Before we start we are in Lahti about 100 km north of Helsinki.
It is really great to be in a place where everything works all the people are nice. A preconception is that Finns are withdrawn and gloomy. Maybe this type are all out of the country right now. we are heading west towards Turku to cross to Sweden. Still lots of headwinds. yesterday and today was the first time that my knees have ached at the end of the day.
To continue about St Petersburg. Would I recommend anyone to go there - definitely yes. I think I sounded a bit gloomy about our experiences yesterday. We did enjoy being there and it did grow on us. Our flat was only a couple of minutes from the Hermitage and in spite of the dire prognostications in the guide book we got in to the museum without having to queue for more than a few minutes. It is an amazing building but being philistines we ignored the galleries of European art and concentrated on the Russian stuff. We did come across two Breughels that seemed to have been stuffed into a corridor but mainly we were admiring the ostentation of the building. The Romanovs seemed to have the Windsor gene for dressing up in ridiculous uniforms and decking themselves in bling. We preferred the Russian Museum but were disappointed that there were not more Soviet pictures of the 9th cadre tractor factory.
Probably the main problem was that the language (our lack of it ) was quite isolating. On the way to the border we bumped into a lovely Italian couple on a motorbike who were parked on the hardshoulder. They greeted us like long lost friends - they were so desperate to talk to some one. They spoke a lot less Russian than we did and did not have a very nice time. Even in a big fat motorbike they found the roads very dangerous. In fact one of the first things we noticed when we crossed the border was the sudden appearance of motor bikes - something we just didn't see in Russia at all. The italians were making their way to the North Cape.
Apart from whatever St petersburg does, the two most apparent industries are tourism and weddings. Outside any attraction were stacks of tour groups ( mainly Russian) waiting to follow the umbrella waving guide. Many more than you see in London. However the wedding industry was vast. Wherever we went there were wedding parties stacked up waiting to be snapped at the appropriate scenic spot. At one place on a wet Wednesday afternoon we counted six stretch limos parked up and six bridal groups all releasing the standard pair of doves.
We went to Petrodvets, one of the Romanovs waterside palaces. I am amazed that they weren't taken out and shot earlier: it was outrageous.
