Life lessons and art treats in Russia’s classy St. Petersburg

We came to St. Petersburg for a few days rest and relaxation after the bustle of the Italy Islands and Lakes Tour, which we think was a big success.

Everyone one told me that I should be wary of petty thieves in Russia, especially St. Petersburg.

I scoffed a little.

I said I had been to Napoli, for goodness sake. If I could avoid pickpockets there, I could avoid them anywhere.

First morning in St. Petersburg, we were enjoying a quiet walk along the beautiful, wide streets around the Hermitage when two men appeared from nowhere and started to press me with brochures for a canal cruise.

I brushed them away, saying I was not interested, but immediately I felt for my wallet and cell phone and noticed my cell phone was gone. I realized this in mere seconds.

I grabbed hold of the two men – not wanting one to hand off my phone to the other – and I said, very firmly: “Give me my phone back!”

The younger of the two guys shrugged as if he had no idea what I was talking about and he hit my hand away from his arm.

“Give me back my phone!” I said again, more emphatically.

And he pulled it from his pocket and handed it to me and walked away swearing.

Loraine and I were both were a little shocked, but I was relieved to have my phone back. I love this phone. It’s an iPhone 7-plus with big screen. 

The rest of the day I walked around a little more apprehensively, holding my hand over my wallet in my pocket whenever we were even close to people and I kept my other hand on my cell phone.

I started to regard this experience as a good learning lesson. I mean, no one got hurt, I got my phone back, and I learned a valuable lesson.

I have to admit I thought the thief was extremely skilful at pulling the phone from my pocket without my feeling a thing.

St. Petersburg is a big city with about five million people. The streets are immensely wide and the key monuments are well spaced out.

The days are longer here than in Vancouver because of the latitude change: sun rises at 4:03 compared to 5:19 and set at 9:48 compared to 9 in Vancouver.

Our hotel, Pushka Inn, is very well located, right alongside the canal next to the Hermitage Museum.

We went for a canal ride, but the language was in Russian. A mistake. We will be doing it again, this time with an English commentary, so I can learn something.

At the Hermitage, we had a fabulous time seeing works by some of our favourite artists, such as Rembrandt and Da Vinci. We also got to wander through the  Raphael Loggias and enjoy some outstanding Greek and Roman sculpture.

Across the street at the General Staff Buildings, we found a sensational collection of Impressionists, including exceptional pieces by Degas, Monet and Renoir. We also found some late works by Van Gogh, painted shortly before his death in 1890.

Walking has been a big issue in this immensely spacious city. We didn’t want to walk ourselves to death, yet the first day we did 20,124 steps or 12.1 km and today we added another 12,319 steps by 2 p.m. or 7.5 km.

When they tell us there’s a little cafe or restaurant around the corner, they mean about a mile away. Everything is at least a 30 minute walk. Even the grocery store is a short hike . . . and the hotel assured me it was just around the block.

We also noticed industrial-strength drains running down the buildings to disperse rain water directly into the street.

We wondered if this was partly to ease the pressure of run off from the roofs when the snow melts in spring. These are big pipes, for sure.

Peter the Great had the idea to create a great city with all the impact and grandeur of Europe’s great cities, especially the open, spaciousness and visual perspectives of Paris.

But one thing I have had a hard time with here is finding coffee shops and wine bars. I had no problem, of course, finding these in Italy – they are 10 steps in any direction – but here, the coffee shops and cool bar culture is still developing.

But when you’re used to dropping into these places for a rest and light refreshment, it is a little disconcerting to find you have to go hunting for them.

We have a few days more here before moving on to Poland where I will be reuniting with my brother, Raymond, at his favourite little seaside town of Sopot on the Baltic.

swhysall@hotmail.com