First impressions of the Russians

I had planned on using today to run some errands and unwind a bit, but my new Aussie friends invited me along on day trip. Dima, a Russian guy from Moscow, also tagged along. I'm pooped, but I'm glad I took the trip. It was a good introduction to how to get around here, and having a Russian citizen along also saved me some money.

Foreigners pay far more than Russians to visit Russian tourist sites, usually two to three times as much. So Dima was able to score us all citizen tickets to Petrodvorets and save us a few bucks.

Petrodvorets is another imperial palace outside of town. This is not it:


This is a subway station. The subway stations here, and even more so in Moscow, I'm told, can be quite impressive, with statues, chandeliers, columns made of marble or, in this case, encased in carved glass. (The red wooden skirts are there to protect them.) St Petersburg also has the the world's deepest subways, with some of the stations nearly 200 feet below ground. That way they could double as bomb shelters. Hopefully I won't be putting that theory to the test.

This is the palace. Bear in mind it was a cloudy day:



This is a view down the canal from the Gulf of Finland to the palace:


Bear in mind as you look at this that the palace itself was actually closed today. Visitors were allowed to tour the grounds but not go inside. And the place was packed.

I wondered how many tourists I'd encounter here. They're everywhere. The Hermitage was so crowded it was hard to get around at times. There are a lot of cruise ship groups, but the vast majority of tourists are Russians.

My theory (as with all my theories, this is based entirely on my keen powers of perception and vast intellect with no actual evidence whatsoever) is this: During the Soviet era Russians weren't allowed to travel, and after the fall of communism no one could afford to. Now that Putin has the country back on its feet again people can travel, often for the very first time.

One thing I love about the Russians is how much fun they have taking pictures. They love to pose. You'll see families with elaborately choreographed arrangements. Girls here love to vamp, striking seductive poses, often going to great lengths to do it. Check out this girl:



The rock she's standing on is in the Gulf of Finland, so the water is freezing.
It's a cloudy day and there is absolutely nothing to see behind her! Here's another pic of the same scene:



In the center of this picture, in the distance by the far shore of the beach you can see another girl standing on the rock posing. And in the foreground you can see where raw sewage flows into the water...