ALL ABOARD THE LOVE BOAT

I think the sunset on the outset of this weekend boat trip speaks for itself. I took so many pictures as I have never seen a more beautiful sky. We were sitting in the dining room at the time and this was taken through the window of the boat just as it embarked on its journey. The timing was absolutely perfect to get this composition!

VALAAM

The purpose of the boat trip, other than just a fun weekend away on a boat, was to visit the above mentioned island and it's famous monastery which is the focus of many a pilgrim in the Orthodox church.

LIFE ABOARD THE JOLLY ROGER

I don't actually know what the boat was called and if I did I probably couldn't translate it to English.

We arrived around 7.00 pm to discover we were absolutely the only foreigners on board and absolutely nobody spoke more than two words of our mother tongue, so with our limited amount of Russian it was always going to be a challenge.

However, we ascertained that we were booked onto the first sitting for our evening meal. We were allocated half an hour to complete our meal before we would be kicked out for the staff to prepare for the next sitting! Whilst waiting alongside a gaggle of very hungry Russians outside the restaurant for the doors to open and the gobble fest to begin on time, we contented ourselves by deciphering the menu. It told us the weight of the portions at the end of each item, for example, bread 100 grams, chicken, 120 grams, rice 50 grams etc.! A far cry from our trip around South East Asia on Sun Viking!

When the dining doors opened everyone fell in and ran to their tables. We were luckily in front of the window, hence the great photograph, and were able to watch from the dining table as the boat set sail. Two ladies were put on the table with us and we felt like alcoholics as they drank tea and we ordered a glass of wine each (we would have had a bottle but didn't have time at the table to drink it!) The women were very sweet but of course it is a bit awkward when one can't communicate and even more so when one tries! However, we did manage and even had a couple of laughs which was just as well as they sat with us for every meal during the weekend. I suppose we were lucky to have our own berth without being paired up.

MORE ABOUT THE FOOD

Let's just say it reminded me of when I was a child in post-war Britain, simple and cheap and cleverly improvised. I was delighted that every desert was enhanced with artificial cream which brought back memories of visits to the bakery with my Auntie Jessie who would always buy me a cake with this type of cream and I loved it and apparently I still do!

I must point out that this was not a 'cheap' weekend, at least not for us foreigners, as typically for Russia the boat company has a two tier price system, one price for them, another, considerably more expensive for foreigners. I may be wrong here but I don't think I have come across this system anywhere else in the world.

MANCHESTER UNITED V ST. PETERSBURG

Our cabin was just down the corridor from the television room where about 100 people were screaming with delight as St. Petersburg beat Manchester United. We didn't sleep well, the match was a late starter and we are two hours ahead Monaco (that's where they were playing).

VALAAM

We awoke to decent weather, which was extremely lucky as it had been raining all week. After a really strange porridge laced with butter and a couple of apple pancakes we set out on our first tour of the morning which was to be a walking tour. One thing I will say about this walking tour, other than the fact that it was very slow and that the scenery and air were lovely is that the guide could talk the hind legs off a donkey and of course we didn't have a clue what he could possibly be saying about the pine trees and the lakes that took so long. It was pleasant all the same.

After lunch we went on a smaller boat around the island to the monastery. Because we are not Orthodox it's significance was lost on me but one thing I will remember is all the monks. They have long, straggly grey hair, really dirty looking clothes and look just Rasputin did. I always associate religious followers with bodily cleanliness, seems I'm wrong. I get the whole simple poverty thing but..

All in all a good weekend. Although we couldn't talk with the people on the boat very much they were very warm and friendly, that is until it was time to disembark at the end of the weekend. It was back to pushing and barging as in the bread queues of the communist days, just to get off the boat and to the metro station! FUN FUN FUN!!!

BACK FROM SPAIN AND TIME FOR ANOTHER HIV TEST!

RETURN TO HOME!

Mike very boldly borrowed the company Land Rover Discovery (black with dark windows!) to collect me from the airport on my return from Spain. I was very impressed and would use this service again!

DON'T BUY FROZEN FOOD UNLESS YOU KNOW YOUR WAY HOME!

Glowing with the success of the airport meeting, the following day we ventured off to the supermarket and IKEA. IKEA is difficult enough at the best of times but to manage it in Russian is horrible! However, the big discovery that day for me was MARKS AND SPENCERS! Maybe this is a soft posting after all?

So far we remained empty handed so a trip to a hypermarket was essential. Having moved into the new flat with an empty freezer we purchased a lot of fodder to fill it. It was quite surprising to find that this huge establishment didn't accept any cards, credit nor debit. We had done a huge shop so were wiped out of cash.

The journey home was going quite well, until we couldn't turn left at the normal turn. We had to turn left at some point and drove on and on and .... I started to think we would be eating all our frozen food that evening, when fortunately we turned left.

DON'T BRIBE THE POLICE!

One of Mike's partners has told him never to try to bribe a policeman (as if Mike would!). However, that same partner said do carry 5,000 rubles around with you just in case you get stopped by the police whilst driving. Apparently, 5,000 (around £100) is about the most you will get charged and you may or may not get a receipt. Charged for what? You can get stopped for nothing and that happens all the time and you may not know why but you have to pay up to £100 but don't try and bribe them? I'm confused




MOVE TO ITALYANSKAYA 37/18 APARTMENT 5




Please note the new address but please don't send anything by post to that address. I may conduct a small experiment to see if things actually arrive by post but let me be the first to try!

As you can see from the above picture I have a really lovely apartment in a great position. I spend many a happy cup of tea in that front window watching the streets below. I can actually fit very nicely with my feet up into that window ledge and it's a great place to read and catch the sun (when it takes it's hat off that is). It's going to be fully furnished with cushions to sit and lean on.

THE WATER

Mike is the first up every week day morning and has the privilege of the first shower and the honour of drawing up the hot water. All the apartments are provided heating and hot water centrally. It is not the custom of the Russian people to rise early in the morning so he is probably the first to shower in the block. It is probable we are the only ones to shower as a part of our daily routine! It takes absolutely ages for the water to come through, sometimes about 10 minutes. Mike thinks he is drawing it from the other side of the river!

THE LIFT

Although the apartment is fab, I can't say the same for the courtyard and the hallways but I console myself with the fact that for St.Petersburg it's pretty good and we have a lift which is a real perk. This is not the most modern of lifts and a few weeks ago I could not imagine that I would be entering solo without fear, however, now I don't even think twice. Apparently, the average amount of time to be stuck in a lift in St.Petersburg is 30 minutes so .... I always make sure I visit the bathroom before leaving home and hope for the best.

STORAGE SOLUTIONS

We have a restaurant in our block. They have decided to store some old and huge pieces of ventilator shaft right outside our entrance way! There are three pieces, each the size of a small car, stacked on top of each other to the left of our doorway. It's unbelievable that nobody seems to care! I have mentioned it to our landlady and she said she will complain about it but doesn't think she will get anywhere. I am planning to talk to the manager of the restaurant about it but haven't plucked up the courage yet! Ridiculous! The cats seem to have made a home in them so at least they are happy!

CATS

There are cats everywhere. Some really beautiful creatures. People seem to look after all the cats in the town very well and I haven't seen any hungry ones.

THE BINS

These are pretty grotty and there is no way to recycle which feels awful except that there is a woman (I think she is a woman), who looks like one of the very poor people of the dark ages who seems to spend some time at the bins sorting the stuff out so hopefully she gets something out of them that she can recycle in some way. She must be residing somewhere in our block or she wouldn't get to the bins which just shows how mixed the area is.

ANATOLE

I heard our bell ring the other day. I took a look through the spyhole and saw an old man standing there who I didn't know, so following the rules of survival in Russia, I didn't answer the door. So I heard another, then another ring, then four rings. I decided to take my life into my hands and answer.

This very kind faced elderly gentleman tried to tell me something which I didn't understand. He then started to pull me outside! I was so confused but realised I could knock him over if I wanted to so I allowed myself to be pulled. It turned out that he was trying to show me the fact that my keys were in the outside of the door! We had accidentally left them hanging there and seeing as though everybody says you should lock your door when you are inside your apartment this was quite a vulnerable situation and this gentleman was worried for me! He introduced himself as Anatole and he lives opposite with his family (in about 30 square metres).
Anatole is out and about every day. I see him chatting to various vendors on Italyanskaya and more worryingly waving his stick at the traffic and crossing the roads regardless of whether they stop for him or not. He is a really nice old man and I wish I could hear about his history. I bet he was here during the siege of Leningrad.

THE NEW CLEANER

Tanya has come to me by way of our landlady. This woman is a human dynamo. She moves so fast and has an unsettling amount of energy. She makes me feel completely inadequate in terms of my ability to clean. This is a happy state of affairs and a good arrangement.

HARRODS FOOD HALL OF ST.PETE'S

I am delighted to discover that I am living a pleasant 7 minute walk from the best little supermarket in the city. It has just about everything I could need and more. It's going to be possible to eat well after all. I will be very strong if I continue to shop in the markets having discovered this shop.

CUSTOMER SERVICE - NOT!

Yesterday, having arrived at the checkout of my new wonder market, the checkout girl pointed out that I hadn't weighed my mushrooms. Two points here, firstly, instead of calling one of the many assistants standing around doing nothing she expected me to go myself but before I went she insisted that I handed over from the trolley all the remaining items to go through the checkout. Second point, when I returned she was sitting smiling and my stuff was sitting waiting for me to pack into bags! I calmly packed my bags whilst she sat impatiently waiting for me to pay. I hoped that she might have realised it would have been a good idea to help me but I doubt she gave it a second thought. Oh well, I suppose you can't expect customer service as well as a wonder market.

MY PURSE, YOUR PURSE

One very strange custom amongst the shop assistants here is that if you don't hand over the correct money and they ask you if you have a particular amount e.g. a 100 note and you say you're not sure and you are looking, they think nothing of delving their own hands into your purse and looking themselves! I don't really mind and I am sure they are only trying to be helpful but it seems a little forward and makes it difficult to lie if you are trying to keep a 100 note for some other purpose (then you have to sort of hide the contents whilst looking through without her getting her hands in there!). Also the next person in the queue gets to see the extravagant amount of money in a foreigner's purse!

FAREWELL UNTIL SEPTEMBER!

Just a little blog today. I leave for Spain tomorrow and return at the end of August. It`s going to be fun to see the family in Spain and enjoy the sunshine, sea and sangria but I leave St.Petersburg with a tinge of regret as I feel I am just getting to grips with the City and fear I will have to start all over on my return. Ah well, the hardships of life!

PETERHOF

As it was the last day available for a trip, we decided to go to Peterhof yesterday. It was a perfect sunny and calm day for a hydrofoil trip down the Neva.

After 40 minutes we arrived at Peterhof only to find a very long queue for tickets to the park. These are the tickets you have to purchase before being able to get near the palace only to queue again for tickets for the palace. In fact at Peterhof you have to queue for separate tickets for everything and to make it more annoying it is actually quite expensive.

I would not feel quite so annoyed about the price if everyone paid the same, however, in Russia, there is a different, usually about three times higher price for foreigners. Why should foreigners pay more?

Putting these feelings behind us (we had plenty of time to do that whilst waiting in these interminable queues) we enjoyed the palace and gardens but decided that although Peterhof is by far the most famous of the outlying palaces it is not the greatest to visit. We enjoyed Tvarski Selo much more.

A WONDERFUL TOILET VISIT

I had a wonderful loo experience. After paying fifty pence I took my place in the queue only to be yelled at by the toilet cleaner who was annoyed at anyone who went near her bucket. It was difficult not to annoy her because her bucket was placed in the entrance to the cubicles and she was trying to insist that we lined up on one side of her bucket. These women in the queue actually allowed this bloody woman to boss them around! I was having none of it and after my turn in the loo I made sure I gave her bucket a kick to the side as I passed. She was hurling abuse at me as I left with a smile! I am learning to deal with these people!

All in all I think it would be better to choose a day that was not a Saturday at the height of the tourist season to visit Peterhof!

FAREWELL FOR THE SUMMER!

POLICEMEN AND BRIBES, WHOOPS I MEAN BRIDES

I thought the shot of the Hermitage was rather jolly. The other is a shot of the street where we live at present but not for much longer.

THE POLICEMAN`S LOT IS NOT A HAPPY ONE

It is quite difficult to know who is a policeman and who is not. I am convinced there are people who walk around this town dressed up as such just because once upon a time they had a uniform. Those are the most scary. You would think I could tell by the age of the uniform but unfortunately this is not so. Some police officers just look plain scruffy and not very professional. There are traffic police and another type or two all with different roles. There are a lot of them who seem to have little to do but stroll around the parks and public spaces. Their presence should be a comfort but I find it rather unsettling. I feel they would not do very much if they saw you being attacked but that they may apprehend you for doing absolutely nothing but minding your own business.

I have been told not to go anywhere without identification but not the original because it might get stolen and never hand over original documents to the police themselves! What!?

I was sitting in the summer gardens yesterday, minding my own business and reading a book. It was a beautiful day and I do not have a balcony at the flat. I am a middle aged woman dressed in a conventional manner with a Laura Ashley bag and sensible shoes, reading Nicholas and Alexandra on a park bench in the sunshine when along comes a policeman who stands right in front of me (am I allowed to read the above-mentioned book in Russia?), weighs me and the situation up and then walks away. I have to say my heart was in my mouth, I really thought he was going to ask me what I was doing there! He had a cosh in his hand and handcuffs and a gun in his back pocket. I hardly dared to look up until he walked off! Is this just a park keeper?

When I had lunch with the ladies the other day in Gatchina, we set up our picnic in the park on the steps of an old folly of sorts. A policeman came up to us and stood looking at our picnic before telling the Russian lady amongst us to leave as soon as we finished! Had our Russian lady not been there I think we would have offered him a chicken leg and a glass of champagne but we felt she would think it inappropriate.

ANTI-INTERROGATION CARD

This is the coolest thing I have ever had in my life and I intend to frame it when I leave Russia. If you have any trouble with officials or police or anybody, you pull out the card and call the 24 hour service and they send a minder (well, someone) out to you to deal with the problem! Quite an enterprising business idea!

Part of me really wants something to happen so I can use this facility and part of me thinks it might not work!

BRIDES EVERYWHERE!

It must be because it`s summer. This has to be the most romantic city in the world. Although I have been told that the guys don`t keep up the romance once married.

Having been made man and wife, they cruise the city with all their guests in limousines and with copious amounts of alcohol and have photos taken at every famous monument in the city. There are loads of these so by the time the guests have been dragged around all of them they look pretty much past their best! You see about fifty brides per day at the moment and many empty champagne bottles around the town. It astonishes me that all these smartly dressed people don`t take their empties away with them. They have a way to go in that respect.

GOSTINY DVOR

This is an experience of a shopping centre. It is really huge and houses just about every type of shop imaginable and is all indoors. I remember visiting this when I was here in about 1980. At that time there was absolutely nothing available and all the tinned food had plain labels just with the name of the content, e.g. peas. I can remember being amazed that this huge shopping palace had all the shops selling exactly the same items. All the clothes were the same in all the shops and the tinned food (because that was all there was) was piled up to make it look attractive but it was all the same! It really is wonderful to see Gostiny Dvor today, a symbol of devotion to consumerism.

PALACES AND BEACHES

One thing I knew coming to this city was that I was going to see a lot of palaces here but one thing I did not expect was the beach.

TSARSKOE SELO AND THE AMBER ROOM

Having started to read the story of Nicholas & Alexandra, I was very interested to visit the above mentioned town and it`s palaces.

We do not have a car so the only way to get to Tsarskoe Selo which is about 35 km out of town was by public transport. First metro then bus. There are several different types of buses here. Some have specific places they stop and others have a route they follow and you flag them down wherever you want and then shout when you want to get off. Good if a) you know where you want to get off and b) if you know what to shout. We knew neither of these things but jumped on one anyway.

People were helpful but it seemed they did not know where we should get off, resulting in our disembarking according to several passengers advice and then, at the driver`s insistence, getting back on! We eventually got to the palaces and park. This was greatly rewarded with a tour of the Catherine Palace and gardens and obviously the most famously, recently newly reconstructed, Amber Room. Now that is another book to read. It was all too much to see in one visit and there is still the Alexander palace to see as that is the one where Nicky and Alexi actually lived!

THE BEACH!

Mike and his ordinance survey map found us on a good old walk on Sunday from our present abode to the beach! A real sand beach, one of a few on the City`s islands. Krestovski Island is clearly a favourite of Mr. Putin`s as he has a home there. We didn`t find it this time but we will! We took a beer sitting in a bar on the beach and watched people play volley ball and racing up and down on jet skis, barbecuing and sunbathing. If I closed my eyes, I could have been in Marbella. There were even showers and loos. Across the water we could see the yacht club and several very nice boats alongside it. Clearly the place for the not so badly off. This will be visited again on a nice sunny day with a picnic and some sunblock! I`m not sure I would swim there although people seem happy to do so.

PRETTY GIRLS

There are only about three months of the year during which time the girls of the City can be seen without their coats on so I like to think that this is why their choice of clothing is so wacky, wild and rather more than a little revealing. If you are going to `bag a man` this is the time of year to do it!

I admire the skill they need to walk around all day in extremely high heels. I have been told that they also wear these heels in the winter. Apparently, the heels work well as sort of crampons that can be dug into the icy sidewalks.

GATCHINA

Yesterday saw me at a quilting exhibition hosted by the town of Gatchina, about an hour away from the City. Not being into quilting, I saw this as an opportunity to take a look at another town. It was a surprise to be blown over by the artistry of the work on display. What was wonderful was that some of the works were clearly made by scraps of material collected from old clothes etc. and not bought pieces from specialist shops.

This exhibition was in three locations. The first location we visited was in a tiny hamlet inside a village hall. They made us very welcome and when I needed to visit a loo I was escorted to another building, down several corridors to an extremely grim toilet with magazines for loo paper, where the escort, equally grim, waited patiently for me to pee before escorting me back! Loo visits are quite often exciting here!

The second location was in a small town, in an enormous neo classic style building, very run down but with incredible chandeliers and a really wonky parquet floor.

The third was the best. This was in a concrete, communist building which housed a lot of leatherette sofas, slashed and torn and a huge, magnificent mosaic of Lenin along with some wonderful symbols of the era. I hope I come across a lot of stuff like this because I think it is becoming more rare.

BLOG FODDER 2

SHOCKING

There are a lot of bare and dangerous electric wires around this city, even in heavily populated tourist parts.

BARKING

There are a lot of stray dogs in the parks. They are all of the large variety. However, they seem to spend most of the time sleeping and don`t seem to bother people at all, not even for food. Perhaps they are being well fed. They are not in bad condition. I will try to learn more about
them.

PULPING

A lot of expats here are involved in the paper pulping industry. One of my new friends who`s husband is so employed gave me a great tip. I don`t think it`s related to her husband`s industry but still.. When she has papers she wants to dispose of that have sensitive information on them, e.g. bank statements etc., she soaks them until they become mush! I never thought of that, it`s brilliant! One could make a sort of paper mache sculpture of it all.

LOST IN TRANSLATION

According to the St.Petersburg Times, our weekly English translated newspaper, a lot of new swimming pools are being constructed in St.Petersburg`s `bedroom communities`. Do they mean `dormitory towns`?!

In a German style restaurant visited at the weekend I was amused to note the reserved tables had a little sign on saying `this land is conquered`. A little strong I thought!

BLOGGER FODDER

BUYING A BOOK

It sounds like a fairly simple process. You walk in, browse and choose and pay and leave. Not in Russia!

First, I browsed. I found a book about the lives of the last Tsars. Super. I go to the counter with the book. The young lady tells me I can`t buy it there but that she will write a chit with the price and I will take the chit to the far side of the shop, pay, then return to her at the other end of the shop and she will check the receipt and give me the book. I did all of this happily and a little amused. She nearly had a fit when I put my receipt into my purse and not in the bag containing my purchase. `no! no!` it MUST go in there with the book!` I suppose this may be the preferred place for my receipt to prove I had not stolen the book, however, I was the only customer in the shop and the only people who would see me leave without paying would be her and the cashier and they had taken my money from me! They were hardly likely to chase me into the street to check if I had paid! I suppose old habits die hard.

IN THE STREET

There are some very unfortunate people on the streets begging for money. This is not unusual in any big City but they are amongst the more desperate I have seen, and that includes in India.

There is one lovely old lady who looks at least 100 years old. She is clean and she wears traditional peasant type clothes. She has a face full of character and as wrinkled as a very old prune. I imagine she has had a really tough life, WW2, the siege of Leningrad, communism etc. and there she is, day in and day out, hoping for some kindness from the passers by.

It seems dreadful that this generation who have suffered so much and have been thrown into this capitalist society of the modern world, who don`t stand a chance of being able to pay for themselves (any savings they had were completely and totally worthless after the fall of communism, through no fault of their own) are not looked after.

A WALK TO THE OFFICE

Mike suggested I walked with him to his office and he would show me another market and a shopping area. He actually has quite a long walk, more than I had realised across to Vasilyevskiy Island, however he likes it and it is good exercise. It won`t be possible during the long winter months so he is making the most of it now.

A BIGGER CHICKEN BREAST PLEASE

Deciding to use my `market Russian` I thought I had asked for the biggest saddle (the two breasts with the bone intact) of chicken. I realised later that what I actually asked for was a bigger saddle. Just a small difference, bigger - biggest, but enough to make her look at me as if to say, `how big would you expect the breast of a chicken to be?`

THEY MUST BE KIDDING!

The tomatoes looked good. Very large and juicy so I asked for two. They asked me for 200 roubles. That is about two pounds per tomato. I left without them. All the fruit and vegetables are expensive but sometimes I get the feeling I am being taken for an idiot. It is going to be expensive to eat healthily here but you cannot put a price on health. Why did I not get those tomatoes after all?

I have noticed that the fresh food markets are very quiet. The locals cannot afford them. There are a lot of cosseted foreigners with interpreters and drivers and people who are sent by the more wealthy local residents to do the shopping for them but not many people like me! I could use interpreters and drivers but what would I write about?!

CRUISE SHIPS

It is a wonderful walk back from Mike`s office, along the embankment of the Neva. The big cruise ships park down that end of St.Petersburg. They could not come up any further because although the bridges lift at night for an hour or so, the ships are too big and there is nowhere for them to park. I think this is a blessing. It is quite interesting to see them when there are as many as four huge ones in town. I know some of our friends will be arriving in St.Petersburg by ship! It is certainly an interesting way to arrive and you get a 48 hour pass without the need of a visa which saves a lot of hassle.

Walking around the City it is really easy to spot the ones who have come off a ship. So beware, the pickpockets can tell too!

THE PASTRY SHOP

Around the corner from our service flat is the most famous pastry house in St. Petersburg. Fortunately, I am not big on pastry but they look wonderful. You can buy a Salmon Pie I discovered today. Guess what we are having for dinner tomorrow.

A STEP INTO THE OTHER SIDE

NOTHING TO BUY

I have never been into a supermarket before and left without buying a single item. However, that is exactly what I did yesterday! There was nothing fanciable at all and this was in the new supermarket!

RIDICULOUSLY GORGEOUS RESTAURANT

So it was quite a lovely treat last night to go to just about the best restaurant in the City. After my fruitless search (I didn`t try too hard I must admit) for something fresh to buy, it was perfect that we had such a wonderful meal last night which should keep me going for the rest of the week. The restaurant sits above a casino and a large designer shop and has been serving the rich and famous for more than 200 years (what were we doing there?)

There is a first time for everything and for me I have never been through a metal detector in order to enter a restaurant before. What does that tell you about the rich and famous here? You can only imagine. At least we were able to enjoy our evening without fear of anything metal being undetected. I must admit when I first saw the detector I thought we were supposed to walk through it on the way out in case we had tried to steal the cutlery!

The food was wonderful, although it didn`t resemble anything I thought I had ordered but then it was very posh. I was given a cradle in which to place my (rather ordinary) handbag. Mike remarked that I should be careful that nobody ties it with string and drags it across the floor and away!

After a lovely evening we finally left, avoiding the metal detector on the way out, the stolen cutlery in our pockets remaining undetected! Kidding of course.

THE BLACK WINDOWED LIMOUSINES

Our company last night was a very charming man and his wife who happens to be CEO of a very important business here. After seeing me change my shoes for the walk home he was rather embarrassed to be met by not just a driver but also a bodyguard. When he saw my expression, he reassured me by explaining that he was very unlikely to be threatened physically but it is not unusual for people such as he to be led into a black windowed, nearby limousine for a spontaneous `business meeting`. A very nice way to put it, I thought.

It also occurred to me that perhaps we misunderstand the Russian `businessman`. After all, this CEO may be difficult to make an appointment with and the Russian `businessman` is very proud of his status and particularly his black windowed limousine and perhaps likes to use it as a sort of mobile office. He might possibly think it is quite an honour to be invited for a meeting inside his car!

REALITY CHECK

Yes well, back to normal today. I knew there was a weekly walk arranged every Wednesday morning by the International Women's Club so I thought I would go to the designated meeting place under the Pushkin statue and see what happened. Nothing happened. I wasn`t surprised and was quite prepared with map in hand to have a good old walk about by myself.

This was a good opportunity to find the food market over the side of town where I am going to be living after August. I got completely lost. The map was useless to me because it was in English and all the town signs are in Cyrillic. I didn`t have my specs with me either so couldn't see the map anyway. Nevsky Prospect is the biggest road in St.Petersburg but all the others looked pretty damned the same to me!

GOLD TEETH

I felt quite proud when I finally found the market. I bought some cherries as a reward from a man with a complete set of gold teeth. He was smiling brilliantly with his expensive mouth glowing as I paid a huge amount of money for my cherries! Not surprising he can afford gold teeth. Georgians love gold teeth.