On the previous day I asked the German girl – Marcella – what was her plans for the day. The two of us being solo travelers we decided to go for a big walk around the city – I had many hours to burn before Aleks would arrive in the late afternoon. I wanted to explore a part, which I knew he would not want to see as we had only a few days to visit the city.
We decided to go explore the several parks of the city and go to the beach of the north side of the river where the first part of the city of saint-Petersburg was established. Many parks made me thing about the ones found in Versailles with the various statues and particular presentation. We walked, visited a huge mosque, crossed the bridge, and visited various other parks. We found a small grocery store where I could finally try to practice my Russian as everyone so far I interacted with had a decent level of English they were more than happy to show. We bought fruits, nuts and I got myself a Fanta (I only drink that in Europe) and we made our way to the beach. The weather was perfect, 20 something with a little sea wind and a strong sun. The artificial beach is located near the ramparts of the old fortress and it’s a great place to relax with an amazing view on the hermitage and various other palaces.
We walked 26 kilometers; my legs were a little bit soar. In fact, they were extremely soar. We found a small table on the street with the perfect view on the church of our savior of spilled blood. That church has so much details and is a real joy to look at. Marcella and I shared green tea while enjoying the moment and relaxing our legs with one of the best view possible.
Once back at the hostel, Aleks was unpacking in the room and he was quite hungry after the long bus ride. We decided to go eat and Marcella followed. We went to a recommended restaurant just in front of a super massive orthodox church. The restaurant, called the Marketplace, is one of my favourite as it is an open buffet with a very indie design that seems to have taken everything popular on pinterest and just mashed it all together. The food is great, you take a plate, go around and select the different choices and customize yourself a glorious plate for an acceptable price. Also, eating on the terrace with the view on the church and one of the busiest streets of Saint-Petersburg is priceless. I love to sit down and breathe in the vibe and feel the pulse of a city and this was the best place to do so.
Every night, the streets of St-Peters are full of people enjoying the multitude of bars and restaurants available throughout the city. This city has an amazing night life. We met with our group of friends from the hostel, and went out partying. We did an improvised Pub Crawl and discovered many interesting places. The alcohol is expensive in the bars, and so we drank a bit in some street liquor shop where you can get a big variety of alcohol for a very reasonable price. I discovered a couple of new interesting beers. The night ended very late, by the embankment with the nice view and surrounded by fun people.
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