2am is never a pleasant time to wake up. But with the prospect of a new country, the largest on Earth in fact, mere hours away, it was easy enough to push though.
No late night public transport meant an Uber ride to Heathrow. Who knew we only lived 30mins from Terminal 2. Though that might have had something to do with us being the only car on the roads.
Swiss Airlines via Zürich was our chosen way to get to our destination. Now let me tell you, if you haven't have the pleasure of flying Swiss Air (not a sponsor) then I seriously recommend it. The flights were amazing! Great service, great planes, and great food.
This combined with a iPad full of Sherlock Season 4 meant we arrived in Russia with high spirits.
(Except for when Laura's head almost exploded as we re-pressurised on our final decent. That was (understatement) not fun)
Anyway, we arrived to a beautiful blue sky day, a crisp -1°C, and snow covering the world.
Our papers all checked out, and we cleared customs without a hitch.
Money changed and second Uber of the day booked (don't judge, we've only got 48hours so no time for public transport) and we were heading to town.
The drive in was a mix of wide eyed wonder and excitement. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust, something we have hear tell of. As we past billboards with strange words, grand cathedrals, and the occasional statue of Lennin, our excitement only grew.
Finally we pulled in to our canal side AirB&B and we're greater by the most adorable Russian chap, eager to show us his place and practice his English.
Now for those of your who know St. Petersburg we are staying all of about 300m from the Hermitage, so that was our first stop.
We'd pre bought our tickets so we headed straight in, after taking in the insanely extravagant exterior.
Now there is a famous story in my family of my Dad losing his vision in the grand museum halls inside the Winter Palace. And based on the sensory input, ne visual barrage, it is not hard to believe.
I have never spent so long with my jaw literally (and I don't mean figuratively) slack.
The extravagance, the over the top wealth, the excessiveness, the fact that those three are all synonyms.
I have never seen so much marble, gold leaf, delicately arranged wooden patterned flooring. Single rooms expansive enough to fit an entire mid sized Kiwi home. Chandeliers that you, me, and all of Australian Pop Sensation Sia's friends could swing from. At the same time.
And that's before you take in the furniture, the costumes, and table settings, and statutes, and of course wall after wall of art. Take every art history book you have ever read and cram every page into your eye balls!
It was the most amazing and head spinning place I have ever been to.
Unfortunately, even on 'late night Friday' the building must close its doors to the public eventually. So as we were booted back out into the cold, brains still a buzz, we suddenly realised that we had been neglecting our stomachs. So food it was.
Now Laura and I make a bit of a point of eating local cuisine.
So the three of us headed off to find something with a local flavour.
That ended up being the cutest little cafe I think any of us have ever been in.
Imagine Ponsonby meets Pintrest, in Petersburg.
We ordered Fish Soup, and Cabbage Soup with Mini Pies to start. And they were insane.
Then came out the pièce de résistance, the Beef Stroganoff. Far from what you'd imagine some Baboshka rustled up in the back of a Soviet Era apartment. This was one of the most incredible things I have ever tasted. Laura claims I actually shed a single tear.
It was a party in my mouth, and I'm damned if I'm inviting anyone else. This is all mine!
The photo below speaks a thousand words.
We finished the evening off with an excursion through a foreign supermarket and a sweets taste test in which we learnt the following:
'Yak Yak' is just slightly gross, stale biscuit pieces covered in syrup.
The things with a friendly cow on the front is fudge. But flavours include - Misc Nut, Poppy Seed, and Sesame Seed. Best to avoid.
And the one with the cute squirrel on the packet is just a nice hazelnut fudge.
Day one, success.
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| лед лед детка (led led detka (Ice, Ice, Baby)) |
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| Poncey People |
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| Burger King! |
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| Never did I want this moment to end... |
Labels: Russia 2017
