Coming of age in St Petersburg

Yes I'm 21 on Friday. Or thereabouts. All gifts are welcome but I'll be in St Petersburg on the day in question, probably perfecting my Russian in a dubious bar or club. I can now ask for 120 beers, metro tickets or sets of those little Russian dolls so I'm well on the way to discussing post-Yelsin Russian economic development or perhaps some nineteenth century poetry. Before I get that exciting I have to obtain a visa for Belarus (for later in the trip) and book a rail ticket up north to the Russian Arctic. Unfortunately the Russian I've learnt doesn't cover these eventualities so it will be back to sign language and telepathy to get my requests across. Hopefully my next message will not be from Vladivostock after a catastrophic error at the railway ticket office.

Anyway I need to update from my last point which was Nizhni Novgorod, a town I will always fondly remember for the fact that I managed to get locked inside the Kremlin late one night. Of course it may be normal for Russians to have to climb over the razor sharp and very pointy gates of the Kremlin gatehouse. Or perhaps they're all slim enough to slide under the gate (too many pancake breakfasts and early Baltika sessions put paid to that hope). But I certainly didn't want to get noticed by any police types as I straddled the top of the gate in what was a very tricky manouvre involving complex limb positioning and nerves of steel. The upshot is that I wasn't arrested and I can still father childen. But one slip....

And then to Vladamir and Suzdal which involved more churches than exist in the rest of the world combined and finished with a frankly bizarre international festival of folk traditions, music and dance. Only around eight countries were represented including Nigeria, Albania, India, Spain and our new friends the Moldovans (we hitched a ride on their bus to get out to the festival site). Hypothermia was kept at bay long enough to reach Moscow where I had the good fortune to end up in a rather posh hotel for a couple of nights . The 34th floor bar claimed the best views in Moscow, there was a sushi menu in the shower!!, TV volume control next to the toliet!!!, remote control soft floor lighting!??, and the best breakfast buffet in Russia (that is official). So after caviar for breakfast (red of course) there would be a little sightseeing and the chance to spend huge amounts of money. Thank goodness I managed to.

A brief stop in Novgorod gave me the chance to see some churches (thank goodness) and prepare for St Petersburg which is quite frankly one of the best cities in the world. After a strange first evening involving ex-Russian youth team footballers talking us around supermarkets (too much vodka I'm afraid) it's just been a chance to see the glorious canals, palaces and perhaps another church or two. The weather's been pretty special here too. Good place to turn 21 I think...

This was originally written on 01 October 2007. It is from my summer trip from Beijing to Birmingham.