Russia
Russia was the last country for me to visit in Europe and it's also the world's biggest country. It covers 1/8 of the populated area of the world so I thought it would be funny to visit it only for a day trip because of this.
My friend Erik and I went on a visa free cruise from Helsinki in Finland to the second largest city in Russia, Saint Petersburg. After a night's sleep on the boat we woke up to a rainy day and it was a sign of how bad the day would start. The cruise line had told us we could take the shuttle bus into town 09.30 and then back at 16.30 but it turned out to be lies, after spending hours waiting to get off the boat and then to get through customs we had more like a total of 4-5 hours to hurry through the city if we wanted to be able to see anything at all.
The first thing we saw when we came into town was a T-shirt of the nations leader Putin (or dictator if you rather call him that) riding a bear and I thought it was so funny that I bought it later on. We had been travelling so much in the last days that I almost had no idea where I was. I didn't even know how much I paid when I bought something with the rubels because I had no clue about how to convert the currency into Swedish money. It was a scary thought until I realized how cheap everything was in Russia.
My only goal was to visit The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, one of the most famous spots of the city, and a classical Russian looking church. We never went into it to play feminist protest punk rock though.
On our way there we could tell that Sweden would be playing Switzerland in the round of 16 in the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup in just a couple of days.
When we booked the trip we could never imagine Sweden to go through from the group, so it was fun to be able to almost get a vibe from the World Cup as a bonus. It didn't hurt that Sweden would also win this game and qualify for the quarter finals later on.
I wanted to find a museum of cars from American movies but Erik had no interest in it so instead we went to a nearby museum of arcade games from the Soviet era.
We went to the Upside Down House which is a place decorated for you to be able to take pictures that make you look like your doing crazy tricks, when you turn the picture upside down.
When we went out to get our jackets and stuff again I heard the receptionist say "really?" in a sarcastic way. Then she nodded at my newly bought T-shirt of Putin riding the bear and laughed. When I told her we were from Sweden she said she knew some bad words in Swedish. "Jävla" she said and I told her it means like "damn", and I thought it wasn't that bad. Then she said "fitta" which means "cunt" and since we were in a reception of families passing through I went totally politically correct and said it meant "the thing girls have". I have never heard anyone swear by saying "damn the thing girls have" though. She had learned it from watching Pewdiepie, a Swedish YouTube star.
When we came out from the Upside Down House we accidentally saw Hermitage, it's one of the world's biggest museums with over 3 million pieces in it.
We didn't have enough time to even see 3 pieces there, so instead we just watched it from outside. What had started as a bad day with rain and spending half the day in customs now had turned into me starting to enjoy Russia, I just wished we had more time!
To celebrate my new-found love for the country I watched the game between Russia and Spain at the boat while drinking vodka in my Putin T-shirt.
While we left the harbour of Saint Petersburg all of the Russians and one Swede celebrated the unexpected win for Russia in penalties. A perfect ending to my short visit!
* Best things about Russia – The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was as majestic as I had hoped for, even if they unfortunately were renovating it while we were there, the basketball game at the Soviet Arcade Game Museum was amazing and I can recommend the Upside Down House for some funny pictures, I didn't mind the cheap prices either or the Russian accent which sounds harsh and beautiful at the same time!
* Most mediocre thing about Russia – that Putin yet can't control the weather and that he lets it rain on my only day there
* Worst things about Russia – spending half of the day in the customs was the worst thing I experienced since I didn't have time for that, but I know how bad it is for LGBT travellers and for anyone to speak up against the government, so they sure have some big issues to fix
Best countries in the world according to the nerd (will be updated with every post):
1. USA
2. Croatia
3. Montenegro
4. Andorra
5. Cyprus
6. Turkey
7. Greece
8. Italy
9. Spain
10. Monaco
11. Malta
12. Netherlands
13. Iceland
14. Denmark
15. Sweden
16. Lithuania
17. Macedonia
18. Armenia
19. Portugal
20. Hungary
21. Slovakia
22. Belarus
23. Slovenia
24. Austria
25. Russia
26. New Zealand
27. Ireland
28. Germany
29. United Kingdom
30. Belgium
31. Poland
32. Vatican City
33. Estonia
34. Czech Republic
35. Switzerland
36. San Marino
37. Kosovo
38. Romania
39. Finland
40. Latvia
41. Azerbaijan
42. Georgia
43. Moldova
44. Norway
45. Ukraine
46. France
47. Bulgaria
48. Luxembourg
49. Liechtenstein
50. China
51. Serbia
52. Bosnia And Herzegovina
53. Albania
My friend Erik and I went on a visa free cruise from Helsinki in Finland to the second largest city in Russia, Saint Petersburg. After a night's sleep on the boat we woke up to a rainy day and it was a sign of how bad the day would start. The cruise line had told us we could take the shuttle bus into town 09.30 and then back at 16.30 but it turned out to be lies, after spending hours waiting to get off the boat and then to get through customs we had more like a total of 4-5 hours to hurry through the city if we wanted to be able to see anything at all.
The first thing we saw when we came into town was a T-shirt of the nations leader Putin (or dictator if you rather call him that) riding a bear and I thought it was so funny that I bought it later on. We had been travelling so much in the last days that I almost had no idea where I was. I didn't even know how much I paid when I bought something with the rubels because I had no clue about how to convert the currency into Swedish money. It was a scary thought until I realized how cheap everything was in Russia.
My only goal was to visit The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, one of the most famous spots of the city, and a classical Russian looking church. We never went into it to play feminist protest punk rock though.
On our way there we could tell that Sweden would be playing Switzerland in the round of 16 in the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup in just a couple of days.
When we booked the trip we could never imagine Sweden to go through from the group, so it was fun to be able to almost get a vibe from the World Cup as a bonus. It didn't hurt that Sweden would also win this game and qualify for the quarter finals later on.
I wanted to find a museum of cars from American movies but Erik had no interest in it so instead we went to a nearby museum of arcade games from the Soviet era.
We played the football version of the old game Pong as our own World Cup, but the best game was an old basketball game. It was a stressful and funny way to play, where you have to find the right number all the time and hit it before your opponent, while the ball flies all over the place to make you try and find new numbers. If you don't know what you will get me for my next birthday, well now you know!
We found a place in the more worn down parts of town that sold vegetarian food with the catchphrase "food from the hood" in an alley and we both agreed that St. Petersburg reminded us of Berlin, the capital of Germany.
We went to the Upside Down House which is a place decorated for you to be able to take pictures that make you look like your doing crazy tricks, when you turn the picture upside down.
It was a fun place if you're still in touch with your inner child!
When we went out to get our jackets and stuff again I heard the receptionist say "really?" in a sarcastic way. Then she nodded at my newly bought T-shirt of Putin riding the bear and laughed. When I told her we were from Sweden she said she knew some bad words in Swedish. "Jävla" she said and I told her it means like "damn", and I thought it wasn't that bad. Then she said "fitta" which means "cunt" and since we were in a reception of families passing through I went totally politically correct and said it meant "the thing girls have". I have never heard anyone swear by saying "damn the thing girls have" though. She had learned it from watching Pewdiepie, a Swedish YouTube star.
When we came out from the Upside Down House we accidentally saw Hermitage, it's one of the world's biggest museums with over 3 million pieces in it.
We didn't have enough time to even see 3 pieces there, so instead we just watched it from outside. What had started as a bad day with rain and spending half the day in customs now had turned into me starting to enjoy Russia, I just wished we had more time!
To celebrate my new-found love for the country I watched the game between Russia and Spain at the boat while drinking vodka in my Putin T-shirt.
While we left the harbour of Saint Petersburg all of the Russians and one Swede celebrated the unexpected win for Russia in penalties. A perfect ending to my short visit!
* Best things about Russia – The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was as majestic as I had hoped for, even if they unfortunately were renovating it while we were there, the basketball game at the Soviet Arcade Game Museum was amazing and I can recommend the Upside Down House for some funny pictures, I didn't mind the cheap prices either or the Russian accent which sounds harsh and beautiful at the same time!
* Most mediocre thing about Russia – that Putin yet can't control the weather and that he lets it rain on my only day there
* Worst things about Russia – spending half of the day in the customs was the worst thing I experienced since I didn't have time for that, but I know how bad it is for LGBT travellers and for anyone to speak up against the government, so they sure have some big issues to fix
Best countries in the world according to the nerd (will be updated with every post):
1. USA
2. Croatia
3. Montenegro
4. Andorra
5. Cyprus
6. Turkey
7. Greece
8. Italy
9. Spain
10. Monaco
11. Malta
12. Netherlands
13. Iceland
14. Denmark
15. Sweden
16. Lithuania
17. Macedonia
18. Armenia
19. Portugal
20. Hungary
21. Slovakia
22. Belarus
23. Slovenia
24. Austria
25. Russia
26. New Zealand
27. Ireland
28. Germany
29. United Kingdom
30. Belgium
31. Poland
32. Vatican City
33. Estonia
34. Czech Republic
35. Switzerland
36. San Marino
37. Kosovo
38. Romania
39. Finland
40. Latvia
41. Azerbaijan
42. Georgia
43. Moldova
44. Norway
45. Ukraine
46. France
47. Bulgaria
48. Luxembourg
49. Liechtenstein
50. China
51. Serbia
52. Bosnia And Herzegovina
53. Albania
Comments
Post a Comment