After a usually bizarre Russian breakfast we boarded our bus bound for St Petersburg.  The next four hours were spent reading ‘Take Me With You’ by Brad Newsham and watching the beautiful scenery pass by.

We checked into our hotel ust after 14:00 and had unitl 15:00 to get our money changed into Roubles, and find somewhere to eat.  Incredibly we managed to do everything in time and started our walking tour of St Petersburg with our guide Natalia.  The first stop was Chernaya Rechka metro station where we went along three stop to Nevskiy Prospekt-Gostiny Ivor station.  As in Moscow the architecture in the metro station is amazing and so deep too.  Some parts of the metro are sixty metres below the ground.

Over the next three hours we took in Nevskiy Prospekt, the Russian Museum, almost all of the city’s incredible museums, Peter and Paul’s Fortress and Winter Palace, along with the Hermitage.  On the way Natalia helped us to get tickets for the ballet ‘Giselle’ for tomorrow night in the Hermitage Theatre.  Apparently the ballet company we are going to see tomorrow is the best in Russia and tickets are much sought after.

Once the walking tour was over we came across a cheap restaurant and the group gave a collective sigh of relief as they took the weight of their feet.  We all went for interesting soup and meat dishes, without really knowing what it was.  Still, it came to less than £3 each.

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