Well, what a remarkable trip! As I announced in my previous post, I had the chance to visit St. Petersburg in Russia. Last night we finally returned to Umea and now it’s time for a first review:

While it was the first trip to Russia for most of the international students, I can already look back on an impressive week in Moscow in 2001. My family has a kind of connection to the country. First of all, my father studied in Petersburg (former Leningrad) and my parents both worked a couple of years in Moscow. Even my sister stayed her first months in the Russian capital, before my family moved back to Germany in 1980.

I have never learned Russian in school, and I felt like a first grader trying to learn to read the Cyrillic letters in Moscow. My parents and my sister (who read 8 years Russian in school) were good teachers and I was always glad when I figured out the meaning of a word. Anyway, I forgot most of the stuff in the last 3 years and this time it was Mathias who played the teacher. At least I managed to read words like beer, vodka, chocolate and theatre.

While I was traveling to Moscow by plane, we went by bus this time, which gives much more impressions about the countryside beyond the big cities. St. Petersburg and Moscow are definitely the cities which obtain most of the Russian subsidies. Their very centers are to a certain extent in a good shape, although they suffer from huge pollution problems (due to the vast number of ancient cars without catalytic converters). But on the whole they are fascinating cities comparable to any other western metropolis. On the other hand, we could observe shabby and dull neighborhoods and miserable streets between “Northern Venice” and the Finnish border. Especially in Vyborg I was wondering if my beloved home town Weimar in Eastern Germany was really as grey as this place 15 years ago.

I was overwhelmed by the size of St. Petersburg. With its about 5 million inhabitants it’s definitely impossible to discover the “Russian gate to Europe” within just a little bit more than 2 days. It was enough to get a first impression and the strong wish to come back – the next time probably in the summer (to experience the white nights and more convenient temperatures) and with a longer stay. It is incredible to see the amount of historical buildings and sights, even though not all of them are in perfect shape. Many places have been neglected in Soviet times; churches were used as storages or even skating rinks! Of course it’s impossible to renovate these enormous built volumes with very limited national funds. But private investments show that it’s worth putting money into the city. Petersburg will definitely look brighter and even more extraordinary when we come back in maybe 10 years.

We stayed at Hotel Moskva at the very end of famous Nevsky Prospekt. The buffet was both excellent and extensive. The rooms were satisfactory, even though the color and taste of the water is not really according to Central European standards… Right next to the hotel we had a metro station. Metro in St. Petersburg is pretty exiting. The system is so far underneath the ground that you sometimes spend more time on the escalator than in the train itself. BTW: A metro coin costs 10 roubles, which is about 27 cents…

Not only public transport is cheap for western standards, also shopping in general. As long as you buy domestic products, you feel like being in cockaigne (never heard that word before, not even Word’s spell check knows it), especially compared to expensive Sweden. Consequently, we used the chance to refill our booze stocks, primarily with vodka. Many people also bought (also non-domestic) cigarettes, which are really cheap as well.

Crime report: At least three cameras, one wallet, one mobile and a pack of chewing gum were robbed. I don’t really know if this is an extreme rate, we have been about 100 people. Big cities attract thieves, and you are immediately recognized as a tourist. That you have to handle your valuables with adequate care should be obvious. From my point of view, this is definitely not a reason to refrain from traveling to Russia.

So, that should be enough for a first review, I think I will publish a travelogue later on. And of course you will find a gallery in some days, please give me some time to collect and manage some nice pics.