As we’ve moved along over this journey, I’ve taken pictures of things for posting to the blog. Some of them didn’t make it, for one reason or another. But hating to waste good pictures, I thought I’d throw them into a blog posting for all to experience.

(more…)

It was a rainy day when my brother Raoul… no, wait, sorry — that’s a Pizzaville ad.

But it was a rainy day here (the rain only recently finally stopped). Amy and I were going to do the church tour today, but walking to the Peter and Paul Fortress would have soaked us through. Not really an option. Instead, we opted for the St. Isaac’s Cathedral, about a click down the road.

(more…)

Turns out that our excursion to Tinkoff to discuss politics turned into a football lesson. (That’s “football” as in how the rest of the world defines “soccer” for us North Americans.) Kat and Nick are huge fans. So large, as a matter of fact, that Kat is delaying her departure to Khazakstan so she can catch the cup game her favourite team will be playing.

(more…)

Oy. The last 36-ish hours have been a whirlwind of activity.

Hit the Hermitage, as you already know, and then hit it up a second time to find the errant Picasso section (which wasn’t well-marked on the “map” we were given). This was over two days, I might add.

(more…)

[This entry originally posted on How To Get Lost: Pickpockets suck!.]

I’ve had two separate and unique run-ins with pickpockets. The first was at the Edgefest concert in Vancouver back in ‘99. I think we were listening to Sloan at the time, and some idiot came up behind me, dragging his finger up the back pocket in a vain attempt to pop whatever was in there (which was nothing) out. I should have reacted at the time, but never having been picked before, I wasn’t sure what to do.

(more…)

[This entry originally posted on How To Get Lost: 16 years ago....]

I had a phone chat with Alex this morning (it hasn’t been a week, and I miss her sorely; the next six weeks almost seem unfathomable), and she let me know something.

I’ve gotten a little carried away saying “16 years ago”.

(more…)

[This entry originally posted on How To Get Lost: Visiting the Hermitage.]

The Hermitage is if not the largest art museum in the world, definitely in the top five. The place is MASSIVE. It makes the British Museum seem like a corner store by comparison. It doesn’t hurt, though, that it used to be the palace for the Romanov family (though opened to the public in the 1800s).

After a fairly hearty Russian breakfast of bread, meat, and cheese (I’d forgotten how much I’d missed Russian cheese!), we headed out to the museum. Nord Hostel is about 100 metres from the site of Bloody Sunday, between the Winter Palace and the Army headquarters. It’s a short walk to the museum’s doors.

(more…)