The Russian Job

Four days in St Petersburg for Mrs Tuttle and myself, starting from today. A lot of today was spent travelling as we had to exchange at Heathrow, but the journey went according to plan, no delays. The weather and landscapes diferred, notably, during the 3 hour flight over Northern Europe and most notable was the cold as we stepped off the plane in Pulkovo airport.

The taxi ride gave us an interesting introduction to the Russian city life style. We spotted a Lada, which ironically had 4x4 written on it's side. The snow was thick, deep and murky due to the traffic and most of the cars had studs on their drive tyres. The taxi driver spoke no English so a social introduction was off the cards, though I did try to ask about a couple of recognisable locations which was responded by a couple of nods and grumbled Russian speak. We came to Russia with an open mind and put the "MacMafia" vision to one side, but this was quite hard to do as the Taxi driver looked big/hard enough to be a gangster's assistant and a lot of the cars we saw on the way to the hotel were (black) Mercedes.

My first step out of the taxi was a comical one as I faced the challenge of avoiding a dog turd. Not the most pleasant of welcomes, but what WAS welcoming was the fact that it was frozen solid, so a quick tap with my the side side of my right foot solved the matter instantly as it rolled under the taxi. The welcome become even more welcoming as we entered the retro-style fitted hotel. The staff were helpful, the rooms ace, and the corridoors walled with velvet wallpaper. So far so nice.

By this time it was tea time and with both of us hungry we head out towards the town, with St Isaacs Cathedral (pictured) being a stone throw away. Walking in such artic conditions made this journey interesting as we passed the frozen canal, frozen solid) drainpipes and snow covered parked cars. We found a cool, trendy restraunt situated opposite the cathedral. (Very) good food, reasonably priced and very friendly service. 

We couldn't have asked for a more welcomimg start. The next three days are going to be a lot of fun.....