Laura and Lars Travel: Dasvidaniya

There are few things that compare to the feeling of waking up, throwing back the curtain, and revealing a new world. A scape that has dramatically changed since the previous evening. One that is considerably whiter.

It had snowed overnight, which meant that our final day in St. Petersburg was going to have the added bonus of being, what one can only describe as, a winter wonderland. Excuse the cliché, but I am a big fan of snow.

We walked out into a bitterly cold, back and white world, where we were the only souls venturing fourth.

The Palace Square was empty and the sun tried, struggled, and failed to rise over the city, shrouded in dark velvet snow cloud, threatening to unload any moment.

As we slowly traversed the barren expanse outside the Hermitage we took great delight in experiencing the Winter Palace in, well, winter.

We had reached the coffee house, and upon entering I had a chance to practice my Russian. Which consists of one sentence, three key words, and 'cat'.

Luckily my sentence involves my finding out whether or not my conversational partner can speak English or not.

We crossed the frozen expanse of river near the Hermitage and headed toward the Peter And Paul Fortress.

The city was still quiet, the only people about seeming to be a group of ice-fishers camped out in the middle of the river, and the occasional mad bloke out for a run.

As we were pressed for time we unfortunately made a flying visit to the island Fort that was the catalyst for there being a St. Petersburg in the first place. It was a magical, Disneylandesque place with its central cathedral, tree lined lanes, and colourful baroque buildings.

Back across the river and back towards our final stop, the market outside Saviour On The Spilled Blood.

Laura and I had set aside the obligatory souvenir money so we went straight to the stall owner that we had befriended the day prior. We spent a little while choosing the perfect Nesting Doll, and then realised that we did in fact have enough for a Cathedral shaped music box.

We chatted to our new friendly friend, but time was pressing, we had a plane to catch. So we purchased our goods, said goodbye (he promised to see us in Auckland) and raced back to pick up our bags and leave.

At the airport the process for leaving Russia was about as strict and stringent as getting in. But we eventually cleared (reverse)customs and were on our way home, via the delightful Swiss Air!

We touched down in Zurich, 15 minutes to get to our connecting flight. Easy we thought, the gates are close, and like last time we should be able to just wander over and take a seat. However, for some strange reason we were lead out of the main terminal hall and to the wrong side of security! Not able to turn and head back the way we came we proceeded to check back through x-rays, and shoeless metal detector. The line we joined didn't seem to be moving, and there was the reason.

At the front of the queue was a rather rotund, and very American American. He wore a stretched and faded Guns 'n' Roses t-shirt that had attracted the attention of the airport officer. And in a true John Candy, National Lampoon, Rowan Atkinson style they were deep in conversation as to the nature of Slash's guitar style, Appetite For Destruction's production value, and the abomination that was Axl Rose's cornrows...

Needless to say this went on too long. The clock was ticking, hearts were pounding, and the other officer's were rolling their eyes "not again".

Eventually, after additional having each of our bags checked for liquids (yes all under 100ml, yes in a plastic bag, yes I packed my damn bags we've got a flight to catch) we made it to the gate and on to the plane on time.

All I had to say after laughing, as there really wasn't much else to do, was "what was that about Swiss efficiency?"

Dasvidaniya Russia, we'll meet again soon.

The winter Winter Palace

Frozen Neva

On the frozen Neva

Laura hops to her one tune.

I'm excited about something... probably the snow.

Ice Fishers