Back Again

Day 499
I was up early and quickly packed. After checking out I headed to the metro. I then got off at the wrong spot. Big surprise. Luckily the first person I asked for help spoke English and she told me where I needed to go. In no time I was on the bus to the airport.

After checking in I went thru immigration. After the pain in the ass of registering I really wanted to be given a hard time and to show that I had all my ducks in a row. I don't think that the guy even looked at my registrations. It was really upsetting.

My first flight was on time and I fell asleep before it even took off. When it landed in Copenhagen I went thru security again and then hung out at my next gate. We boarded on time but then sat on the runway for over two hours. By the time I got to London I was already 2.5 hours later than expected. I then about had a heart attack, the immigration line was ridiculously long and slow moving. Luckily after about an hour of waiting the nice American couple in front of me let me use their phone so that I could call Edward, who I had met in Hong Kong, to tell him that I would be late, very late for drinks.

The line was ridiculous. It took two hours. You couldn't go to the toilet, there wasn't any water, and sitting was impossible. Babies were crying and the elderly looked very uncomfortable. This is what Ellis Island must have looked like over 100 years ago. This is what you would expect out of a 3rd world country, not out of the UK. I understand if they want to check people more closely, but then they should have more than 4 people working at a time. It's just unreasonable to expect people to wait for so long. It was down right obscene. Eventually it was my turn and soon I was back in the UK.

As soon as I grabbed my bag I called Edward to tell him when I thought I would get to the bar. I then hopped on the expensive but way faster train (as opposed to the tube). I just didn't want to spend another 1.5 hours getting to my hostel. Plus, the longer the line took the more determined I became to be able to see a friendly face. Once I got off the tube (I had to switch) in Camden I couldn't find my hostel but I found Edward in the bar and he helped me look for it. After a quick change I headed right back out again.

We caught up over a few drinks, but pubs close early here and I didn't arrive until almost 11, I was meant to be there at 8! It was really nice to see Edward again after exchanging emails for the past two months. I was also extremely happy to be back in London.

Nothin'

Day 498
I was up early but couldn't get much done until after 11 when the laundromat opened. I figured that it would just take about an hour and then I could go and see the bread museum. Instead I sat there for an unbelievable 3 hours! Luckily I did get a lot of writing done while I was there.

After my laundry was done I was really hungry and went for lunch. There wasn't really enough time for the museum at this point, it was a bit far away, so I decided to just go shopping. I was just really in shock at how much everything cost. I miss the markets in Asia and India that were so cheap that I could have everything I wanted. Here I was limited to just buying a few things.

When I had finished shopping I had some dinner and then went to the internet cafe. I wanted to get as much blogging done as possible. When this was over I went back to the hostel and got my self as organized as possible before just calling it an early night.

Long Goodbye

Day 497
I was up late and feeling really gross. It wasn't really a hangover, but just exhaustion. I had been really busy in St. Petersburg and hadn't been sleeping well. Plus, I was itching every where from the stupid mossies. After breakfast I got the receptionist to try and book me on a Rasputin tour. Unfortunately they don't have tours in English. I ended up just hanging out at different parks reading.

As my day was boring I thought I would tell you how Rasputin died. He was basically a peasant that came to St. Petersburg as a mystic. Despite his creepy appearance he was very charismatic and every woman wanted him. His massive penis is actually on display in some medical college here. The youngest Romanov and future Czar was a hemophiliac. Somehow Rasputin could hypnotize him, even other the phone, to stop bleeding. As you can imagine this gave him a lot of control over the monarchy. A lot of people were not happy about this and wanted him taken care of.

Rasputin was invited to Yusupov Palace for a party. He was then fed cyanide laced food and alcohol. Much to the dismay of his would be murderers this didn't kill him. He was almost impervious to it as he was a very heavy drinker. To move things along faster someone got a gun and shot him several times. They then left his body alone to get something to transport him in. When they came back he was gone. Rasputin didn't get very far though, he was found just outside. His murders then proceeded to beat the crap out of him. He was then tied up and thrown into the Neva river. A few days later his body was found with his arms in an upward positions and water in his lungs. After all that he had actually drowned.

That was much more interesting than my day. I spent a bit of time online before calling it an early night.

Bigger is Better

Day 496

I was up early and was pretty tired, but the show must go on so I showered and ate before heading out.The Hermitage is one of the largest museums in the world. The Smithsonian in Washington is the biggest even though it is really several different museums it's considered to all be one collection. So maybe the Hermitage this largest under one roof? I was told by a history professor in college that if you took 3 seconds to look at each item in the collection that it would take you 100 years to see it all. There was a sign at the beginning with the number of pieces the museum held. I did the math and it would actually take about 54 days. As you can imagine is one of the big to do's here.

I got in line just after 9 am, the museum opened at 10:30. I had a book to pass the time but it was really cold so it seemed to take forever. Inside of the museum I was only about 10 people back but it took forever. Every ticket seemed to require a lengthy conversation. The man behind me kept pushing me too, as if that would make things move faster! Behind me someone was asking why it was taking so long, I replied that it was rocket science. But really, why so slow? I showed my fake ISIC card and had a free ticket in minutes. I didn't by a photo pass, but decided to just see if anyone stopped me. Once in the doors I picked up a map and sat down with some tea to figure out my plan of attack. There were 400 rooms to see and I would need to highlight as I went to make sure that I didn't miss anything.

I took my first picture at ten minutes to 11, I had 7 hours to get this thing done in. Catherine the Great layed the foundation for the museum when she acquired a very large number of European paintings in 1764. The museum itself opened in 1952. The building is a former palace.

I started with the Egyptian area and then moved into sculptures. Once upstairs I got into the best part, the European art. The place was packed and there were a lot of tours, really annoying tours. Sometimes it was almost impossible to even get through the smallish rooms. I don't know if it was the high quality of the paintings or the sheer number the made the place so overwhelming, maybe it was both. I took well over 200 pictures. All the masters were there, Michelangelo, Renoir, Moet, Rubens, Picasso, Van Gogh, the list goes on on. Even the staircases were lined with delicate marble sculptures. Some rooms were a bit boring with just tableware and vases, I passed quickly through those. Others captivated me for some time. I was disappointed to find that a large number of rooms were closed. I don't know why. Some of the rooms were decorated as they would have been when the palace was used as a home.

Around 2pm I finished the second floor and took a half hour lunch break. The internet here was cheaper than anywhere I had been before so I passed my time checking my email.

After lunch I went to the 3rd floor for the 20th century art. Then came world art, Japanese, SE Asian and Islamic. I had seen most of it recently so it wasn't overly fascinating. Most of the rooms were closed anyway. The second half of the first floor was also closed. It was a bit hard to get to this section and it was empty so I think that most people didn't even bother. Finally some peace. This section was on early man and archeology from the Caucuses.

At this point I had been in the museum for 5 hours. I was footsore and exhausted. I was almost happy that about 80 of the rooms had been closed. It would have taken me another hour and a half to see them and I don't think that I had it in me. The Hermitage was amazing. I can't believe that I got to see it. It was worth the wait and fighting the crowds.

After some dinner I spent some time online organizing my pictures and chatting to friends. Back at the hostel I had a few drinks with the other people hanging around, but I was pretty tired so I called it an early night.

Pissed Off

Day 495

I was up early because I wanted to beat the crowds, but by the time I had eaten and showered it was pouring down rain. I ended up going back to sleep until it stopped. Around ten the rain let up and I headed out to the Peter and Paul fortress. This was the oldest building in St. Petersburg, built in 1703. It was meant to protect the city from Sweden, but never saw any action.

Right in the middle is the SS Peter and Paul cathedral. It was really amazing. Five of the last Romanov's are buried here. What's weird is that they didn't say where the most recently found remains are. I wonder if they are still testing them. There were plaques for the missing children on the walls along with everyone else. The place was packed. When I finally got a shot at Peter the Greats tomb I was pushed aside by a French language guide. I held my ground though. I didn't wait patiently for the last group to move just to wait for this one as well. I wanted that picture along with a minute with my favorite royal.

When I was done with the cathedral I went looking for the other museums included in my ticket. The first one I found was on movie and theater costumes. I don't know why but they had one of Elizabeth Taylor's gowns as well. Next up was the rather boring space museum. It wasn't crowded. I then found a Peter the Great statue with an oddly small head. Next up were some semi interesting history museums on the town and the fortress itself. The last stop was the prison museum. It was very much like every old prison I've been too. Some of the prisoner stories were interesting though.

After a late lunch I hung out at the hostel until dinner time. After dinner I spent a bit of time at the internet cafe before heading back. I had an early day coming up so I wanted to get to sleep early. This was easier said than done. The mossies were really bad and I could feel myself being eaten alive and hear them in my ears. There were a lot of drunk people coming and going all night as well.

Around three am something woke me up. The Canadian guy in my room was about 2 feet to the right of my bed, facing away from me. He then proceeded to pee on the floor and a bit on the empty bed two beds away from me. This also woke up the girl sleeping in the bed across from mine. I said rather loudly that that wasn't the toilet, but he ignored me. When he was done he then tried to lay in the bed he had just peed on, but got frustrated when he couldn't find the sheets (there were none) and went back to his own bed. At this point the English girl and I were really giggling and went downstairs to ask for some towels to throw on top of it.

The next day the Canadian apologized, he seemed really embarrassed and had no memory of it happening. I told him that it wasn't a big deal, but that it would be making it into my blog, he said that that was fair enough and here it is.

Diversity

Day 494

The nice things about going to bed early is that you wake up early. After making myself some eggs (a nice side effect to staying in one place for almost a week, eggs don't travel well) and showering I headed out.

After crossing the Neva River I got to the Kunst Kamera. This museum was started by Peter the Great in 1714 to display his collection of preserved deformed fetuses and body parts. The aforementioned bit was actually only a small part of the museum. Most of the preserved fetuses had been collected by a Dutch doctor for research. The doctor would dress up the ones that he kept in his own collection to make them seem less gruesome. Peter actually paid people to bring him deformed bits of people. It was very, very creepy.

Along with the dead babies Peter had people collect things from all over the world. It's was like seeing someone's holiday souvenirs on display. Most of the stuff came from India and Asia, in fact, I own some of it myself. It wasn't nearly as interesting as the creepy stuff.

After some wandering and getting very lost I found the Blockade Museum. During WWII St. Petersburg had been renamed Leningrad. LG spent 872 days blockaded. There was little food, people ate rats, cats and each other to survive. On Nevsky Street (the main drag) there is a a sign from the war warning people that it was the most deadly part of the street. The museum had a lot of pictures but absolutely no English. Still, it was interesting.

I'd finished the museums I had planned for the day so I went back to the hostel to relax after lunch. I read for a bit and maybe even slept. After dinner I went to the internet cafe. I meant to get some work done, but mostly screwed around. When I got back to the hostel the bar was empty and it seemed that everyone was either out or asleep. I soon went to sleep myself

Left Behind

Day 493

Once in St. Petersburg I had not problems find the metro and getting a ticket. I just couldn't find a map anywhere. Eventually I just asked someone and they told me what line to get on. Once again, thanks LP for being a crappy guidebook. Once out of the metro I found my hostel with no difficulties. After showering I picked up a free pocket guide and headed for some lunch. Over lunch I figured out my plan of attack for the city.

My first stop was the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. This was were Alexander II was assassinated, hence the morbid name. I didn't know who he was, but it turns out that he was the elder brother of the Romanov that was killed in the woods with his family. The mosaics were amazing, but the place was packed. I basically took my pictures and got out.

Next up was the Russian Museum. I didn't pay extra to take photos but just took them anyway, no one said anything to me. My favorite part were the icons, especially St. George killing that pesky dragon. There were also tapestries and sculptures. Some of the rooms were more interesting than the paintings that they held. It was a really nice museum.

When I was done I spent some time at the internet cafe before going to the supermarket to get food for the week. I really wanted to get some sour cream for my pasta, but the last time that I had tried it I ended up with yogurt. This time I just kept asking until someone could tell me. The man who told me then proceeded to tell me about Left Behind. You might not remember this but way back in Ireland I had been given a synopsis of this without knowing and then had to read it out of pure boredom. He then went on about how evil credit cards were and about miracles. He especially talked about the evils of alcohol. Lastly he invited me to come to his Christian group. When he finally left me alone I put another beer in my basket, I felt that I deserved it. That was definitely the most expensive sour cream that I have ever had!

Back at the hostel some Aussies were tying up the whole stove. When it finally looked like they were done I asked "are ya'll done with the stove?" One of them looked blankly at me and then said that he didn't understand but thought I needed the stove. He then slowly, while making extra expressive arm movements told me that he would wash the pot. If I had been non English speaking I would have been really offended by the way he did this. I then pointed out that I was American and it would be just fine for him to speak to me in English.

After dinner I had a few beers and chatted with the other people at the hostel. There were a lot of people here. I was tired though, I had gotten here at 6:30 in the morning and hadn't slept much on the train. I was the first person out that night.