St. Petersburg

St Petersburg is one of those cities where you can walk about for ages and be impressed at every street corner. And this is what we did. Our hostel, Nevsky Hostel, was one of the best we've stayed in. It was super clean, had a washing machine to use for free, a big kitchen, bunk beds that didn't squeak and was almost within spitting distance of the Hermitage (if all those buildings weren't in the way. We knew some guys staying there that we met in a ger in Mongolia so it was good to catch up with them and swap stories about our Trans-Siberian journey.
Of course, such a rendezvous also meant a night on the piss. We sampled local beers and dodgy vodka at our hostel before going to a club...I think it was called Cuba, with Tyler (Canadian), Theago (Brazilian) and two Russian girls those guys had met. The bar was tiny and absolutely packed (lucky I wore my hiking boots; my feet got trampled) but was good fun to rub shoulders (literally) with St Petersburg's youth. Needless to say, it was a big night and we paid for it the next day; in bed until 4pm.
Once we ventured outside, we turned a corner, and, voila, another awesome church - The Cathedral of the Spilled Blood, built on the sight where Tsar Alexander was murdered. It was modelled on Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, but just a little bit cooler for the canals and parks around it. We also visited Kazan Cathedral, a working cathedral where people lined up to touch and kiss icons and pray with Orthodox priests. It's pillars are impressive and arc out to envelop the people of St Petersburg. Riiiiigggghhhtttt... Beggars stood out the front hoping people felt generous after being absolved. We didn't.
On Sunday we crossed the Neva River (on a bridge) to Vasilevsky Ostrov, an island with a mad
fort, churches and museums. We bypassed the gym on a ship and walked the exterior of the fort. Sand lined the banks of the river - swimming was not allowed - and old Russian men and women leant against the walls of the fortress in speedos, mankinis, bras and undies, catching some sunrays and possibly coughs and colds as the wind was still biting. Gold church spires shone against the approaching storm, which would hopefully hit the sunbathers before us.
We walked through some gardens with green grass and trees almost blossoming.