7:46 (later the same day)

I had a great afternoon, mostly just walking around the city. I have a pretty good feel for it now. Having previously figured out how to navigate concentric canals in Amsterdam sure helped.

From the Idiot I walked up and along Bol Morskaya ul under the double arch and into Vortsovaya pl, a huge square dominated by the Hermitage opposite and the Alexander Column in the centre. Unfortunately, at the moment it's also dominated by renovations in progress for the city's 300th birthday next year: the column was covered in scaffolding and the street in front of the hermitage was ripped up by earthmovers. Still, a very impressive sight. I started taking pictures.

Along to the right, the New Hermitage building with its Atlantes--semi-clad musclemen statues holding up the facade--was mobbed by wedding parties. There were four there when I arrived, taking photos and videos, and as they started to move off more arrived. I took pictures of a few of them but it soon became clear this wasn't an unusual sight here, so I moved on, walking down the alley next to it to the Neva, which provided a nice view (and good photo op) of the front side of the Hermitage.

After a pause to consult the guide book and figure out where to go next, I walked east along the river and took the next right, back down to the canal. The Stroganov Palace was covered in scaffolding. Moving further along, I came to the set of bridges where the Moyka intersects the Griboedova, which provided a great view of the Church on Spilled Blood. Moving around that, I got to the Russian Museum. With an hour and a half before closing (but an entry charge of only C$6) I figured it was worth it and went for a tour.

I had a great tour of the museum. It has a lovely collection, and there were several pieces that struck me that I wanted to remember, so I bought their illustrated book to bring home. After all, it may be a while before my next opportunity to see them!

Emerging at 5pm, having walked for the whole afternoon, I had food on my mind. The first thing was to get some supplies for the hotel room. I found a supermarket, and picked up another bottle of water (1.5L only lasted me the day) and a bottle of wine, plus some Pringles and a box of digestives. I wanted to get cheese but thought it wouldn't be a great idea to carry it around for the rest of the afternoon in the heat.

Then I headed south, crossing a large construction project in Sennaya pl, to a caucausan restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet, Kafe Adzhika. I had a lovely meal of chicken with nut sauce (rather like a mild curry), a tomato and onion salad, a piece of bread and a big glass of wine, for about $4.

Finally, I headed back to where I am now, Quo Vadis, to update the diary again. Since the rest of the tour group is arriving now it may be a couple of days before I get a chance to head in here again. I found that going in this morning had been a particularly good idea: their prices double after lunch (but that's still only C$3/hr).
posted by Tom at 12:01 PM | link |