Day 4 5/9/11 - Russia

Moscow -> St Petersburg

Highlight

• Had a very relaxing day. Woke up late, had a leisurely breakfast, then took our time to pack.
• It was easy to figure out the train and tickets, and English on the train!
• Very comfy, and Allie didn’t misbehave. The 4.5 hrs journey passed quicker than I thought.
• St P was quite different to Moscow surprisingly. Not as many Asians, the Metro is much more user friendly, and signs in English. It was less grand though.
• No police or uniform people, much more graffiti and people hanging around on the streets.
• Checked into hotel – not bad since there is free internet, otherwise not as good as the Hilton of course.
• After our welcome drink, went to dinner at another guidebook restaurant. Only English tourists were eating there.
• Food was not as good as the Uzbak place but still pretty decent.

Food

• Hilton breakfast:
  • fried egg
  • cream cheese fritter
  • tomatoes, grilled vegetables, noodles, sausage, bacon, mushrooms, hash brown
  • smoked salmon with dill, smoked white fish, herrings
  • cold cuts
  • cheese
  • ham and onion cake
  • lemon poppy seed cake
  • pear tart
  • fresh fruit
• Café Ketino:
  • Shashlik – previously marinated sautéed pieces of pork (550)
  • Chakhokhbili – pieces of chicken cooked with walnuts, tomatoes, greens and traditional spices (570)
  • Lobio – Georgian style stewed red beans with walnuts and traditional spices (350)
  • Lavash – homemade Georgian bread (90)
  • Mors cranberry (100)
  • Lemonade “Svyatoi Graal” pear (150)