But before I get into the meat of the day, we had a new roommate in our hostel room. We got acquainted a little bit before we decided to do anything. His name was Alex and he was visiting his friend in St. Petersburg for a few days from London. He was 18 years old, so he was younger than any of us, but that didn't stop him from being a really cool dude.
So after got all got to know each other a little bit, we invited Alex to come with us to the Peter and Paul Fortress - a large enclosed area on a sort of island in the middle of the Neva river. So once we got ready, we set off and learned very quickly that today was going to be a little bit colder than the day before. Like, a lot colder. See, the thing isn't so much that the base temperature is that much colder than in Moscow, there's just so much damn wind. But even given the wind, it wasn't excruciatingly bad walking...yet.
I say yet because, of course, by the time we got to the bridges that lead to the fortress, it felt like someone was taking knives to my face it was so cold. We fought our way to a souvenir shop to warm up and then continued our journey. Eventually we reached the fortress, but we couldn't figure out how to get in. There was a fork in the road, we went right. About 13 minutes later we came back and went left.
Once we figured out how to get in, we wander around in the freezing courtyard until we found the ticket office. Nathan and I showed out student cards, which allowed us to get our tickets to 5 of the museums/places in the fortress for free. Samwise forgot his student card, so he had to pay. Nathan and I teased him about it and and then headed across the street to the Peter and Paul Cathedral, where Czar Nicholas II and his family are buried.
The actual room containing the Czar and his family. You're not allowed in there.After we exitted the cathedral we wandered around aimlessly (seriously, the little signposts do not help AT ALL when it comes to finding the next important place - "Yeah, it's in that general direction...") for a little while and found a statue of a man sitting who had very strage proportions, if the statue is to be believed as accurate.
Seriously, that's one tiny ass head for a guy that big.
Seriously, that's one tiny ass head for a guy that big.Eventually we found another one of the five places we had tickets for (after the cathedral it was all museums). After lookign through and then checking out a nearby souvenir shop (where I bought a St. Petersburg stein), Alex told us that he had to leave to meet his St. Pete friend. Samwise, Nathan, and I continued to the third building, after which Samwise told us that he forgot his camera.
Just a couple of museum pictures.
Of course, Nathan and I continued to the next museum. Once we finished up in there, we realized that we had absolutely no idea where Samwise was. We went back to the last museum, where the little old lady at the coatroom said that he cameback, found his camera and left to who knows where.
We knew that he wanted to see the space museum here, so we headed there next. While we did see some cool space shuttle replicas and a little section dedicated to Yuri Gagarin (a Russian hero - he was actually the very first person in space. Wonder why we don't hear much bout that in America...), we didn't find Samwise, so we decided to walk around the entirety of the courtyard to see if we could find him. Twenty minutes later, nothing.
A space dog and a space suit.
At that point we were tired and figured that Samwise would find his own way back, so we left via a direct bridge (DAMNIT! Wish we'd known about that when we were trying to get in) and (eventually) found the metro, which we took to a stop near the hostel.
We were settled in drinking tea when, about half an hour later, Samwise walks in. Apparently he went to a mosque that he wanted to see and than walked the entire hour+ back to the hostel.
Samwise's mosque (we'd gone there to look for him, too).
Later that night, we went to a club (first time in my life), but since day three was pretty darn boring, I'll talk about that in the next entry.
Just a couple of museum pictures.Of course, Nathan and I continued to the next museum. Once we finished up in there, we realized that we had absolutely no idea where Samwise was. We went back to the last museum, where the little old lady at the coatroom said that he cameback, found his camera and left to who knows where.
We knew that he wanted to see the space museum here, so we headed there next. While we did see some cool space shuttle replicas and a little section dedicated to Yuri Gagarin (a Russian hero - he was actually the very first person in space. Wonder why we don't hear much bout that in America...), we didn't find Samwise, so we decided to walk around the entirety of the courtyard to see if we could find him. Twenty minutes later, nothing.
A space dog and a space suit.At that point we were tired and figured that Samwise would find his own way back, so we left via a direct bridge (DAMNIT! Wish we'd known about that when we were trying to get in) and (eventually) found the metro, which we took to a stop near the hostel.
We were settled in drinking tea when, about half an hour later, Samwise walks in. Apparently he went to a mosque that he wanted to see and than walked the entire hour+ back to the hostel.
Samwise's mosque (we'd gone there to look for him, too).Later that night, we went to a club (first time in my life), but since day three was pretty darn boring, I'll talk about that in the next entry.
Big dude with the tiny head? Yeah, that's supposed to be Peter the Great. I think the Russians need to work on proportions...
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