In St Petersburg it was easy to come from the airport into the city and to my hostel. The people were nice and helped me as far as possible with directions and advises, which bus and which metro to take. I was anyways amazed by the friendliness of the people. When thinking about Russians normally the cliche of a grumpy soviet bureaucrat comes to mind. My experience however is totally different. Yes there are grumpy people, but you will find these all over the world. I was mostly treated nicely and people were helpful even tho we were not speaking the same language.
I arrived at the hostel by noon and was happy to finally take a shower in the hostel I was actually staying in. It was also located centrally and furnished and decorated modernly. From the hostel it was easy to reach the main attractions by foot or metro within a couple of minutes. During the next days I was strolling around the city and visited the most important sites, such as the Hermitage, several cathedrals and churches, the Fortress and the Aurora, the cruiser, whose cannons started the October Revolution in 1917.
I really enjoyed the time in the city. The weather was nice and warm. I was walking around alone, even tho the hostel was fully booked. I tried to talk and connect with people, but I wasn't successful. The mix was anyways difficult; some Russians, two families, an Asian couple and a big organized travel group, who had come from Beijing with the Trans-Siberian Railway and had the last station in St. Petersburg. I was talking to B. & T., an Australian and a Scottish guy, who seemed cool and were already on the road for over 10 months each and they admitted that they wanted to enjoy the last days without "disturbances".
For me this was no problem and I realized that this was making many things easier. I could go where I wanted, eat when and where I wanted and sit down whenever and how long I wanted. When I passed a building, for example, I saw the sign "Zoological Museum" and just went in without thinking. I was able to stroll around the Hermitage for four hours and didnt had to worry that my company might be bored or tired. Even tho I am a communicative person and consider it nicer to walk around with other people, there are also positive things about solo tripping.
The last day of my trip actually came faster than I thought and although I had seen nearly everything in St. Petersburg I would have liked to stay a little bit longer. I realized, that I just ran around for six days and had nearly no possibility to just sit on a bench or in a nice cafe enjoying a cup of coffee or the Russian national drink (no, not Vodka), tea. I really missed that and have to say, that this short city trip was refreshing, but not really relaxing. Therefore it also took me some time to post here. The last two days I was just sitting around not doing anything, I had to relax a bit.
Now I am back and will take care of my duties again. I will apply for more internship places and will try to help here as much as possible. Today I was mowing the lawn and hope that A's parents will have more for me to do in the next days. I feel so useless, not doing anything sometimes.
~M~
I arrived at the hostel by noon and was happy to finally take a shower in the hostel I was actually staying in. It was also located centrally and furnished and decorated modernly. From the hostel it was easy to reach the main attractions by foot or metro within a couple of minutes. During the next days I was strolling around the city and visited the most important sites, such as the Hermitage, several cathedrals and churches, the Fortress and the Aurora, the cruiser, whose cannons started the October Revolution in 1917.
I really enjoyed the time in the city. The weather was nice and warm. I was walking around alone, even tho the hostel was fully booked. I tried to talk and connect with people, but I wasn't successful. The mix was anyways difficult; some Russians, two families, an Asian couple and a big organized travel group, who had come from Beijing with the Trans-Siberian Railway and had the last station in St. Petersburg. I was talking to B. & T., an Australian and a Scottish guy, who seemed cool and were already on the road for over 10 months each and they admitted that they wanted to enjoy the last days without "disturbances".
For me this was no problem and I realized that this was making many things easier. I could go where I wanted, eat when and where I wanted and sit down whenever and how long I wanted. When I passed a building, for example, I saw the sign "Zoological Museum" and just went in without thinking. I was able to stroll around the Hermitage for four hours and didnt had to worry that my company might be bored or tired. Even tho I am a communicative person and consider it nicer to walk around with other people, there are also positive things about solo tripping.
The last day of my trip actually came faster than I thought and although I had seen nearly everything in St. Petersburg I would have liked to stay a little bit longer. I realized, that I just ran around for six days and had nearly no possibility to just sit on a bench or in a nice cafe enjoying a cup of coffee or the Russian national drink (no, not Vodka), tea. I really missed that and have to say, that this short city trip was refreshing, but not really relaxing. Therefore it also took me some time to post here. The last two days I was just sitting around not doing anything, I had to relax a bit.
Now I am back and will take care of my duties again. I will apply for more internship places and will try to help here as much as possible. Today I was mowing the lawn and hope that A's parents will have more for me to do in the next days. I feel so useless, not doing anything sometimes.~M~
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