Four + weddings.....and a museum

St Petersburg is a spectacular city. Celebrating its 300th birthday a few years ago it is looking its best. Set amidst canals and public parks are unique and beautiful buildings almost everwhere you choose to wander and wander we did.

The Hermitage museum was a marathon cultural experience through 1057 massive rooms. The collection runs 3 million items so there is a lot to absorb in a day. We attacked it with vigour and made it around to most of the rooms, sometimes you're not quite sure whether you should be looking at the items on display or the room itself as the winter palace is incredible. By the end of the day we were definitely museumed out. The Anthropology museum had a slightly weirder collection - pickled 'mutant' babies in jars with tags like "cyclops baby". Not standard museum fare but a good break from Monets and Rembrants!

One of the funniest things we have seen here in St Petersburg is the customs that surround the photographic part of Russian weddings. At many of the famous monuments there is an endless stream of brides and grooms arriving and lining up. From huge stretch cars to battered Ladas the wedding parties pile out and get in line for their photos. After watching the events for a while we realised that if you wanted a flash occasion you could purchase two white doves, have your picture taken and then release them. I was a bit suspicious at the start because the doves seem to take off in a very choreographed manner and I figured they must land in the boot of a car the other side of the park ready for their next gig. A few weddings later we confirmed that there were fresh doves used each time. The deluxe package includes doves and firecrackers ... the tacky package was a photograph opportunity up on two smelly horses. In any case the whole wedding party launches into champagne and shouting and the bride and groom perform a weird kiss (it looks like they are trying to swallow each other). When it's all over the couple smash their glasses against a big rock sphere, climb back into their transport and head to the next location for a similar shoot. This goes on for hours and hours ... one thing you do notice is that the brides rarely make eye contact with anyone else in a white dress.... I guess that is not surprising!

Our hostel turned out to be in a fantastic location ... a 2 minute walk to the Hermitage and a 2 minute walk to KFC and McDonalds. One of the worrying things that we had heard a month ago was that the hostel was great but there was some construction work going on and during renovations there was only one working toilet - but not to despair as they'd probably be finished and KFC was just around the corner. Staying true to our expectations of Russian efficiency there was little progress. We got a tip of a guy in our room advising that there was a secret bathroom in an apartment next door that was ok to use. Pleading ignorance we started to frequent this bathroom avoiding runs to KFC. To everyone's astonishment a couple of days later real work men turned up and started to get cracking on the "out of order" bathrooms. Not only did they labour all day but continued into the night. The last job of the day was to put tar sealant behind the shower. Impatient (hardly believable for Russia) they decided that they wanted to dry the tar out as quick as possible and took a blow torch to the wall. A wall of fire, injured worker and billows of smoke later the bathroom renovation plans were but on hold for a while longer. Some day there will be no queue for the loo.

We were a bit let down by the food in St Petersburg. I think part of the problem was that we were out and about all day and by the time dinner time came fast food seemed more appealing than searching out restaurants or cooking. We did try a Turkish restaurant one night. It had a hot buffet section which promised to be a quick and easy canteen experience. Oddly enough they wouldn't let us take a tray and dole the food there and then - at that stage one scoop onto a plate would have done the job. Instead an astonishing display of inefficiency played out where we pointed, the manager told the waiter what we wanted, the waiter wrote it down, we sat down at our table, the waiter passed a piece of paper to the cook behind the buffet (who had been present all along), we waited for 15 minutes wondering what was happening and eventually when we thought that we had been forgotten about a bowl of soup arrived from the aforementioned and afore-witnessed bain-marie pot of soup.

After a lot of effort Marcus mastered the Russian railway internet site and managed to nail down exactly which trains we need get to get us across Siberia and into Mongolia. Life would be a beach if there was internet booking but unfortunately you have to throw yourself at the mercy of austere ticket agents who are likely to flatly deny the train even exists. Taking deep breaths and clutching the Russian phase book we went to the station. Much to our surprise the girl was approachable (had the ability to smile underneath surliness) and between handsignals and scribbled train numbers they managed to understand each other so we've tickets as far as Lake Baikal. Getting the rest of the journey will be another afternoon's adventure.

One of the must do day trips from StP is a peek at Peterhof palace and garden. Its about an hours journey on local bus from Baltaskya metro station to the Summer palace built by Peter. Its a spectacular setting right on the bay of Finland, acres of gardens with fountains at every turn. We wandered around the property for a few hours on a greyish day...coming to the understanding why Peter had a summer and Winter palace....you do not want to be out here in the rain. The fountains are fantastic.




So our first Russian train experience took us on train number 3 (the lower the number the better the train) from St.Petersburg to Moscow travelling in the relative style of 2nd class. We boarded the train to find our sleeper beds made, toiletry pack on top and a breakfast box waiting for us. All very plush! It will be interesting to compare it to our cattle-class 72 hour trip to Irkutsk on train number 10.

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Tall tales in Tallinn

Tallinn Old Town is the smallest of the three Baltic old towns and the most geared for tour groups with big wallets. It came across as a Disneyland like interruption of how life was like in medieval times. Staff in all the restaurants were dressed up in Ye Olde Worlde clothing, maidens sold sugared nuts from carts and the buildings had a designer old look to them. In short a great place for tourists wanting to step back in time but you didn't really get the feeling that real people lived in the town. On saying that, Tallinn is extremely beautiful and they have done an impressive job restoring and repairing the town. Not wanting to disrupt the diet too much we managed to find some pig's trotters to eat in the oldest pub in town.

We took some time to check out what was going on outside the old town coming across an old market with plenty of curios to make Marcus wish that he had a spare rucksack and more storage space at home :-) The food market didn't quite measure up to the quality and range of Riga, in fact the meat section was not the best place to frequent before one's evening meal. Guess sometimes ignorance is best when it comes to food. We climbed the hill beside the old town to visit two beautiful cathedrals and take a look over Tallinn Old Town and port.

After our short time in Tallinn it was time to get out the Russian phrase book, start learning Cyrillic and practising not smiling as we jumped on the night bus across the Russian border to St. Petersburg.

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Svetki Riga .....

As luck would have it we arrived in Riga on the weekend of her 805 birthday celebrations. The city streets were buzzing with families and tourists out enjoying the entertainment. A precision driving display where four cars weave dangerously in and out of each other and perform synchronised 360 degree turns didn't fail to disappoint. One of the highlights of the day was a series of choirs who performed free for the crowds in Dome Square at sunset with the crowds chorusing in for the traditional numbers that was followed in the evening by classical concert put on by a full orchestra.
A "Silent Disco" kicked off that night.... this is a novel event where a temporary outdoor dance area is cordoned off and people wear headphones to hear the DJ's music. It certainly spurred a lot of curiosity, there were droves off people (like ourselves) peering through holes in the plastic to see what was going on inside. It's bizarre to see people going crazy and dancing wildly to silence. There was even the go-go dancers on a stage and the compulsory group of girls dancing around their handbags. It was certainly interesting enough for there to be as many people outside stickybeaking in as there were inside the disco. Not sure if it's not just a fad, I guess it keeps the neighbours happy.



We stayed in Friendly Frank's hostel which was voted by hostelworld.com as the "best hostel in the world 2005". With a title like that it's hard to resist checking it out especially since we have started reviewing places on the side. It's run by an Aussie guy and he seems to have cornered the backpacker market in Riga. His tactics are pretty good. The first question you are asked when you arrived is "would you like a cold beer?" ... incidentally the whole hotel is run by a team of attractive girls. At midnight the girls round up people in the hostel and venture out to the clubs on a planned outing. We were in the hostel bar one night when this was going on and realised that 80% of the people were guys. Guess that's the target market ... although a couple of guys seemed very nervous about the lack of females in the hostel.



The thing that surprised me most about Riga was that it had such a big beach culture. A mere 30 minutes train ride outside Riga gets you to Jurmala and 32 km of white sand. The area is really upmarket with huge beachside houses, manicured parks and little cafes. You could be at any top class beach resort in the world. One thing you do expect is that the Baltic sea will be cold ... to our credit we both took the challenge albeit shortlived ..... let me tell you it is absolutely freezing! The beach was very organised with restaurants and bars every hundred meters around the train stops. Modesty was facilitated by free changing booths every 50 meters. Undoubtedly the beach is a big part of Rigan summers - and it was a welcome little days excursion for us.

As for the food... well .... we found good Latvian food in a restaurant called Lido the second night and we didn't venture too far after that. It's not really as bad as it sounds, Riga caters for tourists so there are lots of restaurants of the variety of TGI Fridays, McDonalds etc so finding local food is not as easy as it sounds. Lido is a national chain offering Lativian cuisine at backpacker prices. The added bonus is that it's self service so if in doubt you can point. Basically it was four nights of saurkraut, potatoes and of course pork. We have definitely eaten through a couple of pigs at this stage!




Marcus here now....

Alot has changed around the old town of Riga since my last trip there in 1997. Back then the opening of a McDonalds near the center was the big stand out. Now there are plenty of classy outdoor bars and dining in the little squares and enough upmarket hotels and restaurants to satisfy the significant numbers of affluent locals. The center of the old town is "Pedestrianised" ...well sort of, if you are willing to pay the toll to get in there seems to be no restriction, so it has ended up being "Flash-car-ised". The procession of Bentleys, Porsches, BMW (only 6 and 7 series thank you) and Mercs I could only liken to the Kings rd in Chelsea or the carpark of the Peninsula in Hong Kong, it was incredible. So Money has come to downtown Riga , a big change indeed.
Cheap flights from the UK and Ireland have also left there mark on the town. The availability of cheap booze, attractive girls and accommodating nightclubs has made sure Riga is one of the top destinations for stags nights and group trips. Travellers warned us of the seediness of Riga which had us prepared for a Kings Cross like experience; in fact it turned out to be very different altogether. I'm not sure how we got such a different view, maybe we weren't out as late at night or didn't wander as far out of the old town but we found the old town to be a really picturesque, classy and very enjoyable place to visit.
One of the highlights for me last trip and indeed this trip was definitely the central market. It is vast. Spread through 5 huge old Zeppelin hangers - each one containing specialist goods - fish, meat, dairy, sweet stuff and general food, it is a great place to wander around, picking up some odds and ends for lunch. The quality of the produce is fantastic, great fruit and Veg and spectacular fish - smoked, dried or fresh.

Overall we really enjoyed our time in Riga, finding it the most livable of the 3 Baltic capitals. It will be interesting to see how it changes over the next 10 years as its clear we are not alone in seeing it as a vibrant and attractive city to spend some time.

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