I got up early in the morning, stretched, looked out the window and shrieked.

We were going past the Kronstadt naval base and sitting in the water was a Russian Kilo class attack submarine. So I threw on some clothes, grabbed the camera and darted outside to take a bunch of pictures. For me this was especially exciting as Kronstadt was one of the places I had thought about visiting. I really wanted to get my picture taken in front of a bunch of warships as the base was open to the public, but we found out from the tour company that it was quite a ways outside of St. Petersburg and we would have used up a good portion of one day getting there and back. So we ended up deciding against it. I hadn't realized that our route into St. Petersburg would take us past there, so in a round about way my wish was still realized. Seeing that sub and the other warships there was awesome and I had a huge grin on my face when I got back to our room.

We met up with Alpha & Nancy to have breakfast and while we were eating the ship started shaking and rattling, which to us was the signal that we had arrived in port. So we all went back to our rooms to get ready and grab our stuff.

Unfortunately there was a bit of delay as the Russian authorities had to come on board and check all the paperwork which had to be done before people could start disembarking. Maybe an hour or so had passed before we were able to go on shore. Outside it was a zoo as unlike our other stops they had to check everyone's passport before you could get into the country proper. We stood in line for what seemed like forever, bumping and jostling with the people around us. Thankfully they had a band playing outside which helped to entertain me somewhat. Finally we got to the person checking passports and they were quite surprised to see that we had Russian Visas.

As we were in Russia overnight we had all discussed and decided to get the Visas on the offhand chance that we might want to go around and do our own thing. Otherwise you were only allowed to go on the excursions and had to come back to the ship right after you were done.

After clearing customs we found our guides. Instead of doing the ship sanctioned excursions we had previously arranged to go with a private tour company. They had planned out what we were going to do during the two days we were there and they stayed with us the entire time. They were our eyes and ears and we couldn't be happier. It was extremely reassuring having them with us as we were all a bit nervous not knowing the language and still being a bit weirded out by the fact we were in Russia - a place we had grown up knowing as the enemy. Of course it didn't help when several times they warned us to be wary of pick pockets.

Our driver was Alex and our guide was Catherine. Alex didn't speak much English and would always stay with our stuff in the van whenever we went anywhere. So we ended up spending most of our time being with and talking with Catherine. Of course it didn't hurt that she was stunningly beautiful. Alpha and I were definitely happy campers :)

The first day was ok. It rained off and on the whole day and I was in a lot of pain from my stupid teeth. However one of the first places we saw was the 'kissing bridge'. Catherine explained that whenever anyone went over it you were supposed to kiss the person you were with as it would bring you good weather and good luck. So we all kissed and sure enough the weather cleared up on the second day and I also felt a lot better.

Our major destination for the day was Peterhof palace which was the summer palace of Peter the Great. Seeing as Russia is generally credited for inventing the modern day hydrofoil it was only fitting that it was a hydrofoil shuttle that took us there. We boarded on the Neva River and before long it rose out of the water and by the time we hit the open ocean we were going really, really fast. As an aside, Chris and I both got a kick out of Catherine saying Neva River as she would pronounce it 'Nee-vah, Ree-vah'.

The grounds of Peterhof are huge and there were acres and acres of gardens, fountains, and forest. As Chris was having issues with all the walking we just went up to the Palace while Alpha & Nancy toured the gardens with Catherine before meeting up with us again. The palace itself was beautiful. There were over 30 rooms and each room had a specific look and purpose. Everything was adorned with gold and there were paintings depicted famous battles or famous people everywhere. You could almost imagine being nobility and spending your days obsessing over trivial protocols.

There were lots of people there and we ended up being sandwiched between a Spanish tour group and a German tour group. Catherine as always was great and gave us the history of the place and pointed out various details of the rooms as we went through them. When we were done we had to use the bathroom but found out you had to pay a lady stationed outside before you could go in. While we were waiting in line a German man obviously in distress came up to her and handed her some bills. As she was counting back his change he yelled at her 'Schnell! Schnell!' as he REALLY had to go. Alpha and I both got quite the kick out of that. However, given the historical sensitivities the lady was less than impressed at being barked at in German - especially after we found out that in WWII the Germans had essentially destroyed the place as they retreated. In fact a couple of the rooms we went through had just finished being restored.

From there we were picked up by Alex and went to our next stop which was the War Memorial. It was much more impressive than I had expected. It was the size of a city block and the main roadway circled around it. At one end was a towering monument with the dates of the war on it and a number of statues depicting the struggle. In the middle you walked down some stairs to a large circular area which had a number of eternal flames as well as plaques with the names of various cities the Nazis had attacked. In the middle was another monument which several people had laid flowers on. I found myself being very moved by it all. It was easily the largest war memorial I've seen which is somewhat fitting considering the massive loss of life which occurred. Over 2 million civilians died during the Siege of Leningrad (which is what St. Petersburg used to be called).

We were hungry so we tried to unsuccessfully explain that we wanted to go somewhere where we could have a drink and enjoy some typical Russian food. Alex helpfully suggested Pizza Hut which we were horrified by. Eventually we realized we didn't have enough time to stop and eat and so we went back to the ship.

As mentioned the weather was much better the next day and we were all feeling much more at ease being in the city and being with our guides. We did a bunch of shopping and saw some more sights. Chris really liked the Church of Our Saviour on the Spilled Blood. To her the look symbolized what Russia was all about. We also found out that in the church was the blood stained stone where Alexander II was assassinated (hence the name). Chris liked the church so much that we ended up buying a painting of it from a street vendor.

As for shopping we discovered that it's a tradition there that whenever you enter a store you have to take a shot of Vodka. I kid you not. I was expecting the local Vodka to taste horrible but it was actually very smooth. Much better than the crap we get here in fact. We ended up going to three or four stores which all sold pretty much the same stuff. Thankfully we didn't go to any more after that as I'm pretty sure we would have all been shitfaced.

After that, we had lunch at a cafe on Nevsky Prospekt which is the main thoroughfare in St. Petersburg. Alex couldn't stay with us, but we insisted on buying Catherine lunch. Of course being in Russia I just had to have Borsch which was something I had been looking forward to since we first planned the trip. It was really, really yummy. Chris had Beef Stroganoff which she enjoyed as well plus a Vodka and Sprite. We all got a kick out of the fact that pop was still served in bottles there. After eating we sat there for awhile and had a few more drinks, grilled Catherine with a number of questions and people watched.

From there we went on a private river tour which took us around the city on the many rivers and canals which went through it. We were all feeling pretty important at having our own private boat (which was one of the regular river taxis) especially when a large group of people who had gathered to get on it were told that they couldn't come on. It was an excellent way to end our visit, just relaxing, taking in the sights, with the cool breeze in the air.

We all felt sad at having to say goodbye to our hosts. It had only been a couple days but I felt a definite friendship with them. I had wanted to get a picture of all of us, but for whatever reason when the time came it slipped my mind. We gave them a big tip, which as I understood was equivalent to two days wages, and gave them our website addresses.

Next to Paris, St. Petersburg was my second favourite place of the trip. It was a very unique city. Unique in having so many beautiful places survive not just the Nazis but also the Communist revolution and their disdain for anything from the past. Also unique in being a city of 5 million situated that far north. It had the beauty of Paris yet it was tinged with a 'colder' more northern feeling. It's hard to describe. Catherine had mentioned that they really only have 2 months where it isn't winter although the past couple of years have been much milder. I was reminded about how far north we were when I looked outside at almost 11pm and it was still very much light out.

As we passed the Kronstadt base again on our way out to open sea we found ourselves with an escort of drunk Russians in a motor boat. Alpha had his binoculars and was watching this boat next to us weave crazily through the water and said 'Hey I think they're drunk!' I took a look and sure enough they were passing a bottle of Vodka around and singing and cheering.

Ah, now that's the Russia I was expecting.

Pictures can be found here.