Санкт-Петербург

Unbelievable that it's been a week and a half since I came back from St. Petersburg...

But I still want to summarize the five days there for you.

We took the train from Kajaani to St. P. and had to transfer in Kuopio. From then on, we were on a train that was supposed to cross the border, and you definitely noticed it! Our passports and visas were meticulously inspected several times, we were not allowed to leave our seats during a certain time, and it felt like all the people moving on the train were uniformed Russians - inspectors, security personnel, whatever, and there were many of them! Even during the week, we saw an unusually large number of people in various uniforms throughout the city.

In St. Petersburg itself, we stayed at the Nevsky Grand Hotel, which is located in the city center. We had a buffet breakfast every morning, which was very pleasant for a change, and otherwise we had a lot planned, but everything was in a very relaxed setting and we had enough free time.

The city is truly uniquely beautiful with its Art Nouveau-style buildings. A recommendation for anyone who wants to travel to Russia!

We visited some palaces and Orthodox churches, as well as the Art Museum (1st picture), but also toured a hotel and visited our partner university.

Russians definitely love gold!

St. Petersburg by night...

To get from A to B, we often used the metro, which is one of the deepest in the world. On average, you are 50-75 meters underground, and you can especially feel it when you're standing on the endless long escalators going down... (not so well visible in the picture).

We usually spent our evenings like this... 😋🍻

In general, it must be said that Russia is very cheap in many ways, especially if you're used to the prices in Finland. I paid less than 2.50€ for a complete menu with a drink and fries at Burger King...

Only one of the days had really good weather (blue skies, sunshine), so now you get to see pictures of that 😊

The first picture shows the famous St. Isaac's Cathedral, which has space for 14,000 people and is 100 meters high. The 6th picture shows the view from the top.

= The Flying Dutchman

I'm so glad I took part in this 'study trip' to St. Petersburg! It was an impressive experience.

And yes, sometimes they really do look a little grumpy 😅

In the next few days, I hope to have a little more time and will then report about the visit from Mom and Dad.

Greetings, my sweets