Russia is a hard country. Today ended up being a little to challenging. Got up late, went with Jarrod, and Australian I met at the hostel, to the Church of the Resurection of Christ. This Church is spectacular, it looks like something that should be sitting in the middle of Disney Land. It's covered with bright colors, and fancy onion shapped towers. On the inside it's even better. The entire interior is covered with wonderful mosaics. It is the most beautiful church or Cathedral I've ever seen.
After the church we walked down to the Winter Palace, which is the main building of the Hermitage which has one of the largest collections in the world. It's pretty impressive, but it didn't take long to be overwhelmed.
Next it was a walk through the summer gardens, really not that impressive, especially in the rain. I then caught the metro home, and it was time to start for the train station.
Here's where things start to get exciting. I collected my gear from the hostel and started walking towards the train station. The plan was I'd catch a taxiand get there with about 30 minutes to burn. Slight hitch was I couldn't find a cab. finally after 30 minutes I got a cab, and showed him the station on the map, and off we went. I should still be able to make the train, no problem. Except it seems like we're heading the wrong way, I quickily consult the guide book and I decide he's heading for Pushkin station instead of the Finland Station. I try to explain, he doesn't understand. Several more minutes spent finding the Russian name of the station I want in the guide book. Finally we're on our way to the correct place. I get there, pay, run, too late. Looks like I get to spend a second night in St Petersburg. This wouldn't be so bad, except my visa expires tonight.
Back to the hostel. I'm not in a very good mood, so everyone tells me a horror story about Russia. Now I'm in a worse mood. I went to the store, bought stuff for dinner and a bottle of vodka. Sit in the hostel and watch Resevor Dogs and Reality Bites, drink 250 ml of vodka, and eat diner. At about 11 Jarrod suggest we go out.
We end up at this basement club with a live band singing 50's and 60's rock and roll. We teach some Russian naval acadamy guys how to play quarters, which was pretty easy, even with no English. After a couple hours the club closes, I realize I'm in not much condition to even walk, and we catch a cab home. I am not going to be the happy traveler tomorrow morning...
