NCL Sun – May 29 – First Day in St Petersburg, Russia

We decided not to leave the ship early because many tour passengers would be going through Passport Control and it would take a LONG time. We asked the NCL rep who was assisting everyone before going through Passport Control if there was an ATM in the building. She said she had no idea. Also asked her if there was a Metro station nearby. Not surprisingly, she didn’t know that either. Not sure if she knew anything other than how to tell people how to go through the PC section. Passport Control was simple and quick. I had heard that it would be difficult when using a Russian visa; no problem at all.

As we walked into the other area of the building, we saw souvenir booths, a taxi stand, ATMs, and a tourist information counter. Picked up maps and talked with the two people working at the TI counter. Steve asked about getting to the Metro and we were told it would take 15 minutes to walk. As we left the building, the sun was shining in a clear blue sky, and it was getting warm enough to remove our sweaters and light windbreakers; nothing in the weather we saw suggested we needed an umbrella or even the usual rain-resistant shell we usually wear.

We began our walk from the “edge of nowhere” in this unfinished new cruise ship terminal (it’s not even on most of the maps!), not knowing exactly where we should be going. I convinced Steve to ask someone for directions, but that person didn’t speak English. He pointed in a direction so we walked that way and walked and walked until we reached a wide main street. Asked another person who told us to go left and eventually we arrived at the Metro station, after a 55-minute walk; by not turning left and going to the canal the TI guy mentioned, we were actually heading away from the metro and had to go three times the proper distance! Not fun, but not the worst.

Bought Metro tokens (44 rubles round trip, approximately $1.50) and took the LONG escalator down. We were at the first stop of the line and had to go only 2 stops to get to Nevsky Prospekt, the main street in town. As we walked out of the station, we saw there were no vehicles on the street but instead MANY people were walking in both directions and there were many entertainment stages set up. All of this was to celebrate an International Festival at St. Petersburg’s 307th anniversary of founding by Peter the Great. We spent time in the huge plaza behind the Hermitage, the main stage area for many entertainment groups. Suddenly, it started to rain a bit. Some people opened their umbrellas while the rest of us just walked in it and at times stood along the wall where it was drier. We walked back to Nevsky Prospekt and stopped in a Subway for a sandwich. Interesting menu including salmon and other items that we don’t see at home. Prices were based on what was on the sandwich. Another difference was that the full-length subs at 30 cm were a bit shorter than our footlongs.

By the time we went outside, it had stopped raining so we walked down the street. Steve noticed Bob Arno and his wife so we stopped to talk to them. Earlier we had checked out boat cruises and knew there was an English-speaking one at 4 PM so went to see if we could get on. It was interesting as the guided tour went from the canal out into the Neva River as we saw many building from a new perspective. It was windy and cold, but we had blankets they provided. Some drizzling but not too bad. When the boat cruise was done, we walked to the same store, Onegin, we had visited two years ago when we were in St. Petersburg. I remembered they had a great selection of amber jewelry at reasonable prices. A salesperson assisted me and wasn’t the hovering kind but very nice and helpful. We had some vodka and tea (complimentary) and used the very clean toilets. (Nice after the not so clean porta-potties in Hermitage Square.)

We were getting tired so went back to the Nevsky Metro station to take the train to the same Metro station closest to the port. We planned to take a taxi back to the port but knew the walk wouldn’t be as long as earlier since we saw the better route along the canal. Sunny and some clouds as we began our walk. It started to RAIN and we were nowhere near a place to get a taxi so just kept walking as it rained HARDER and HARDER. Kept going, wondering if anyone would stop to offer a ride. Not the case as we neared the first building on the port. Stopped inside for a moment. Steve suggested it might slow down but I was concerned it would get even worse and the lightning and thunder was getting close so we walked through the water and finally arrived at the security building DRIPPING WET. When we walked on the boat, I wondered if we would drip our way onto the elevator. Arrived in our cabin and stripped off everything, trying to figure out where we could hang everything so it could dry. Wet papers spread out on the floor and inserts/laces removed from the soaked shoes. Changed into dry clothes and went to have dinner. When we arrived there, we mentioned how wet we had been and the staff said they had seen us walking through the puddles. We all laughed about it. Just part of the adventure of travel.