Day #174 - Helsinki, Finland to St. Petersburg, Russia

My hotel - Hotel Moscow - is that really what this says?

I think this is a bar

Hopefully the time is right - that's the way I'll know my train

This is what I was reading at the Metro Station

My dinner spot

Saturday, September 4th

Happy Birthday to my mom today! Thanks for being great and I hope you're having a fantastic day!

Russia - I'm in St. Petersburg, Russia! Many of you may be wondering why this guy has such a fascination with Russia. Why would he go through such an involved VISA process and spend so much time and energy to get there. Well, a few reasons. When I was really young, Russia was always in the news: the Cold War, Reagan/Gorbachev, Communism, the Soviet Union, Nuclear war, the Red Army, the KGB, the Kremlin. Then there was the call for the boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympic games in Moscow by President Jimmy Carter and the subsequent greatest sporting event ever - the Miracle on Ice in Lake Placid, NY.

Russia has always been intriguing to me. I'm reading this book right now - "Russia - A Journey to the Heart of a Land and its People". A quote from the book by Winston Churchill states: Russia is 'a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma". I'm not positive what this means, but I think it's saying that Russia is an unknown entity.

Another reason I'm here - I like to face my fears in a calculated sense. I had a fear of public speaking - so I went into sales and presented on a daily basis. I had a fear of driving on the ice and snow - so I moved to Minneapolis and drove 50,000 miles/year in the states of Minnesota and North Dakota. I've always felt apprehension when it comes to Russia - so I'm here by myself to tour the country.

Also, understanding Russia greatly affects my comprehension of many of the remaining countries I'll be touring. Several countries were Soviet satellite states in the Cold War era: East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslavakia, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia. Other annexed countries as Soviet Socialist Republics included: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova.

Europe is fascinating because it seems like countries are changing names and dividing territories all the time due to war and the affects it has brought. I was searching the other day for a list of 'the Countries in Europe'. Well, there is not an agreed upon number. For example, some people don't recognize Kosovo as a country - others do. The whole area formerly known as Yugoslavia will be a discovery journey all by itself (that will be in a month or so).

Ok - let me talk about today. I had a wake-up call at 5:30am. I walked down to the bus stop and caught the 6:14 into central Helsinki. I took the 7:23am train to St. Petersburg - arriving at 2:15pm. Russia is 1 hour ahead of Finland - so the train ride was about 6 hours. (I'm currently 9 hours from the US central time zone - the furthest away I've been so far on my journey).

I've only been to 1 country that required a VISA for entry thus far on my trip (Turkey). I was able to purchase this in the airport when I arrived. I didn't know what to expect today on the train. Once we got on - they handed us this form and told us to fill it out before we cross the border. About 3 hours into the trip, we came to a stop. Next thing I know, there were 10+ guards with guns walking down the aisles. We had to give them our passports. They took them in a bundle and walked away (what was this for?). About 15-30 minutes later, they came back and handed out the passports that had been stamped. I didn't get questioned, so I guess everything was OK. This process was a bit intimadating. At one point, some lady came by (she looked official) and said something to me in Russian. I had no clue. She moved on. Later I found out she was inquiring if I had anything to claim in Customs (good thing I didn't have anything).

On arrival at the St. Petersburg station, I might as well put a muzzle on as communication via words was not going to happen. I looked up - all these signs with the Cryllic alphabet. I had to smile. I am very glad I had my mind prepared for the worst. It was 2:15pm. I had 9 hours until darkness set in - let's see if I can find my hotel.

First thing I needed to do was get some money. They had these machines around that looked like ATMs, but there were too many of them to actually be ATMs. I stood back and watched people. I finally saw somebody going to a machine and getting money - Bingo. I put my card in and they had a button for English - very nice. Then, it gives me these figures in rubles. Options are like 100, 300, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000. I was clueless on the exchange factor - what should I do? Get the one in the middle. When in doubt, go for the neutral option. I hit the 1000 rubles line - out came a single 1000 bill. Great - is anybody going to cash this thing. Am I holding a $300 bill? It's safe to say I should have known the conversion before I hit land - but I had ways to figure it out.

I went over and bought a soda - a Pepsi. A Pepsi is a Pepsi in most all countries - that's what you call it since it's a trade name. I couldn't point because there were too many things - the lady was able to understand Pepsi. I gave her my 1000 ruble bill and she gave me 960 rubles in change. OK - my soda cost 40 rubles. Let's say it coast $2 - that means we have a 20 to 1 ration. I can work with this. (For clarification, the actual ratio is 1000 ruble equals $33 -- so I was close on my assumption)

I had a map of where my hotel was located, but I didn't know exactly where this train station was in relation to my hotel. I needed a map with the "You are here sign". That wasn't going to happen. No maps anywhere. I went up to a couple people and tried English - they looked up for a second, when I opened my mouth - they looked down and completely ignored me like I wasn't even there. I think one lady even cussed me out in Russian - probably saying something like: You 'blank-blank' American, you take your "blank" English-speaking "blank" and get out of my face.

Ok - I thought I'd give it a try by hitting the streets to see if I could pull off the "Go where everyone is going trick". This wasn't working. I knew my hotel was on the main drag - but as I kept walking, I felt like I was in some shaky territory. Abort the mission. I stopped before going too far from the station. I needed a better map. I went up to another booth. I had a map in my hand - pointed at it. I happened upon a really nice lady. She was desparately trying to help me in Russian. I started laughing and so did she. I was having alot of fun with this. She sounded like a screeching cat yelling out Russian in desparation. I actually got the clue what she was saying. She wanted me to go to the Metro station. I knew this coming off the train - I had the exact Metro stop I needed - but the entire subway system was symbols - with none of them being the name of my station.

I thought I'd give it another try. I had walked up to a different Metro station. A big break. This station actually had the name of the stop I had written down from the internet. I sat there for about 10 minutes looking at this map. I figured out that I needed to take the red line 2 stops and then the green line 1 stop. But what direction? I wrote down all the symbols for the last stop - I'd neeed this. Then, I purchased a token from the booth and took the escalator deep, deep into the earth. I had read about the Moscow underground - I didn't know St. Petersburg had this as well. I took a 2 minute, 30 second escaltor (I timed it and took pictures) straight down. I was hearing the song by Ozzy Osbourne - "The road to nowhere leads to me". At least there were other people going in the same direction - or there was no way I'd be going down.

I read the Cryllic symbols to get to my train. 2 stops - I jumped off. Then, more symobl reading. I had to go up an escalator to get to the green line. 1 stop - I jumped off. I then took the 2-1/2 minute escaltor up to the street level. When I got out - I saw my hotel. Excellent! Luckily I had studied the picture of the place - because by no means could I have deciphered the name. I went in - presenting my documents - and got to the room.

I passed out on the bed - a feeling of accomplishment and relief overwhelming me. It was about 4:30pm - not shabby. I power-napped for about 45 minutes and went down to head out again. I was now mobile (no bags) and I had a place to stay -- the world was at my disposal at this point. After about 1/2 mile walking - it started downpouring. It was closing in on 6pm. I decided to head back and live to fight another day.

I needed food. I challenged myself enough today. There was a McDonalds right by the hotel. I went in to order food. I'm standing there: "How am I going to order". I noticed that there were 6 value meals on the board. I got out a piece of paper, drew a little grid, and placed an x in the lower right quadrant. When I got to the cashier, I showed her the picture -- just like clockwork. She walked up to the screen and pointed at the double cheeseburger - that's the one. I've decided that I should travel with a laser pointer. I did this with my former job in medical sales. It was a critical piece. If you were in surgery and needed to describe to the doctor how to use an instrument or piece of equipment, you could point to the item with the laser pointer. (It worked alot better than saying - "That button right there - push that"). So, my items to add to a travel list - laser pointer and pen - they can get you out of a jam.

Today was alot of fun. Tomorrow I'll settle in to see the city.