoyed what I could understand.

Anyway, we were very careful, but frankly, St. Petersburg didn’t feel any different than any other European city we have visited.

I felt safe and relaxed. We only saw a couple of sketchy things.

Once was a woman being escorted by two soldiers. One was holding a passport (presumably hers). She looked fine and was walking silently between them with one of the soldiers arm looped around hers. All of a sudden, they opened a totally non-descript, almost invisible, door on the side of a building with no markings or signs and all three disappeared inside.

We also saw a seagull graphically devouring the disembowled carcus of a dead peigon in front of the Kazan Catherdral, which was somehow even more disturbing.

The city was very walkable and we had plenty of time to take in the main sights. Unfortunately, the Hermatigage Museum (basically like the Russian Lourve) was closed. But we both agreed it was probably for the best, because we would have spent the whole day there anyway.

Among the beautiful and ornate buildings we saw were St. Issac’s Cathedral. This enormous building is made entirely of granite and marble. Except for the pyramids, St. Issacs has the most stone of any building in the world. It was turned into a museum by the Soviets and now houses art and religious relics.

I was sereiously disappointed upon arriving at the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. This was the sight I was most excited to see because of the iconic, brightly colored spires. Sadly, the main spire was having renovation work done - so I couldn’t really get a good photo. Though we did hear a store about how this church got it’s very interesting name. In March 1881, Russian revolutionaries fatally injured Tsar Alexander II by throwing a bomb desguised as a package under his carriage at the site where the church is now. Once he got our of the carriage to see what was going on, a second revolutionary throw another bomb which blew off his legs. Over 20 people were killed or injured, including the Tsar and the snow turned red with all the blood. Two years later, Tsar Alexander III (son of Alexander II) built the church and named it in rememberence of the attack that killed his father.

Though I am clearly not someone who follows the latest fashion trends, I couldn’t help but notice the very different fashion choices around St. Petersburg. I absolutely adored so many outfits I saw Russian women wearing. There were so many retro chic outfits and gorgeous business attire that I haven’t seen elsewhere. Besides admiring the fashion, my other favorite thing was having the chance to carefully select my very own hand-painted matryoshka stacking doll - which I have wanted since I was a little girl.

Over all we spent about 8 hour in St. Petersburg - which was not nearly enough time to do everything we wanted, but gave a us good glimpse into a location we might otherwise have not been able to visit.

Once we were back on the ship, we enjoyed some of the amenities. Though the ship is clearly outdated (There is a radio in the room that looks like it is from the 70s). There are a couple bars, three restaurants, a disco, an upper deck with outdoor eating, a spa, and a cabaret with nightly performances by three dancers and a few singers.

The songs were mostly sang in Russian, with one or two French numbers added in. There was one singer who sang one song in English - it was Taylor Swift’s “Mean” sung with a thick Russian accent. It was interesting to say the least.

Tonight, we had dinner at the nicer of the three restaurants and enjoyed complimentary Prosecco and a delicious meal.

Tomorrow, we are getting off the ship in the morning for our overnight stay in Tallinn, Estonia. We’re looking forward to a very busy day of trying fit as much in as possible during our short stay.