ST. PETERSBURG AND PHOTOS

[BillyB]

The women in St. Petersburg are ripe for romance.

Unfortunately for them, I was already spoken for. Lots of single beautiful ladies walking around during good weather and holiday festivities. Lots of single women walking down the street holding hands or alone. They looked very approachable and just waiting for the right man to come along.

My sixth time in the FSU and I don't care what anybody says, beautiful women are not distributed equally in every nation. The ladies here dress better and look better. They are more feminine and on average, look and act like women.

Men were dressed more casual. Most were well behaved but I seen a few guys pissing on walls and two drunks destroying everything in their path. Natalia, my fiancee, asked me why one man was dressed as Santa Claus. I told her probably for the same reason we saw one man walking down the street wearing a plastic set of tits, because they want attention.

I was lucky to get an apartment in St. Pete at this time of year in late May because the city is celebrating it's birthday. For over a month, no travel agency in America or Russia contacted me pertaining to my inquiry about getting reservations in a hotel. I asked them why they haven't gotten back to me and their excuse is the hotels are not getting back to them. I've come to realize during good weather, there are not enough hotels in this city because lots of people want to come here. During bad weather(Winter), there are too many hotels in this city because nobody wants to come here.

A special thanks to Phil and his partner, Nina for getting me an apartment quickly. Phil also is very knowledgable of the people and life in Russia. Natalia says he has a bad accent when he speaks Russian! Practice Phil, practice. I remembered another poster mentioning Phil helping him so I PM'd him and he responded within hours with an available apartment. Nina seems to be a sweet lady and she also has her own business at this site.
www.flowersbynina.com/

I invited Natalia's mom to go with us on our trip. She's been such a good hostess during my 3 trips to Tashkent and I give her credit for Natalia's good upbringing. I'd thought I do something nice for her.

I accomplished a lot of my goals on this trip and concluded that the bond between Natalia and I is stronger than ever although time and distance has separated us. In the two years we've known each other, we've never been in an argument. But there was a time when things weren't going smooth. Last year Natalia's boss forbid employees from using the internet since some fool had a bad habit of downloading viruses crashing all computers. Our daily communication through letters diminished. Then the phone system took a dump for 4 months restricting our communication totally except when she gets to an internet cafe. Natalia had lots of stress from work since she was doing the work of two when an employee got fired and not replaced. She got high blood pressure, migraines and broke down and was hospitalized for two weeks. I began to blame myself wondering what I could've done to prevent this but was helpless. She was in no condition to maintain a relationship and I thought our relationship was going to end but I did my best to cheer her up and be content with whatever the results would be if she had a change of heart with me or moving to America or if life's difficulties in Tashkent was too much of a burden to maintain a positive relationship with me. Fortunately things turned out for the best and I over reacted to what she was going through.

Here's a pic of my Natalia on a boat ride.

[Wild Orchid]

so what is next, Bill? 

[BillyB]

so what is next, Bill? 

About 4 babies! At least that's what Natalia tells me she wants from me. She up'd it from 2 last year. Now I'm working on getting her here with me.


I met an interesting Italian couple when flying to St. Pete. The man was in his 60's and his wife in the 50's and quite talkative and cheerful during the whole flight. They asked me why I was going there. I told them I'm a tourist. After talking with them for a while and realizing these people were alright, I pulled out a photo of Natalia to show them the main reason I was going to St. Pete. They thought is was romantic and said Natalia was beautiful. Then they told me she was lucky to have me in which I took as a great compliment as they had already evaluated my character. They then proceeded to give me parental advice and told me don't marry so quickly and meet often before making a decision to marry. I thanked them for the advice and told them I've already done all they've said.

For our first complete day in St. Pete, I hired Nina's daughter, Ira, to be our tour guide so we could see some of the finest attractions St. Pete has to offer. She's a freelance tour guide and does most of her work with real tourist, not men seeking wives. Natalia and I enjoyed our time with her and we both agreed that she is very knowledgable about the history of St. Pete and the Czars of Russia. There was one incident that was interesting. We had stopped to buy something to drink and the vendor handed Natalia a cold can of Coca Cola which she said "this is very cold!" (not really in my opinion). Ira told me I'm going to get sick with the flu. I told her I like cold drinks on a hot day. She said cold drinks on a hot day are to be avoided. I explained to her that most Americans have their drinks cold and they aren't sick. Based on the look on her face, she wasn't buying it so I stopped trying to change her mind.

I'm not an expert in preserving art and artifacts but I'm sure heat and humidity is not good. At the Hermitage and Russian museum, there was lots of heat and humidity there since St. Pete is built on a swamp. I don't know why they don't turn on those air conditioners I saw sit idle to help preserve the treasures. Whoever is in charge needs to be fired.

Here's a pic of Natalia and I at the Hermitage. Hot and stuffy in there so we were a little uncomfortable. You're probably wondering why I have a coat with me. Although I didn't want to take it, Natalia made me bring it because she didn't want me getting cold. I was sweating all day!

[Wild Orchid]

About 4 babies! At least that's what Natalia tells me she wants from me. She up'd it from 2 last year. Now I'm working on getting her here with me.

I'm glad to hear that. I was following your story for a while now and was a bit shocked when you mentioned in your previous post that you were thinking that your relationship with Natasha could come to the end. I hope you finally will be together in the nearest future.

[Bobalouie]

What is it with Russian Ladies and coats? I have had the same thing happen to me, and it was hot enough to have me sweating all day!

[mendeleyev]

Billy, I hear ya man.  Not only are cold drinks bad for your health, but if a woman sits on snow or ice she cannot have babies.  My wife will suffer standing outside on a freezing Moscow day rather than sit on a bench with snow.  And that is even if I brush off the snow!

A couple years ago my MIL began to make ice and keep it for me in the freezer.  She knew it was something I really enjoyed in summer.  The wife discovered this devious and cruel act and threw it out (the joy of ice lasted less than a week) and banned it from our kitchen.   In a hot July summer she claimed that she "loved me too much to see me killing myself with cold beverages."

[Chris]

Ice don't ask, I have had plenty of experiences with RW and ice cubes in drinks, the last one this weekend, it was around + 22C, we stopped for a drink, I of course had a nice cold glass of orange with lots of ice, she sent hers back because it had 3 ice cubes, she said only 1 ice please, what difference it makes god only knows I told her she could put them in my glass but OH NO, it had already made her drink tooooo cooooooold it had to be replaced with a new drink with only 1 cube

I had another complain the ice cubes were too big. Take it away and bring it back with smaller ice cubes and only 1 please    The best of it is this is not open for discussion, it is mandatory, the drink has tio be replaced with a fresh one with the exact number and size of cubes

[BillyB]

 Sooner or later, you'll eventually get phucked in the FSU.

Phil had warned me about the amount of thieves(pickpockets) in St. Pete. I've heard all the warnings before on forums but I took more precautions than the norm this time based on what Phil said. I ditched my wallet and left my credit cards in the apartment. I carried $1000 in my belt with a zipper on the inside that I bought off e-bay. I kept my passport in my back pocket that I could button. I had three visable bulges protruding from my pants. One was from my camera and another was from a wad of rubles I was carrying but they were in my front pockets which were deep and difficult for a pickpocket to steal from.

Natalia wanted to ride the metro and I noticed a lot of men loitering and suspected they were thieves. Most people in the metro are walking fast and going somewhere but these guys were just watching people walk by.

It was crowded and people were pushy trying to get on the metro. I was one of the last guys on but a man pushed around me to get on but then he turned around to get off and got caught in the doors as they were closing. I watched this happen but thought something isn't right because these people usually know where they're going. Facing the doors I turn around to Natalia to look at her but I see her reaching for the man's arm. I thought she was trying to help him from the doors that closed on him but he then squeezed through. She told me the man stole her cell phone. I told her she should have said something or screamed. I had two opportunities to get him while he was jammed in the doors. I could've grabbed his arm and broke it or wrapped my arm around his neck and throw him to the ground and pulverize him severely enough to jeopardize his career as a thief.

Natalia felt violated but after a few hours she was back to normal. She had just bought that cell phone from her brother recently since her home phone wasn't working properly.

Never have I experienced such picky people at the money exchange. Phil warned me on this too. I had $1700 of my money rejected. Based on 5 other trips to the FSU, I would guess $500 of my money would be rejected in the condition it was in. In St. Pete, definitely bring crisp virgin dollars with no tears or markings on it. I had one bill rejected because the printing wasn't centered properly.

Here's a photo of Natalia and I. Notice below my hand the small chain sticking out of Natalia's pocket. That chain is connected to Natalia's cell phone and that's all the thief saw and grabbed when going after it. Keep valuables secure on out of sight when visiting St. Pete!

[freebird]

I've consumed chilled beverages all of my life and I'm immune to whatever ailment is contained in cold beverages in Russia or anywhere else. 

[Wild Orchid]

Not only are cold drinks bad for your health, but if a woman sits on snow or ice she cannot have babies.  My wife will suffer standing outside on a freezing Moscow day rather than sit on a bench with snow.  And that is even if I brush off the snow!

Obviously you think it is not true. One early spring all us girls went outside to play on the pavement. You know, that game when girls draw squares on the road and jump moving something from square to square. One at a time, so I had to sit on the side of the road and wait for my turn. Should I tell how sick i got from sitting on a cold concrete? I had to pee every 30 minutes. I couldn't' go anywhere because there is no publick toilets in Russia as such. Since then I avoid sitting on the cold surfaces. Looks to me, that you guys don't know what you are talking about. It doesn't take long for women to get sick if bottom part of her body gets cold. In my case it caused just a bladder infection, but usually it is ovary inflammation and as such..

[BillyB]

Every cafe/restaurant in St. Pete we ate at served good food. The best one I thought was a restaurant that specialized in Australian steak. Last year in Moscow, half the establishments we ate at did not serve good food. We also went to St. Pete's most abundant and quite possibly most popular restaurant called McDonald's. Natalia and her mom was curious to eat American food so we went there and to Kentucky Fried Chicken(KFC). Natalia noted the differences in how the restaurant is operated compared to others she's seen. She said everybody seems busy, and the food is served fast and cheap.

Both Natalia and I thought the people of St. Pete were happier than the people of Moscow. The atmosphere seemed friendlier.

We went on a number of boat rides this trip. We took an hydroplane boat to Peterhoff and did a couple of boat rides in the canals that run through St.Pete. 

One boat ride was late at night to watch the bridge opening which seems to be a popular event. I was amazed to seem how many people and boats were out late to watch it. Here's a pic of Natalia on that boat ride. Although it looks dark in the background, it never truly got dark in St. Pete. Phil tells me it's the white nights of St. Pete this time of year.

[mendeleyev]

Wild Orchid, I do not mean to make fun of this belief.  But you are correct that I personally do not share the same view.  I'm open to change however.   

Billy, my wife and I enjoy making the trip up from Moscow to St Peter.  It's one of my favourite international cities, much more European than typical Russian cities, although I love to travel many places in the FSU.  I write about FSU business from time to time and enjoyed when you mentioned Kentucky Fried Chicken in St Pete.

In Moscow and many other Russian cities KFC is called Rostick's Chicken.  Rosticks has been around a long time as a Russian operation but KFC and Baskin Robbins entered a partnership with them to serve KFC recipe chicken and BR ice cream as of a few years ago.  It's given Rosticks the financial muscle to expand into new markets. 

If you try a McCafe, a higher class kind of "Starbucks" operation, they are owned by McDonalds.  They are not only in Russia but all thru Europe.  Very fine coffees are served but the emphasis is also on gourmet teas complimented with French and Greek style pasteries.  They feature very cozy seating arrangements with rich redwoods and tiles.  Very upscale in most locations.

Starbucks is way behind in Eastern Europe as a Russian group pirated the Starbucks name years ago and was in court for almost a decade...with Starbucks on the sidelines until winning it's name in July 05.  McCafe is so entrenched (and definitely higher class) that Starbucks debated as whether they wanted to enter before finally announcing plans for a Russian operation in February of this year.

Dominos delivers--in several Russian cities.  Our family tried a Dominos pizza delivery in Moscow in April.  It was much like an American style delivery but there was a driver and delivery boy.  The driver stayed with the car to keep it from being stolen while the 2nd guy took the elevator up and rang the bell to deliver the pizza.  I'm interested to know how tipping will work for these delivery guys.