How I Explored the Largest Country in the World (Russia) Solo, by Train, in 30 Days – St. Petersburg (1)

30/7/2019. I flew into St. Petersburg from Singapore to start the first leg of my Russian visit. Not my first visit, though. That was back in the 1980s, when I flew on the Soviet airline Aeroflot on my way to England as a student. Luck had it—a Korean civilian aircraft strayed into its airspace and was fired on by the no-nonsense Russians, killing all on board. My flight was diverted to Russia, and we were all put up in a hotel. Russia was then still the Soviet Union. Everything looked so gray and dreary. I did not take it personally—I got to see communist Russia without a visa.

Just before I left for Russia, I heard the news that record heat engulfed Europe. On arrival, a 14-degree-centigrade temperature greeted me; summer felt like winter here.

The first thing I did was get my data access going. For less than USD 9, I got unlimited surfing and 500 minutes of phone calls throughout Russia for 30 days. That’s dirt cheap. Now I could roam free.

At the airport, I ordered a Yandex taxi, a popular local app taxi. The fare was supposed to be 600 rubles. I handed the taxi driver a 1k note when the taxi arrived at the destination. Right at that moment, a police car stopped in front of it. The driver jumped into it and, after a few minutes, came back to the taxi, refusing to return the change. Great to be taken for a ride as an intro.

Almost funny-looking cathedrals define St. Petersburg. These Orthodox churches look so unorthodox. The tops are sometimes a bit over the top. Don’t know what to make of them—those onion heads are brightly multi-colored, some gold, almost a deliberate attempt to liven up religion, solemn yet not so somber. Outlandish, but, love it!

Buildings of the past era line the city center streets, devoid of curvaceousness but colorful, majestic and masculine.

^{30/7/2019 – 从新加坡飞抵圣彼德堡开始俄罗斯之旅。不是第一回到此，那该是八零年代，我当时潇洒年轻，以学生乘搭俄行到英国。那一吉日碰上一架韩国民航机误闯俄国领空，俄人没打招呼就把那大鸟给射下来了。我乘搭的飞机也因此被逼转飞俄罗斯，不明不白就到了俄罗斯，那时还是共产苏联，记忆犹新当时一切那么灰蒙，那么压抑。当时也没担忧，还记得被安置酒店后把头从十几楼伸出窗外看苏联土地，像小孩般特别兴奋。

出发前几天新闻还报道欧洲创纪录高温，没想到到这里后是难受的十四度，感觉这俄罗斯夏天像冬天，对这热带物种实在难受。}

^{抵达后第一件事先买手机芯片。九美元就可三十天无限上网，还加五百分钟俄境内通话，太实惠了。

在机场网上叫了的士到市中心。车费是600卢布，车到目的地后递给司机一千卢布钞票，在那刹那，一辆警车也跟上来，司机随即钻到警车内，回来后，示意没钱，不找车费了。无论在哪国，我就是不喜欢打的。

圣彼得堡的多处可见堂皇古教堂，可是跟欧洲教堂风格还不一样。教堂头顶都喜欢带上大洋葱，且还五颜六色，把宗教的严肃色彩点亮了

街道上都是俄罗斯几十年前方方正正但大气的老建筑，虽然缺了苗条曲线，一层浓妆后让人耳目一新。}