Touring St. Petersburg, Russia

22 Apr Touring St. Petersburg, Russia

Posted at 15:45h in Destinations, Russia by Sarah 0 Comments

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Drew and I scored an amazing flight deal from AirfareWatchdog.com ($260 RT!) a few months ago and we finally headed out to St. Petersburg, Russia. With a Paris layover behind us, we arrived in St. Petersburg with a good part of the afternoon left before us.

We got a driver to pick us up at the airport, figuring we could pick his brain about the city better than a traditional cab driver. So, when we arrived, there was a man with a sign that had our names on it like you see in the movies. It’s the little things, right?

As our driver navigated the city traffic, he mentioned some of the places we had researched and gave us some new ideas as well…like Teremok for a caviar blini.

Drew and I got checked into the Hotel Indigo, an IHG property. We have a great rewards program set up with the chain of hotels and it’s really seemed to pay off. We always get welcome gifts, room upgrades, high floors, and other free things (like complimentary minibar access).

We were harried and out of it, having only slept a few hours on the plane, so we were very thankful for the sweet girl who checked us in and helped us get our bearings in the city. To be honest, I’ve always heard that Russians were stoic and generally unfriendly but we have not experienced that at all. Everyone, even outside of the service industry, has been super open, friendly, and willing to help out.

The Hotel Indigo

The Hotel Indigo bathroom

The Hotel Indigo bathroom

The Hotel Indigo. What a ‘sweet’ welcome to our room!

We showered quickly, changed our well-worn clothing, and headed out to explore the city.

First, we took our driver’s recommendation and tried Teremoc for their blinis. We thought they would be on the small side so we ordered three (one with red caviar; one with pork and mushrooms; and a sweet one with cottage cheese and peaches) thinking that it would make a good snack.

And, y’all – those blinis are large! And while I didn’t think I would like the cottage cheese and would like the caviar…the reality was the complete opposite. Apparently, I am not a caviar fan, or at least not in that quantity. So at Teremoc you get a lot for your money and the food is good (I recommend the pork blini with mushrooms).

We walked for awhile and found the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood which claims to have more mosaics than any other church in the world (over 7500 meters!). We were only able to see it from the outside today, but we are going on a walking tour tomorrow where we will be able to walk around inside.