St. Petersburg, Russia – 09/05 – General Thoughts on St. P

(Michelle) There is so much beautiful architecture in St. Petersburg and the city seems to be very busy and, other than the airport, generally upbeat. There is a small list of things I saw here that I have not seen in any other city so far on this trip.

1. Many people wearing big signs over their body along the main street. Since I could not read them, I am not sure if they were advertisement or political… Probably advertisement, but I’m really not sure.
   
2. Customer service – It tops the list as the worst we have seen so far. We really made a strong effort to speak a little Russian and we weren’t feeling the love. It was not just at the train station and with the apartment lady, we were also ignored at coffee shops and convenient stores as well. Not to say that there are not warm and hospitable people in Russia, as we had some wonderful experiences later on, but this comment is only in regards to people we encountered actually working in public service. Either they are all extremely disgruntled in general, or they really hate foreigners… or maybe it was us??


3. I was far from fitting in as far as fashion goes. That is generally true everywhere and is not special to being in Russia, but the fashion accessories missing from my wardrobe were different here than in other places. Missing items included, crazy hair dye, fishnet or print pantyhose, really high heels and Capri cigarettes. Some very beautiful women were making appearances with all of the above. I wish I had a photo, but it is rude to take pictures of people without asking first and that was something I had not learned how to say in Russian yet.
   

(TJ) Generally I really enjoyed St. Petersburg, despite some crap service from our hotel and the train service. You can definetly tell there are some people here who have some serious money. There was no shortage of Porche’s, Mercedes (all over the streets) and a Lamborgini or two that we saw. I think the people definitely like to flaunt what they have in clothing or cars. I also think that this may breed a bit of animosity by some people in the service industry who hate dealing with these people who just flaunt how well off they are.