2 posts tagged “russia”
I'm on a train to St. Petersburg. It's the second time I've made the trip from Moscow to the more northern Russian city. The first time was over a month ago, when I arrived in Russia for the first time and made my way to St. Petersburg for two reason: 1) To find a job and 2) To see if I would like to live there for a while. D and I spent three weeks there in total, seeing the city, looking for work, finding it, and beginning to arrange the paperwork. I also made some small attempts to learn Russian, but after three weeks I've only so far grasped the alphabet and some basic (but important!) vocabulary. We found a small language school that was looking for new native teachers and they decided to help us process our work visas so we could work for them. The story of what happened next is a long one, and one better left to another post, so in the meantime, I'll tell you about the beautiful city that is St. Petersburg (formerly known as Leningrad).
Someone told me recently that St. P ranks among the 5 most romantic cities in the world (along the likes of Venice, Prague, Paris, and Istanbul). I have no idea who conducted such research or how they went about deciding on judging criteria, but I would have to agree. You wouldn't think to place a former Soviet city with the others in this category, but maybe that's why it's considered romantic, because it's so unexpected! The beauty of this city is surprising (at least for me, someone who had few previous references to it). I remarked one day how I 've often found myself thinking "This street feels like any typical European neighborhood street", but then I would walk not 100 metres to come across some stunning piece of historical or architectural significance. St. Petersburg is packed full of things for tourists to do and see.
The same negatives exist in St. Petersburg as do in Moscow, however. It is cheaper, but because it attracts so many tourists (especially in summer), the main areas are still quite steeply priced. Despite the large appearance of the tourist industry, there are still very few signs in English, or any other language aside from Russian. But, the metro only consists of four lines, so it is much easier to figure out than the Moscow metro. I think it's definitely true that St. Petersburg is the more 'European' city.
We seemed to arrive at a weird nexus between winter and spring, because for the first five days we were here it snowed and snowed and snowed, but two days later it was warm outside and the snow was gone. I imagine that winters here are just as long and dull as those of Canadian cities, with the added bonus of less sunlight! To balance things out, however, St. Petersburg has white nights in summer, when the sun practically refused to set. It's really too bad we didn't get to experience those, but I did find myself walking home from work at 9:30pm in late March and seeing no sign of the sun setting.
Spending three weeks in a city gives you just enough time to settle in and start to act like a local. For example, we were just getting used to the seemingly redundant practice of buying groceries. Most of the "grocery stores" are small shops that have three or four separate sections (meat, fresh produce, dairy, dry goods). You must approach each section and ask the attendant to gather the items from behind the counter and give you a total of how much you owe. Once you've visited every section you add up your total and stand in line at the cashier to pay and get your receipt. Then you return to each section and pick up your food. I have no idea how this system evolved, but I think I need someone to explain it to me.
We stayed in a cozy little apartment for most of our time in St. P, which was much nicer than a hostel, but also gave us the opportunity to meet some other tourists who were staying in the other bedroom. Coincidentally, perhaps, every couple we met was from England. The best part about this apartment was that it had no phone, no tv and no internet. Although we found ourselves bored at times (all of the files on my laptop are now organized, including pictures!) , it forced me to 'unplug' and just enjoy where I was. I loved getting up and leisurely making and eating breakfast, then reading a book, going out to explore... Of course, almost everyday can look this way when you're traveling, but having internet around always makes it harder for me to accomplish.
I took almost insultingly few pictures in St. Petersburg, probably because I thought I would have many months to take more pictures, but here are those I did manage to snap.
Moscow, on the other hand, is ridiculously expensive. We only spent three days there, mostly because we couldn't afford to stick to a budget. It is, I've heard, the most expensive city in the world. I had a tough time believing that until I saw it for myself. I saw a cup of black tea cost the equivalent of $6. I saw a simple Italian food court dinner cost almost $20. When you're trying to live on less than $40 a day, it seems you can't eat or drink in Moscow. But, in other ways, Moscow is wonderful.
It's full of history, for starters. Even without making any effort to find the historically significant museums, monuments and statues, you will just run into them, because they are so numerous. The metro is one of the most beautiful places to see in Moscow, for which it is unique. In the 1950's, the Soviet government was so pleased with itself for building a metro that is went all out and had every station designed in a majestic manner. If it weren't so dangerous to walk around with valuables in the metro, I would have taken a whole series of photos based only on train stations.
Another special feature of Moscow is its architecture. I was half-expecting big blocks of concrete with few windows, but in fact the buildings in the center of Moscow could be mistaken for the Parisian or Roman variety. Huge ceilings, complimented by huge picture windows, adorned every room I went into. And the churches! Wow. They are like something out of the imagination of the love child of Willy Wonka and Picasso. Not that that would be possible. The spires are so unique and beautiful that people go through all the Visa red tape just to see them in person.
And, with some effort, we did manage to find some "cheap" options, such as a buffet style restaurant called "MY MY", which in Russian letters actually says "Moo Moo". There you can pick and choose your courses (salad, soup, meat, side, drink and dessert) for the bargain price of about $15. What a deal! We also took the metro around the city, which was fairly cheap. Walking between major tourist attractions is also doable. And, if you want to leave Moscow (for, say, St. Petersburg) you are in luck. A basic train ticket between the two cities is only $20 in the low season! We sprung for the four bed cabin and took a night train, but we still only spent about $45 for an eight hour trip and a good nights sleep (those beds are pretty comfy).
The most difficult thing about Moscow is actually not the prices, but rather the language. I had a serious advantage in that my boyfriend just so happens to speak fluent Russian, but if I had been alone or without a Russian speaker, I would be lost. Every other country I have been to has been manageable, I realize now, because even if the signs were not in English, they did use a Roman alphabet. I am able to find my way around because I can recognize or read signs (and because I have an awesome sense of direction, if I do say so myself). In Moscow, everything uses the Cyrillic alphabet, which I had only just started to study. The metro is also very difficult for tourists because the station names are not always visible from the train and the announcement is often hard to hear. We resorted to counting stops on the map.
My first taste of Russia in Moscow was almost exactly how I imagined it would be. I was totally overwhelmed for the first 24 hours and then slowly settled into it as I figured out how things are done. I tried to just go with the flow of Moscow, because I knew I would have three weeks in St. Petersburg to really wrap my head around Russia. Little did I know, I would need all of that time. More to come...
