St Petersburg Day One

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We didn't know what to expect. Travelling independently in Russia, we were repeatedly told, was not recommended. Anyway, I had made arrangements with Olga and she advised that for the first day we would have Svetlana with a driver and a nice van who would take us the Peterov, the Summer Palace, about 30 km outside St. Petersburg and a city tour with a stop for an authentic Russian lunch. We had obtained our letters of invitation and visa's so we were able to travel independently.

Only certain taxis and tour buses are allowed inside the port gates at St. Petersburg, so we needed to get one of these cabs to the port gates to meet Svetlana. It is too far to walk so there is no option. These taxi drivers don't speak much English and drive old Russian made cars and drive like race car drivers. The toll is US$5.00 per person and they try to get as many in the car as possible, even if you don't know each other.

We cleared customs when we got off the ship, caught a cab and went to the gates, where we cleared customs again. There was a bank machine at the exit and I thought I should get some rubles, even tough I had some American dollars and some Euro's with me. "What would I do my card doesn't come out?" I wondered to myself. I put my card in and made a withdrawl from my chequing account. Everything was fine.

Waiting outside the gates Svetlana was holding up a card with our names on it. She spoke perfect English, seemed quite confident and greeted us warmly. Our driver was excellent and he had a newish Chrysler mini-van. We were off to Peterov.