BOUNTIFUL BOAT TRIP
As my first social event in St.Pete`s on the Friday night `business party` boat trip I wasn`t really expecting to scoop up all the prizes but that is more or less what happened! Well that was the icing on the cake of a very pleasant evening cruising up and down and around the Neva and eventually down to the Gulf of Finland (sounds a long way but really it isn`t) It provided a great opportunity to take advantage of the long `white night` and it`s special light to take some good photos.
The party crowd were mainly Russians and rather young at that, however, I met a Finnish guy who`s wife and he have a house just down the road from us in Marbella and more coincidentally I met a lady who, like me has just arrived in town from Zagreb! She is not, unfortunately, going to have a lot of time to spare as she has come to set up Belgium`s first consulate here. She was the Ambassador to Belgium in Zagreb. She is great fun and I am sure we will be seeing her again.
On the subjects of boats, we have decided to take a two night cruise in late August on a Russian cruise line to Valaam. Being Russia, booking something like this requires a certain amount of wit and a lot of time. We found the booking office after a long metro ride down to the part of the river where the river boats sail from. This was a good exercise for when we actually take the trip as we now know where to go!
The actual booking of this trip should not be newsworthy and indeed it isn`t accept I wanted to remember the 8 page contract which Mike had to sign twice over, yes 16 times! Of course, we have absolutely no idea what we were signing but one would have thought that paying with a credit card, the full amount up front would be enough to let them know you were pretty serious about keeping your side of the bargain! I think we may have signed a sort of guarantee of good behaviour. Glad I didn`t put my name to that!
THE UNSUCCESSFUL PICKPOCKET
We were aware that people that hang around the exits of metro stations are not always waiting to meet their babushka and help her home with the shopping and we are aware that however much we try, we don`t look Russian and are a tad more vulnerable than most to the odd pickpocket looking for opportunities.
Having successfully left the metro, turned the corner onto a busy street we found ourselves between roadworks on one side and an ice cream vendor on the other, the perfect environment for two tall guys to squeeze Mike in on both sides, quite heavily, making a sort of a jam and pretending Mike was in the way. His arms were pinned down by his sides and that is when the third man, operating from behind went in his pocket. Of course, Mike being Mike, he was wearing his burglar proof rohans, zipped inside pocket ha ha! It all happened so fast that it was difficult to decide what was actually happening and although I was behind all of this I didn`t shout out or anything. Even though I know these things happen I didn`t catch on quickly.
Luckily for us they realized we were getting too much time to recognise them so they gave up and pretended all they were trying to do was turn back to the ice cream vendor (he`s probably getting his cut!) Mike`s zip was half undone so we are sure it really happened.
This has been a good experience as now we will be totally aware. I feel like taking a nice little pin with me when I travel on the metro in case anyone dares try that on me, oooh a pin in the bum would shock them!
BALLET AND BRIDGES
Just to show the B..yyVVV@@@. they didn`t frighten us, we returned the same route that evening, dressed up nicely to go to the ballet and we walked with `attitude` . This is something I will have to do a lot here, walk with attitude. We were rewarded with a wonderful evening of entertainment. Spartacus was spectacular. The colours were nothing short of amazing and the cast huge. It`s the music which the theme to The Onedon Line was taken from. Wonderful and moving.
It`s essential when spending time in the summer in St.Petersburg to see the bridges go up at 1.30 a.m and to drink in the atmosphere. So we went to bed for a couple of hours and got up again at 1.00 to go out and join the merry throng. Walking towards the main river we saw several midnight boat cruises on the canals making their way to the main bridge in time to have a great view.
I am not sure why the bridges going up is so special but it is a focus for celebration and Russians and tourists alike enjoy the atmosphere and the fireworks and free shows etc. There are so many people around at that time it`s difficult to remember it`s the middle of the night. Around 2.00 a.m it is clear that dawn is arriving having just recently experience sunset. The nights are drawing in now though!
KRONSTADT
On Sunday we took a Mike Allen exploratory public transport trip to Kronstadt. Quite an important historic place during the Revolution and is a naval town. It was however, more about the journey itself which included metros, buses, a ferry and a train, leaving little time to explore the town. This is a place that deserves a full day outing. We found the ordinary Russian people very friendly and helpful. The ones who aren`t trying to nick your wallet are very nice!
We arrived at the dock well in time to catch the ferry back to the mainland but were sent back to a park with a little wooden hut to get the tickets! By the time we ran there of course there was a queue, however, we were lucky and caught the ferry, which goes only every two hours. Several people behind us were not so lucky. Why don`t they sell the tickets in the ferry port? One can only imagine it would be too easy.
One interesting comparison is the price of the bus trip which was about 45 minutes long, about 30km and the price of a visit to a loo on arrival. Both cost 15 roubles! The state heavily subsidises public transport but clearly not public loos! 15 roubles is about 20p. I couldn`t tell a Russian that it cost 4 pounds to take a bus ride between Ambleside and Grasmere!
Monday 30 June 2008
Friday 27 June 2008
DRESS DOWN FRIDAY
Well after forty years of donning a suit and tie to the office, Mike is now in an office where it is dress down Friday every day. He only brought about 60 ties and 20 suits (thereabouts) so no big deal. He is compromising and wearing a suit without a tie which for him is a big relaxation. I think he goes to meetings wearing a tie all the same. Well I only really mention this because I liked the title for this blog, so, onto more interesting things.
FRIENDS
Went to a St. Pete`s Tea yesterday afternoon. It actually turned out to be in an Atelier selling Bohemiem crystal, which I am very familiar with but not at these very expensive prices! At least I met some people and experienced my first Russian Champagne (shampanskayeh). Not too bad but this one was a bit sweet for me. Can`t take up afternoon drinking as a hobby anyway. Everyone I met seemed friendly and I made plans to go to the food market with a couple of women on Friday.
On the subject of friends, I have made friends with a very nice old man who lives somewhere in the labyrinth of our present apartment block. He is so charming and speaks English perfectly. His name is Leonard and his dog is Thomas, a lovely collie. He looks very poor and very dignified, is clearly local and I cannot understand where such a man learns such good english. I am determined to ask him. Not everybody in our apartment blocks have renovated apartments and one can only imagine....
There is an elderly couple who appear to live in an equally elderly car within our courtyard. They are not there all the time but seem to sleep there some nights. Another mystery to solve.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
To get to the St. Pete`s tea we rode on a local bus, very civilized almost to the point of being disappointing. It`s probable that buses will be my preferred mode of public transport as the metro is so, so deep down under the ground that the whole journey takes longer than walking for a relatively short distance. I enjoyed the ride on the number one bus to the other side of the river. Nevsky Prospect which is the road similar to Oxford Street but about 10 times longer would be difficult to walk so I will have to do the buses.
There are also small mini buses that you can flag down anywhere and just shout when you want to get off and they screech to a halt (that`s the theory). I must find out what you have to shout. Obviously, they have a set route so you just have to find out the routes. The trams look incredibly tatty compared to other eastern european countries and the tramlines are full of potholes as soon as you are out of the main town centre.
MARKET
Went to a fresh food market this morning. It was a hellova way to walk just for fresh veg. When I move to the permanent apartment I must find something closer. Did take some nice pictures of the river though and saw some very brave people actually swimming in the river, ooooh. The veg. guy wrote my name down on a post along with some other western names so he remembers me next time which I thought was a very nice gesture. Although I suppose you could say it`s good business! Nice opportunity for me to use my few Russian phrases and he seems very tolerant!
The meat looks pretty good so long as you can ignore the flies and the hygiene. I think I will have to do just that because that is just the way it is here. Other people survive (mostly). The fish also looks quite good. A lot of caviar, mainly the orange type. Unfortunately, the price of caviar has rocketted since the fall of communism, one of the downsides.
The pickles are like none other anywhere in the world and I look forward to showing you a photo one day, so colourful and varied.
RECYCLING
There is absolutely no point whatsoever in wearing one`s recycling hat. Nobody is interested. Everything is dumped together. Will keep you posted of any further developments there! It is amazing how weird it feels to throw away thoughtlessly after the short run of training we have had in the UK recently. In fact it shows just how people can be turned around to a more responsible attitude in a really short time. I am going to have to find out more about this issue here.
FRIDAY NIGHT IS MUSIC NIGHT
Must go to get ready for tonight. We are going on a river cruise down the Neva to the Gulf of Finland (sounds a long way but really, it`s not). Invitation says food, drink, networking and dancing. I really wanted to look at the scenery but that might look a tad anti-social? Hope it is a sunny night like last night. It was amazing to experience going to bed at 11.30 with the sky blue and the sun shining!
FRIENDS
Went to a St. Pete`s Tea yesterday afternoon. It actually turned out to be in an Atelier selling Bohemiem crystal, which I am very familiar with but not at these very expensive prices! At least I met some people and experienced my first Russian Champagne (shampanskayeh). Not too bad but this one was a bit sweet for me. Can`t take up afternoon drinking as a hobby anyway. Everyone I met seemed friendly and I made plans to go to the food market with a couple of women on Friday.
On the subject of friends, I have made friends with a very nice old man who lives somewhere in the labyrinth of our present apartment block. He is so charming and speaks English perfectly. His name is Leonard and his dog is Thomas, a lovely collie. He looks very poor and very dignified, is clearly local and I cannot understand where such a man learns such good english. I am determined to ask him. Not everybody in our apartment blocks have renovated apartments and one can only imagine....
There is an elderly couple who appear to live in an equally elderly car within our courtyard. They are not there all the time but seem to sleep there some nights. Another mystery to solve.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
To get to the St. Pete`s tea we rode on a local bus, very civilized almost to the point of being disappointing. It`s probable that buses will be my preferred mode of public transport as the metro is so, so deep down under the ground that the whole journey takes longer than walking for a relatively short distance. I enjoyed the ride on the number one bus to the other side of the river. Nevsky Prospect which is the road similar to Oxford Street but about 10 times longer would be difficult to walk so I will have to do the buses.
There are also small mini buses that you can flag down anywhere and just shout when you want to get off and they screech to a halt (that`s the theory). I must find out what you have to shout. Obviously, they have a set route so you just have to find out the routes. The trams look incredibly tatty compared to other eastern european countries and the tramlines are full of potholes as soon as you are out of the main town centre.
MARKET
Went to a fresh food market this morning. It was a hellova way to walk just for fresh veg. When I move to the permanent apartment I must find something closer. Did take some nice pictures of the river though and saw some very brave people actually swimming in the river, ooooh. The veg. guy wrote my name down on a post along with some other western names so he remembers me next time which I thought was a very nice gesture. Although I suppose you could say it`s good business! Nice opportunity for me to use my few Russian phrases and he seems very tolerant!
The meat looks pretty good so long as you can ignore the flies and the hygiene. I think I will have to do just that because that is just the way it is here. Other people survive (mostly). The fish also looks quite good. A lot of caviar, mainly the orange type. Unfortunately, the price of caviar has rocketted since the fall of communism, one of the downsides.
The pickles are like none other anywhere in the world and I look forward to showing you a photo one day, so colourful and varied.
RECYCLING
There is absolutely no point whatsoever in wearing one`s recycling hat. Nobody is interested. Everything is dumped together. Will keep you posted of any further developments there! It is amazing how weird it feels to throw away thoughtlessly after the short run of training we have had in the UK recently. In fact it shows just how people can be turned around to a more responsible attitude in a really short time. I am going to have to find out more about this issue here.
FRIDAY NIGHT IS MUSIC NIGHT
Must go to get ready for tonight. We are going on a river cruise down the Neva to the Gulf of Finland (sounds a long way but really, it`s not). Invitation says food, drink, networking and dancing. I really wanted to look at the scenery but that might look a tad anti-social? Hope it is a sunny night like last night. It was amazing to experience going to bed at 11.30 with the sky blue and the sun shining!
Thursday 26 June 2008
ARRIVING
After months of anticipation, we are finally here! Mike has been here already for 3 weeks and as a result, his is a mind filled with local knowledge already, although I suspect he has only scratched the surface of discovering the tools of survival here (and this is summer!)
We are staying for the few weeks until we move to our permanent (I hope I mean semi-permanent apartment) in a small flat on Moika. This is a very well known and popular canal route through the town, very pretty and where we are situated is just three minutes walk from the Palace Sq. where the Hermitage dominates.
Pretty Hallways -
I was prepared, therefore not shocked by the dreadful state of the hallway leading to our flat on the first floor, which is not only has been left untouched for about two hundred years but also the stairs have gradually subsided to an interesting angle. I hope to quickly learn to post photos from my very new camera to be able to show you this amazing hallway which was the subject of my first picture. This is apparently normal here so I was even less shocked to see that we have an equally beautiful entrance to our permanent flat. Although, at least we will have a lift and 24 hour security. There are several codes to learn, from the street entrance into the courtyard and then into the hallway of the flats and then double doors, heavily bolted into the apartment itself. This is also apparently normal so it should be fun visiting friends and actually managing to enter their buildings. I have heard that the main reason for all this security is to stop people being able to enter and find a cosy place to sleep in your hallway!
Theatre Tickets
I was delighted to find the Mikhailovsky Theatre on my first exploration of the city and as a celebration decided to purchase a couple of tickets for Saturday night`s ballet performance of Spartacus which promises to be spectacular. It had better be just that. I thought I was paying about 40 pounds per ticket but it turned out about twice that. That was a quick lesson in calculating the local currency incorrectly! Ah well, I want to go anyway and we have just about the best seats in the house! I am wondering if there is a different price for locals.
Food
I have spent some time over the last two days exploring the possibilities of procuring fresh vegetables from the small local supermarkets dotted about the town. It`s not looking good. I will have to find a fresh food market soon. I have already made a couple of mistakes in purchases. In one small supermarket I was delighted to find some fresh salmon which I was disappointed to find when cooked was heavily salted and cured, a bit like haddock but much saltier. We ate it anyway as we were hungry with frozen spinach. Also I bought yogurt, a very large tetra pack thinking it was milk. Fortunately the seafood products that we love are readily available here, e.g. cold water prawns, smoked salmon, caviar and crab.
The weather has been changeable to say the least but is not cold so I have managed to `hit the bricks` and explore this side of town. The sidewalks are so busy it reminds me of London. There is a great buzz about the place.
Social Life
I am looking forward to meeting some fellow expats this afternoon who I am sure will be full of helpful advice, I must take a notebook!
Thoughts
Have seen already a huge problem with alcohol in Russia. There are people in a terrible state all over the place. Beer is cheaper than bottled water and every evening in the small supermarkets there are queues of poor people purchasing bottles of beer. The young people think nothing of walking around with beer in hand. Fortunately, most of these people are pathetically harmless, just in a horrible state.
We are staying for the few weeks until we move to our permanent (I hope I mean semi-permanent apartment) in a small flat on Moika. This is a very well known and popular canal route through the town, very pretty and where we are situated is just three minutes walk from the Palace Sq. where the Hermitage dominates.
Pretty Hallways -
I was prepared, therefore not shocked by the dreadful state of the hallway leading to our flat on the first floor, which is not only has been left untouched for about two hundred years but also the stairs have gradually subsided to an interesting angle. I hope to quickly learn to post photos from my very new camera to be able to show you this amazing hallway which was the subject of my first picture. This is apparently normal here so I was even less shocked to see that we have an equally beautiful entrance to our permanent flat. Although, at least we will have a lift and 24 hour security. There are several codes to learn, from the street entrance into the courtyard and then into the hallway of the flats and then double doors, heavily bolted into the apartment itself. This is also apparently normal so it should be fun visiting friends and actually managing to enter their buildings. I have heard that the main reason for all this security is to stop people being able to enter and find a cosy place to sleep in your hallway!
Theatre Tickets
I was delighted to find the Mikhailovsky Theatre on my first exploration of the city and as a celebration decided to purchase a couple of tickets for Saturday night`s ballet performance of Spartacus which promises to be spectacular. It had better be just that. I thought I was paying about 40 pounds per ticket but it turned out about twice that. That was a quick lesson in calculating the local currency incorrectly! Ah well, I want to go anyway and we have just about the best seats in the house! I am wondering if there is a different price for locals.
Food
I have spent some time over the last two days exploring the possibilities of procuring fresh vegetables from the small local supermarkets dotted about the town. It`s not looking good. I will have to find a fresh food market soon. I have already made a couple of mistakes in purchases. In one small supermarket I was delighted to find some fresh salmon which I was disappointed to find when cooked was heavily salted and cured, a bit like haddock but much saltier. We ate it anyway as we were hungry with frozen spinach. Also I bought yogurt, a very large tetra pack thinking it was milk. Fortunately the seafood products that we love are readily available here, e.g. cold water prawns, smoked salmon, caviar and crab.
The weather has been changeable to say the least but is not cold so I have managed to `hit the bricks` and explore this side of town. The sidewalks are so busy it reminds me of London. There is a great buzz about the place.
Social Life
I am looking forward to meeting some fellow expats this afternoon who I am sure will be full of helpful advice, I must take a notebook!
Thoughts
Have seen already a huge problem with alcohol in Russia. There are people in a terrible state all over the place. Beer is cheaper than bottled water and every evening in the small supermarkets there are queues of poor people purchasing bottles of beer. The young people think nothing of walking around with beer in hand. Fortunately, most of these people are pathetically harmless, just in a horrible state.
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