St. Petersburg, North-West Russia, Russian Federation
October 11, 2013
I feel at a bit of a loss today.
My feet have been far too ruined to get out and about today so I’ve had to have a very lazy one just in the hostel and round the doors to get myself sorted and ready for Moscow. It’s a bit of a shame as there are so many more things I wanted to go and see but at the same time it’s still been interesting getting to know the Russians in the hostel a bit better along with the other folk staying there.
I popped to the local shopping mall round the corner to try and get some fresh socks and its full of all the usual shops. Nike, Calvin Klein, Stella McCartney, Quicksilver, Top Shop, even a Marks and Spencer …..however when I got to the 3rd floor I stumbled across the shopping centre gun and weapon shop! Every weapon you can imagine was for sale. Pistols, semi automatics, assault rifles, batons and knives……basically everything required to start a small war. I was tempted to pop in and let them know they were wasting their time in there and that they should be off to pick up that warhead I found yesterday …but then I though better of it and left them alone to drool over their killing machines.
I grabbed a beer in a little bar just downstairs from the hostel and was hungry so ordered what I thought was pork and chips…only to find out it is pork chips….little strips of pork the size of chips and nothing else…hmm. Not the best value for money and still hungry but hey you live and learn. On a plus note I’ve finally seen the sun today as its been grey and lifeless ever since I got here so it’s been good to get some vitamin D on my skin for a change.
I did a bit more planning and research today while I had some time on my hands and somehow I’ve managed to lose my train ticket to Moscow….thankfully out of all the train and boat tickets I have it’s the only one that is an e-ticket so much to my relief (and after not realising this for a good hour of flapping about like a lunatic) I re-printed them so I’m all sorted and ready for Moscow tomorrow. I’ve done a bit more reading up ready for Irtutsk and Lake Baikal as well and having checked the weather it looks like I’m definitely in for some serious cold and snow come Siberia….not a surprise for Siberia really so it may be time to get those thermals near the top of my bag I think.
