Russia - St. Petersburg

Hello everyone,

Last Wednesday, we ventured to Russia. A visa-free trip organized by the university.

On Wednesday afternoon, we took the bus to Helsinki and from there, we took a ferry for 12 hours to St. Petersburg. On Thursday morning, after a long passport control, we were allowed to enter together. We immediately started with a city tour led by our assigned guide. St. Petersburg is a very impressive and beautiful city! We were also extremely lucky with the weather. It was very cold, but still sunny, which allowed the city to show itself in the best light.

On the first evening, after some initial police problems, we had a beautiful boat tour on the river. We sailed for an hour on a party boat through St. Petersburg and could see the beautiful buildings at night. Absolutely gorgeous! Right after the boat tour, we went to a club with, of course, plenty of vodka! ;)

On the second day, visiting a palace was on the program. The palace was very grand, adorned with many golden elements. In the afternoon, we had free time to recover from the vodka the night before, but also to explore the city a bit ourselves. And of course, we had to try typical traditional Russian food! Unbelievably, the metro stations are actually part of the city's sights. The deepest metro stations in Europe are located in St. Petersburg. Just after riding the escalator down for about 3 minutes, you finally reach the metro stations. They are very beautiful and definitely worth seeing!

Another highlight awaited us in the evening: a limousine tour through St. Petersburg! We were picked up directly from the hotel in limousines, with a bit of champagne on board, and off we went through St. Petersburg! We also had the opportunity to get off at different locations and take beautiful photos! And how could it be any different? We were taken directly to a typical Russian club in the limousine! A bit of vodka, some strippers, and lots of Russian mentality (that doesn't mean it was good) :).

Our last day has arrived. First, we had a detailed tour of a museum, but we decided to enjoy the afternoon leisure time again. So, we decided to visit what we considered the most important in St. Petersburg: the Vodka Museum!

With lots of interesting stories about vodka and the final tasting, we ended our trip in St. Petersburg.

On Saturday afternoon, we returned to the port and took the ferry back to Helsinki for another 12 hours. On Sunday afternoon, everyone safely re-entered Europe and arrived home.

The short trip was very interesting and a lot of fun!

I think the photos will show you more :)

Best regards,

Carina