After a little walk in a lot of rain, the sun came out just in time for our very enjoyable boat ride through the channels of Saint Petersburg. Our tourguide Mike showed and explained us all the sights along the water. Afterwards he answered all remaining questions about the city. Now we are more than sure that we need to come back at some point to see Saint P in the snow.
The view
After the boat ride our little group split. The girls went shopping und the guy went to the naval museum. We (the girls) strolled down the big shopping street Newsky Prospekt and stopped for a snack in between in a delightful deli.
The Siberian pine cone dessert (chocolate praline with nuts)
We also went to Wassiljew island. Since this was a big walk, we stopped for tea in the spice museum. There, we failed to order a cup of tea for each of us and instead ordered a pot of tea for each of us. It was no big deal, outside it was cold and this gave us time to rest and write some postcards. Then we went down the street a little further to photograph an old pharmacy building for a very close family member. We then hopped on the bus to meet up with Chris and get sone dinner. We went for classic russian cuisine: borschd, mushrooms and beuf stroganoff.
The pharmacy
The dinner location
Our reconnected group ended the day in a jazzbar called 48chairs. Perfect bar tenders, great music and atmosphere. Every night from 9 pm on. Go there if you are in town. Love this place!
The bar
Sunday was all about packing our stuff in the morning. After this management task we headed to Peter and Paul’s fortress also known as Hare Island. When you cross the bridge you can see a small hare waiting for you to throw some good luck coins his direction. The island has a small beach and we could not resist to bathe our feet in the waters of the Newa.
The hare
The beach
The church
We also saw the cottage of Peter the Great and had coffe at this cute place in the park called bolshe coffee (see instagram). Then we strolled further down Kamenoostrovsky Prospekt and went to Kierovs Apartment. The discussion afterwards about what to do until dinnertime was useless, since the time flew by when our bus did not take the direction we expected. But we were aware of this possibility and kept track of where we were heading. We finally decided to get off the bus and take the less confusing nearby subway.
None the less I highly recommend taking the bus in this city. Maybe not on the first day but on the second or third. You will get a feeling for the streets and the people, few tourists, even cheaper than the subway and you discover new areas besides the main tourist attractions.
For dinner we thought about our budget and tried out the Teremok chain, which is a russian fast food chain with russian food (soups, salads, blini, pelmeni and very typical soft drinks). Tonight we take our first overnight train. We are excited! And therefore he is playing the ukulele.
Waiting for the night train
We and our feet are also very tired because we did a lot of walking in this beautiful city. Fare well and goodbye Saint Petersburg.