September 2009 St. Petersburg
(and to and fro)
[more of the Better Blog than Never department]

So we went to Umeå and caught the ferry across to Vaasa. Nice little ferry. Got on the train at Vaasa and changed at Jyväskylä (did I spell that right?) for Pieksämäki. It was a little arduous finding the little B&B-hotel but when we did, with the help of a young fellow who saw us wandering twice, we were rewarded with a nice sauna. And the next morning, when we had to leave a bit early, our hosts set up breakfast early. I can recommend Hotel Sweet Home to you without reservation (pun intended, sorry).

I like the breads they have in the north, especially Finland. We're talking serious bread here.

The train took us to Kuovola where we changed for St. Petersburg. We were on a Finnish train, and the food was way excellent.

Food in St. Petersburg was interesting. We ate at the same restaurant three nights in a row. It was run by people from one or more of the southern republics. Other meals were random and some pretty good, except for the occasional nearby smoker. There did seem to be a lot of smoking, both there and Finland.

Internet access seemed to be easiest at any of many branches of a bookstore called "Bukvoed" (pronounced kinda like bukvoyed). My guess is the name comes from vocational-educational, but that might be erroneous.

Museums are a subject big enough for a separate post.

After the visit to the Hermitage, we had the opportunity to confound a gaggle of pickpockets. A small group of punks was blocking the sidewalk behind a bus stop shelter, and since I had my passport and stuff inside my clothing, I went right ahead into the squeeze; a young lady was dipping a finger into my right hip pocket and was about to abscond with my handkerchief when I grabbed her arm. She spun away and the gang vanished. That was kinda fun.