Cold Russia. In 2012, I lived for six months in Saint Petersburg. I experienced the white nights from end of May until middle of July when a day is in average 19 hours long. Make a trip and see the culture, the life style, and the old historic buildings of Saint Petersburg. Russia is the biggest country in the world and Saint Petersburg has a population of 4.991 million people.
Here Is a quick insight and a few tips for your travels in Saint Petersburg.
FIRST IMPRESSION & CITY LIFE.
Traveling back in time, that was my initial feeling when I came to Saint Petersburg. The way people dressed, the way they behaved, it strongly felt like discovering an old time. Being surrounded by the old, historical buildings reinforced this feeling I had. For example, the “Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood” was built between 1883 and 1907, and it is only one of many major sights that Saint Petersburg has to offer.
Saint Petersburg is vast, with wide, long streets and plenty of space around you. It is the second-largest city in Russia. Experiencing Saint Petersburg is truly breathtaking.
FOOD.
While discovering this giant city, you will need to get a taste of Russian cuisine. Russian food is amazing. There are a lot of variations that you can choose from. Try the famous Russian soup “Borscht”. It contains beetroot and gets its red color from there. Soups are a common dish to eat, likewise the Russian dumplings called “Pelmeni,” the Russian pancakes called “Blini,” or the grilled cubes of meat known as “Shashlyk.”
I recommend the restraunt chain “Чайная Ложка”. You will find it in the Russain Facebook version “VK” at https://vk.com/teaspoon_spb. The restraunt menu offers traditional Russian food, easy to choose from and pricely very inexpensive. It is a local insider tip!
ORDERING A TAXI.
I will give you another good advice that will save you money. When you arrive at the airport of Saint Petersburg, you will find a lot of taxi drivers waiting for you and pushing you to take their service. Their price is a total rip-off. My advice is call a local taxi company and ask them to pick you up from the airport. I understand that you probably won’t have a Russian sim-card. In that way, just ask some Russians to do a call for you. Here is one taxi company’s phone number 333-00-00 (charge free). Otherwise you can schedule a taxi ride in advance on their website https://taxovichkof.ru. I personally made the experience to call them once you landed. The taxi drivers are very reliable, they are there quickly to pick you up and are friendly, safe drivers as well. There are other taxi companies of course. My main point is to look for the taxi companies that the locals use and not the ones who waiting at the airport. They only target the tourists. In doing that you will get a fair price. It saved me about 80% of the airport shuttle costs.
