Russia is the same as I remember it, only more expensive. In the two years since I was here last the price of everything has pretty much doubled. Metro fares, hostel prices, train tickets... Tourism must have had a serious boost as well. There are more maps and signs with English directions and notations. Though they seem to be stepping up the game to cater to the visitors, I don't think I will ever return to this country. It is discouraging after paying $40 for visa support (such a joke) and $100 for the visa itself to arrive in a country and realize how little any of its inhabitants want you there.
As it was two years ago, the border crossing was uneventful. All the fretting over facing the firing squad at immigration was unwarranted, of course.
St Petersburg was so warm! It was short sleeve weather most days. Ice had broken up and began to flow down the Neva River steadily. We sat down underneath the bridge and watched the masive bergs and sheets of ice lumber past. We took in the Russia culture section of the still incredible Hermitage and wandered Nevsky Prospect.
In Moscow we stayed in a central area close to Stockmann's, a Western grocery store that I believe saved our lives when Kip and I were here a few years ago. Our hostel was essentially just a small apartment that someone had decided would make good accommodation. There was rarely a staff member present and Jessica ended up checking in the majority of the guests who arrived after us. Not being a legimate hostel caused some problem as they had no travel services or registration capabilities. They had to send the registration out to a separate service and wanted to charge us 700 roubles each to register! We decided to take our chances with our outdated St Petersburg registration because the police are ruthless and often don't care if you've registered or not. Since the police presence was thick in our area we did little but arrange for onward travel from Moscow but did visit Red Square and St Basil's.
Next up: the No. 10 train from Moscow across Siberia to Irkutsk.
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