St Petersburgski

We've been told that although St Petersburg is in Russia it is not Russian so we are reserving our judgement of Russia until we have been further East.
Arriving here and getting to the hostel was a very stern reminder that we have no idea how to communicate with Russians! We have been here a few days now and still trying to master any more than hello, please and thank-you in this very fast and very difficult, harsh language.

The city is unbelievability impressive the smallest buildings are 5 stories high and they are decorated with pillars and grand doorways. Today we went to the Hermitage museum, the rooms were laced with gold and there were jade statues and red carpets at every turn. The ceilings themselves must have taken years to paint.

We're not having to much luck finding veggie food - I ordered cabbage soup that came with chunks of beef and they put chicken in my mushroom pancake. In fact Glen got served raw chicken at a restaurant last night - we objected to paying for it using the phrasebook (thanks Andy) but soon coughed up when they threatened to call the police!