Monday, September 10, 2012
St. Petersburg, Russian Federation.
Again, I saved the best tour for last. This one, officially called "Through the Eyes of Russians" is more properly called by the crew, "The Vodka Tour."
Let's get started. This post is going to be told mostly through pictures.
First we went through the subway. On our way, I noticed this above a window. If you read the Cyrillic it says, "Mak Ekspress, 24 Hour." Not a bad idea. Maybe the states should have more walk up express windows. It's the drive thru for the pedestrian.
On to the Subway. What you need to know about the St. Petersburg subways is that they are deep, deep, DEEP! They have to go all the way under the Nevsky river, which you will see is no small feat.
We took several trains so that we could experience many different hallways and platforms. I put all these pictures in order so that you can kind of take the tour with me. The commentary for the next set will mostly occur in the captions.
Lobby
Feels like the Pirates of the Caribbean Ride.
Going Down
Looking all the way up the first escalator.
Going down ANOTHER escalator.
Pretty, and crowded, but still pretty.
Probably the best picture I've ever taken, EVER.
Subway, or Museum, you decide.
Chandeliers.
More Chandeliers
The chandeliers in the Subway were put in because the Soviets wanted to prove to the world how powerful the communist system was, and how they were able to provide such a nice system for the common man.
I'm sorry, but to me, nothing could be a bigger example of how much they missed the boat here. Their measure of success was putting chandeliers underground instead of say perhaps the happiness of their own people.
Just a little crowded.
So many people
Going up a level.
This next shot shows how some of the platforms have protected entrances. The train will pull up on the other side of the wall, and only when it is stopped will the doors open. There is a double set of doors, the platform door, and the train door.
Ultra safe platform
Going allllllll the way back up.
And we're out!
After the subway experience, we emerged on the other side of the Nevksy river on a small island. This is a more modern area where locals hang out, not really the tourists. Well, that is the whole point of this tour. I went for a walk down this street.
And found this band. Are they drunk or is this normal?
Is this a song about Vodka?
Take a lesson from this fast food place! Teremok! It is fast food crepes! How freaking awesome is that? I was in heaven. I went in and grabbed a crepe with honey and another with strawberry.
Teremok
Fast Food Crepes
Found another Orthodox Church
After an hour of free time, we got back on the bus, and headed to the restaurant where we would be served Vodka. I just want to say, my guide was awesome. His name is Ruslan, and throughout my 24 days, he was my guide several times. No one does a better job than him, so it was really cool how he got to be my guide for my last tour. The vodka tour.
Me and my guide, Ruslan.
Today's vodka accompaniment was this funny combination of rye, fat, and onion.
Rye Bread, Fat, and Green Onion.
They don't make drinking companions any cuter.
They gave us three shots each: regular, pickle, and berry. But here's the best part. The guests didn't touch half of their vodka. They're spoiled on the ship. Every drink for them was free, so if it's not their favorite thing in the world, they leave it behind. And we pick it up. If you don't know already, the Russians don't start counting their shots until after the first one. Shot number one is considered medicine. That said, I think I had somewhere around seven shots.
Here is one of the tables Lili and I cleaned off.
As the world starts to spin, Lili and I try sword fighting with the toothpick swords. Suddenly, everything is funny.
Dramatization. Didn't actually happen.
And then I give myself a promotion.
Inroducing: the Newest Czar of Russia!
Stumbling back to the boat.
Video explains itself. Clicky click click.
Meet my friend Misha.
And so my tour is over, and with it my time in St. Petersburg. I will be leaving this area of the world for who knows how long. But it's not that simple. Time to dig out the passport, and walk onto the floating boat and go through immigration again. You know, I complain about this stuff, but to be honest, the US has the same amount of red tape, if not more. So, maybe I should just shut up and show a picture of a cat.
The only good thing about the Immigration Boat: A box of kitties.
One of my favorite persons in the whole world. DTP extraordinaire, Ingrid Baum.
Ingrid and I going back through Immigration to get back on our ship.
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