I knew I was going to have an interesting time in St Petersburg as soon as I stepped off the train with classical music being blasted through the speakers on the platform. The piece reached its climax as we walked toward the station exit. I felt like I was in the middle of a movie.
The following day wasn't any more normal. Following our free walking tour in the morning, we decided to check out a few cathedrals and museums like the State Russian Museum in Mikhailovsky Palace, St Isaac's Cathedral, and the Cathedral of the Saviour on Spilled Blood where Alexander II was assassinated.
On our way back to the hotel we came across a crowd of people gathering next to the Cathedral of the Saviour on Spilled Blood. So naturally, we stopped. I'm not sure what we were expecting, but I definitely did not think that we would be seeing a man play the can-can on a saw!
Later that evening as we were heading out to grab some dinner before our white nights bike tour, we found a street full of uniformed army and navy officers right on the front door step of our hotel. I have no idea what they were doing there, but there must have been at least a thousand of them!
They were just milling around, but after a couple of minutes they started marching toward Palace Square. We weren't sure where we were heading so we just stood to the side and waited until they had all passed us. BIG MISTAKE. Most awkward moment ever. They all stared as they walked past us, like they had never seen a female in their lives. And this went on for a good 5 minutes.
I managed to catch a photo of the tail end of the "parade":
I'm not sure if all traffic lights in Russia have manual control boxes and I've just never noticed them, or if it was just the one that we were waiting at on Friday. We had been waiting for a minute or two for the green man to go and a policeman had also been waiting alongside us. Apparently he was getting impatient, because next thing we know he grabs a key off his chain, unlocks a metal box attached to the traffic light, hits a random button and the light changes.
I was too scared to take a photo though, didn't really want to risk being arrested...
On Saturday night, we thought we were venturing into the realm of fancy people when we to went to the ballet. Apparently not. A lady showed up in cargo shorts. And glittery shoes to go with those cargo shorts.
The following day wasn't any more normal. Following our free walking tour in the morning, we decided to check out a few cathedrals and museums like the State Russian Museum in Mikhailovsky Palace, St Isaac's Cathedral, and the Cathedral of the Saviour on Spilled Blood where Alexander II was assassinated.
On our way back to the hotel we came across a crowd of people gathering next to the Cathedral of the Saviour on Spilled Blood. So naturally, we stopped. I'm not sure what we were expecting, but I definitely did not think that we would be seeing a man play the can-can on a saw!
Later that evening as we were heading out to grab some dinner before our white nights bike tour, we found a street full of uniformed army and navy officers right on the front door step of our hotel. I have no idea what they were doing there, but there must have been at least a thousand of them!
They were just milling around, but after a couple of minutes they started marching toward Palace Square. We weren't sure where we were heading so we just stood to the side and waited until they had all passed us. BIG MISTAKE. Most awkward moment ever. They all stared as they walked past us, like they had never seen a female in their lives. And this went on for a good 5 minutes.
I managed to catch a photo of the tail end of the "parade":
I'm not sure if all traffic lights in Russia have manual control boxes and I've just never noticed them, or if it was just the one that we were waiting at on Friday. We had been waiting for a minute or two for the green man to go and a policeman had also been waiting alongside us. Apparently he was getting impatient, because next thing we know he grabs a key off his chain, unlocks a metal box attached to the traffic light, hits a random button and the light changes.
I was too scared to take a photo though, didn't really want to risk being arrested...
On Saturday night, we thought we were venturing into the realm of fancy people when we to went to the ballet. Apparently not. A lady showed up in cargo shorts. And glittery shoes to go with those cargo shorts.
None of this prepared me for the sunbathers around Peter and Paul Fortress though. It was a nice sunny day in St Petersburg, so the masses were ready to get their tan on. And none of them were particularly attractive. Can you spot the almost naked old man? Cannot unsee...
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