ST Petersburg - II

Yesterday was actually a great day. I saw almost all of the sights of St Petersburg and it is truly an amazing city. Undeniably beautiful, old, romantic…the city is crisscrossed by several canals – and it is called by some the Venice of the North. No, no gondolas but hoards of tourist boats. The interesting thing – is not much has changed. There are very few new buildings here. The highest building is 5 stories – since nothing can be taller than the old royal palace. No modern hotels or sky scrapers, no intricate glass and steel – just basic concrete block design with some modern interior touches.
Day 3 was the Hermitage Museum.. think the Met in New York or the Louvre in Paris. It was that good and that beautiful. See the posted pics… the artwork and the building in and of itself were amazing.


Some interesting things about St Petersburg..
· You can drink on the street – but not in a park.
· You can park your car on the sidewalk – if you so desire
· Your dog can poop on the street and you do not have to clean it up
· The metro is 17 ruples - just over $.50
· Cabs… you just stick your arm out and random cars stop. You negotiate a price and if you like the car, driver, and price – you go.
· Boys carry the girls handbags – often. This must be a northern European thing… (no word on whether their testicles are inside)
· They receive about 60 days of sun per year – the rest of the time is cloudy or rainy


St Petersburg is a very artsy city. Tons of café’s, bookstores, museums, art, culture, music… the majority of the people are very intelligent. The women are absolutely beautiful – the men… not so cute. If I could only speak Russian I might have some game…
It is interesting because the middle class in Russia is just starting to come to power. There is an immense wealth here due to the natural gas and oil and you see the top of the line Audi, BMW, and Mercedes cars everywhere. I also saw quite a few Hummers.