Following a comfortable night bus journey (with wifi and movies of course!), we cross the border into the "Motherland Russia" with officers wearing caps the size of a frisbee. Strangely enough the passport checks were more strict when leaving Europe than when we entered the ex-USSR, which proved how ridiculous the lengthy process of obtaining the visa can be..!

So where were we again.. Ah yes RUSSIA! It's history in a nutshell: A massive country which its origins are rooted from its satellite countries such as Belarus and Ukraine, an alphabet inspired from Bulgarians and from where Christianity spread from. This soon to be giant empire got to become an official state in 862 with Novgorod as its core capital. For 4 centuries the country developed at a steady pace until it became a Mongol colony until 1480 thanks to old Gengis. Soon after the country went through dark times during the reign of the infamous Ivan the Terrible (16th c.) boiling enemies alive, killing his son and heir over a dispute and apparently blinded the architects whom built St Basils Cathedral situated on the Red Square.. Terrible and even slightly psychotic..! Even though he conquered the Volga basin and had an obsession to reach the Baltic region, it wasn't until the Romanovs (royaL family early 17th to 20th c.) that the country expanded by conquering Siberia, the Far East (e.g: Uzbekistan, our next stop!), the Caucasus region and Central Asia.

The following centuries were the Golden ages for Russia with Peter the Great creating a navy section and educational centres, and the construction of St Petersburg in 1703 which became the capital of Russia ten years later. Catherine the Great further expanded capitalist development and also brought in many artistic masterpieces in what is known today as the Hermitage museum (the Winter Palace), and architects from Europe to Westernize the look of the new capital. Later came Napoleons defeat in trying to invade Russia by neglecting Alexander I's army and the icy Russian winter. Smartass! End of the 19th c. the era of the Tsars was approaching to an end with Nicolas II being its last before the 1917 Bolshevik revolution due to his refusal on a serious reform and his negligence. He took personal command of the army in the 1st World War, which left them poorly equipped and badly led. The war took 15 million men from the farms and trains had to be used for the war (so they could not bring food to the cities) so there were food shortages and food prices sky rocketed, all of which created anger and unrest in St Petersburg. The Duma and Army abandoned the Tsar as a result.. From then on the Communist regime planted its roots and grew steadily with as its leader Vladimir Ulyanov, aka the Father, aka Lenin... USSR was born as a superpower under the fearless and gruesome Stalin between 1922 and 1945, annexing around 14 neighbouring countries, forcing industrialisation, killing millions and imprisoning any individual suspected of treason. In '63 "the Boss" deceased, leaving the country with a nuclear arsenal and half of Europe as satellite states..

Following Krutshchev's and Brezhnev's rule, the USSR was no longer a thriving communist super power, with a stagnating economy and growing internal sceptisism regarding the path it was steering to... Independence of the satellite states came into sight, the USSR was dismantled, but Yeltsin the first ever president in 1991 created the class of "nouveau riches" by selling them state owned commodities which were run as private companies. Capitalism on full throttle leaving a growing gap between the wealthy and the needy. Following health issues, steel-faced prime minister Putin came into power, undertaking careful reforms: boosting oil and gas exports, centralisation and control over media and polotical opponents. Russia gained back its confidence and economic growth (worlds most corrupt economy supposedly!!) under this ruthless ex-KGB officer who stayed in power until now (putting aside his ally Medvedev in 2008).

Even if this country seems highly controlled by this steel faced leader, it is opening up more to the rest of the world. Many Russians of the new generations would tell you about how absurd the situation in Ukraine is, how travelling becomes more affordable to various countries (especially South East Asia and Eastern European countries) and how internet is finally being uncensored which permits the citizens to see by themselves what is truly happening in the world (without being brainwashed by the media). Also you might perceive Russians as rude and unsociable, but that is the image of some uneducated Russians that you find on holidays. That does not reflect a fraction of what Russians are like. They are kindhearted, genuinely friendly and very helpful people once you get to speak to them even with a few words of Russian (since very few speak English!).

As we embark in the old capital the first obstacles encountered were obviously the language and also the Cyrillic alphabet. Luckily the street names are translated in our Latin alphabet (not in Moscow though!). After finding the underground metro (vokzal) we immediately receive some help from locals  which figured out we were lost in translation of how to find our hostel. We dive in the underground network with a wooden escalator (2-3 times longer than in London..!) where at the bottom a security guard is waiting for the engine to breakdown.. As you can understand there is an employment opportunity at every corner..
We finally arrive in our capsule hotel for 5 euros a night, managed by the young eccentric Constantin who constructed it all by himself with a decorative touch of cartoons and artistic drawings. Slightly chaotic but entertaining with 2 cats running around like Tom and Jerry.. 

Our few days in St Petersburg are easily summarized. First of all spend at least a week there as it is an architectural gem of a city to discover..! Having walked many kilometers throughout the city you can discover the infamous Nevsky Prospekt being the biggest avenue crossing through the heart of the city with architectural wonders surrounding you. From the Theatre Marinsky, to the bridges crossing the many canals of the city, Orthodox cathedrals such as the royal Romanov tombs lying in St Peter and St Pauls Cathedral or Cathedral St Saviour, Art Nouveau styled buildings, the main square with the Winter Palace (Heritage museum), the Neva river, markets filled with matrouchka dolls, etc... As for the food well.. you have excellent salads of beetroot, pelmenis (raviolis), dill soup and eventually the goulash. All this to say we preferred the excellent taste of distilled top quality vodka! (Brand: 5 Lakes, 6 euros the bottle!)