The Gamer's Quarter

[Scratchmonkey]

So it looks like I'll be spending part of next month in St. Petersburg. Not a lot of time, really, just enough to run around and check things out.

Anybody got any tips for traveling in Russia/good stuff to look at in St. Petersburg (we're going to the Hermitage, natch). Sergei, I'm hoping you notice this!

[helicopterp]

Nabokov's house-museum is there.

Also, a statue of a nose in honor of Gogol.


I am very envious of you.
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Like you thought you'd seen copter perverts before. They were nothing compared to this one.

[Scratchmonkey]

Shostakovich's birthplace, as well as a number of other things connected to him.

I'm fairly excited, this is the first time I'll be in a non-UK portion of Europe. The majority of the time will be spent in Finland, where we'll be staying with friends. There's also a day-trip to Estonia in the works.

[seryogin]

I can't really say much about St. Petersburg that you can't get out of the guidebook, having only spent three days there five years ago. In my own experience, the city was a wonderful surprise, because of how it's not at all like Moscow. Whereas Moscow feels very Soviet, Petersburg's architecture is a mix of Baroque and Classicism, which makes it feel very much like the Imperial Capital it once was.

If you want a suggestion for enjoying your stay, I'd suggest seeing the various cathedrals, as the range of styles is much more impressive than in Moscow and taking a trip to the Winter Palace. Petropavlovsk is interesting fort inside of the city, if you want to sleep in Maxim Gorky's cell in all. The Hermitage is, of course, essential, make sure to see the Rembrandt collection. Otherwise, just walk around and enjoy the atmosphere of not knowing what the hell's going on. When I was visited St. Petersburg, it felt alien enough to the rest of Russia to be quite fascinating.

As far as places to eat go, I don't have a clue. I recall everywhere I visited to be very bad. If you want a sure thing, go to Elki-Palki (though I don't know if they have them St. P), a Russian chain which serves mostly Russian food and is good for the most part.

Otherwise, have fun. It's been five years since I last visited our glorious Fatherland, so I can't imagine how things have changed since then.
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[Scratchmonkey]

Awesome, thanks dude. I'm going with a bit of a foodie and she's suggested that we hit up some Georgian food and seems to have a good idea of what else is worth checking out, so I'm putting the food in her hands. If that doesn't work, I plan to eat entirely from street carts.

If we do wind up making it, I will write up the experience and post about it here, with plenty of pictures.

[seryogin]

[Scratchmonkey]

My friend's Finnish boyfriend is pretty nervous about the trip -- he views Russia as a dangerous and filthy place and feels like she's at a huge risk to get beat up by racist thugs (she's Filipino-American). Most of which is likely Finnish paranoia, I gather that they think America's pretty dangerous as well.

[dessgeega]

america is pretty dangerous.
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[seryogin]

[Harveyjames]

My Finnish friend went to Russia and had a great time, so I wouldn't worry.

She's a lesbian, too, and supposedly Russia is super anti-gay. So: Don't Believe The Hype

[dhex]

[Redeye]

Bottled Water.

Until you get used to the local wee beasties.



No slur on Russia, I'm sure Rus get the same thing here.

It's all about what you're used to.
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I felt sheer anarchic joy when I ran over my first pedestrian.

[Scratchmonkey]

Oh yeah, we're on the bottled water tip for certain.

We're going to miss the period where the whole city is without hot water for two months though. Which is nice.

[Scratchmonkey]

Long story short: we're going to Lapland instead.

Long story shorter: Russian Visas are expensive and hard to get.

[seryogin]

[Scratchmonkey]

It's almost as if they don't want non-Russians to go there!

And that should read "short story longer", ah well.