My very much better half has always wanted to go and see a classical ballet performance, so it was that one evening around Christmas time I suggested we go and see one on our wedding anniversary in February. I was thinking a few days down in London, but she had different ideas and started looking at European ballet companies. Having no luck there, she turned her attention to the east and still not finding a performance that fitted our timetable she said, "St Petersburg looks nice in winter, even if there is no ballet." Indeed St Petersburg, a city spread over several islands linked by raising bridges, did look like a perfect winter wonderland.
A trip to Russia was booked before we had even thought about the visa requirements which in turn highlighted the fact that my passport had almost expired. So, after a lot of visa application form filling, passport renewal and a trip to the Russian visa application centre (a service outsourced by the Russian consulate) down in Edinburgh, we soon had the documentation needed to actually go. All we needed were some rubles (100 per pound sterling) and some nice new warm coats, St Petersburg winters can apparently get as cold as -30C, even in mid February.
I am usually given charge of communications on our travels abroad and I generally do quite well at it. I found myself trying to get a grasp of basic Russian words and phrases, I have to tell you it was not easy! When we arrived at St Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport, which Interestingly still uses the identifying code 'LED' for Leningrad, I got my first go at practising my limited Russian at immigration control. I might as well have not bothered as those guys are never chatty in any part of the world and the Putin 'Mini-me' was no exception. Soon we were in a taxi which for about £10 took us on the thirty minute trip to our hotel, The Sokos Vasilyevsky.
As it was late in the day we wasted no time after checking in and were soon out walking in the late winter afternoon. The snow we had hoped would be adorning the city was, by and large, noticeable by its absence. The river Neva was completely frozen over with a dusting of snow on its icy lid, but the streets and pavements had only the remnants of a once white cloak. The biting wind, its teeth sharpened further as it blasted across the icy Neva, was painful on exposed skin and we were soon pulling on our gloves and tightening our hoods around our faces as we headed out across Blagoveshchensky Bridge (pictured below with the docks beyond) to have a look at the local sights.
On the far side of the Bridge we found ourselves on the 'English Embankment' but soon walked away from the river to escape the cold blast of the wind. After a short while, with darkness having fallen, we came across St Isaac's Cathedral, the dome of which dominates the city skyline from most directions as you will see from photos in my next few instalments of tales from this trip.
Even though we were away from the Neva, it was still too cold to stand for long taking iPhone snaps (I regret having left my DSLR at home after seeing what were probably overblown warnings on Trip Advisor) and the ski gloves were soon back on and we were walking again in search of a bar in which to get a drink and warm our bones.
After passing the Admiralty building (Pictured above), former headquarters of the Admiralty Board and the Imperial Russian Navy, we found a smashing little place called Bar Library inside which we got quietly 'relaxed' on local beers. Later when we were ready to eat we moved on to find food and wine, supplied with fast and friendly service at the nearby Gorohoff restaurant.
With our fires stoked by good food and a warming Georgian red wine, which (along with the earlier beers) might have contributed to my tripping on a hole that was sticking up and some improvised ballet moves that the great Mikhail Baryshnikov himself could not have dreamed of, we marched back to Vasilyevsky Island to rest up ready for day two.
