Don Curry eats with gloves

Don Curry is always ready to adapt to the customs and traditions of a country. If you have to take off your shoes when entering a Moroccan Berber tent, Don Curry takes off his shoes. If you eat with your fingers instead of cutlery in South India, Don Curry eats with his fingers - albeit with inner reluctance. If you drive on the left side of the road in Great Britain, Don Curry drives on the left side - even if he finds it funny.

If you have to have a lavish breakfast in Russia..., the list could go on. But in his St. Petersburg hotel, Don Curry did not book a breakfast. And so he particularly enjoys the morning calorie emptiness and starts the day unburdened. The day was cloudy, but rain was not announced. Don Curry had planned to visit some churches and cathedrals, and he initially made his way to Nevsky Prospect, the magnificent street of St. Petersburg.

On the way, he passed the still defaced Resurrection Church and could verify the information from his tour guides: it is closed today. Whether the numerous Chinese groups also knew this, who were still brought there by bus and unloaded despite this?

Don Curry's first stop on Nevsky Prospect was the Armenian Church, but since it was obviously also closed, he continued to the Kazan Cathedral, a huge neoclassical Orthodox church that imitates the Roman St. Peter's Basilica. Don Curry regretted that it is always forbidden to take pictures in active Orthodox churches. But he is free to take the freedom to capture pictures with his smartphone. Is that photography? When he left the rather dark cathedral, heavy rain had started, contrary to the weather forecast. Don Curry spontaneously decided to modify his program and trust the metro for the first time. Don Curry always loves to explore the special characteristics of public transport in foreign cities, because even though many things are similar, there are clear differences. The St. Petersburg metro ticket system proved to be the most advanced that Don Curry has experienced so far. Of course, you can order a single ticket for each ride at the machines, but Don Curry wanted an e-ticket and bought a plastic card the size of a credit card from the ticket vending machine for the equivalent of €0.85. Now, in the second step, he had to top up this empty card with credit at the same machine. Don Curry chose the offer of 10 rides within 7 days for a total of €4.75. He paid the amount by credit card, which was credited to his metro plastic card. When entering the actual metro station, Don Curry had to place his card on a specific point, and the screen showed only 9 credit left, the light lit green, and Don Curry could pass through the barrier. Now it went deep. The St. Petersburg subway is considered the deepest in the world, as it sometimes also has to connect to various islands under the Baltic Sea.

At the next station, Don Curry had to change trains. He reached a completely closed platform via long corridors and several stairs, on the sides of which massive metal doors were installed every 5 meters. There were always some people loitering at these doors. What's that all about?, Don Curry wondered - until the next metro train arrived, the metal doors cleared the way for boarding the train and closed again afterwards. This way, no one could accidentally fall on the tracks or be pushed. Not bad! The metro took him directly to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, the endpoint of the grand avenue.

The monastery was founded by Peter the Great and he ensured that the remains of the national hero and saint Alexander Nevsky, the conqueror of the Swedes and the Teutonic Order, were buried in this monastery in a silver sarcophagus. The pilgrims who have been flocking here ever since not only contribute to the great importance of this monastery, but also to the creation of several cemeteries for Russian celebrities.

Don Curry visited the artist cemetery, which was atmospherically laid out, and discovered not only Dostoevsky's grave but also the final resting places of the famous composers Glinka, Borodin, Mussorgsky, Lyadov, Glazunov, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Tchaikovsky. What an immense creative power, united in death.

The monastery church itself is neoclassical. Above all, the grave of the person for whom it is named continuously creates queues of reverence.

In the other side aisle, a church service was being held. The melodious 'Gospodin' chant of the congregation, combined with the chanting prayer of the priest, filled the church with deep spirituality.

When Don Curry left the church, the rain had intensified. He canceled the visit to the cemetery of the 18th-century celebrities and devoted himself to a strengthening lunch in a dry restaurant. However, it seemed that the 'Café Bien' recommended by 'Lonely Planet' no longer existed. Determined, Don Curry trudged half of Nevsky Prospect northward, without finding an adequate source of calorie intake. Shortly before the next metro station, he discovered a bistro, which turned out to be a self-service restaurant with buffet character. Nothing was fresh here!

Due to the increasing rain, Don Curry now preferred the more comfortable underground transportation and ended up back at the original entry point. Here, he had previously discovered a source of food called 'SB Burger'. He now went there, ordered a Mexican Burger 2.0, a green salad, and a Belgian Affligem beer on draft. He was amazed when not only cutlery but also germ-free sealed disposable gloves were served with the burger, like surgeons wear. 

He was so amazed that he didn't even think to ask for 'scissors, swabs, scalpel' to properly treat the burger. Don Curry's initial refusal to be astonished only lasted a short time, then he adapted to the local customs and practices, laboriously put on the gloves, and joyfully dismantled the juicy burger. Without gloves, he would have had to lick his fingers afterwards.

Satisfied and amused by the local customs, Don Curry found himself in the rain again. He completely changed his sightseeing program and headed to the nearby Russian Museum.

There, he had to realize that the weather had sparked a sudden fascination with museums in other tourists as well. He stood in line at the ticket office for about 40 minutes. But then he could immerse himself in the spiritual power of old Russian icons, the sometimes surprising brilliance of Russian art from the 18th to the 20th centuries, and the overflowing splendor of the Mikhailovsky Palace. A top-class emergency program born out of climatic necessity!

Back at the hotel, Don Curry found out that the Catherine Palace had particularly long opening hours on Wednesdays. On impulse, he took the risk of crawling through the entire city for another 30 km to go to Pushkin. Around 6:15 p.m., he stood at a ticket counter in front of the palace and learned: Today there are too many people, he has no chance anymore. He should come back tomorrow at 4 p.m. Frustrated, Don Curry started his way back, but this time he returned along the route along the Neva River, which was slightly longer in terms of kilometers, but much less congested and more relaxed.

But the next disappointment of the day did not take long. Confidently, Don Curry strolled across the Palace Bridge and the Ioannovsky Bridge to Hare Island with its impressive Peter and Paul Fortress.

At the western end is the restaurant 'Koryushka', famous for its whitebait, which is named after it. However, it was already full; Don Curry had no chance.

Disgruntled, he continued to the magnificent mosque of St. Petersburg, imitating the style of Samarkand or Bukhara. Almost next to it, Don Curry discovered the restaurant 'Eurasia', which was not crowded. Here, there was essentially everything that Europe and Asia have produced in terms of food, from sushi to Thai dishes, pasta, Russian food, burgers, and pizza. Don Curry chose a Thai Tom Yum soup and a Japanese Chicken Teppanyaki, accompanied by delicious draft beers from Russian production - he couldn't find out if they were self-brewed due to the language barrier. At least he didn't get any gloves to eat here.

He returned to Nevsky Prospect by metro, then made his way up the long street to the Admiralty, and finally back to the hotel via Palace Square. Tomorrow he would set off again, for the third time, to Catherine's Palace. Eventually, she must let him in...