Our Adventure Continues

Our drivers picked us up at the Sheraton hotel lobbyat 8:30pm on Friday, the 11th. We went straight to the train station.

We walked to our platform about 9:15, and there our drivers helped us load our luggage onto the train and into our respective cabins.

It was like stepping back in time. The cabin was very small and had 2 long benches which doubled as our beds. There was also a small fold up table in the room. There was no sink so no running water there. We had one bathroom (no shower or anything) at the end of the car for about 10 cabins to share. It was very much like an airplane bathroom.

The train departed at 9:55pm right on time. We were already tired from a long day, but we were extremely jittery about being in this uncomfortable space. JC and I split an Ambien in hopes of sleeping a little on the train. I slept a little from 11:30 to 2am off and on. I was then awake from 2 to 4 and slept from 4am until 5:15am when the overhead lights came on to alert everyone that the train was close to the station. We finally got to the station at 5:53am as scheduled. Alex, our agency rep in St Petersburg, was waiting for us. We saw him through the windows of the train. He boarded and helped us with all of our luggage. There were four of us with all of our luggage and we all piled into Alex’s Honda. We were packed in like sardines. First Alex drove us to our hotel. We walked into the lobby at 6:15am. Of course they wouldn’t let us check in, but there happened to be an executive room available that we could use for half the daily rate. However, Alex needed to pick us back up at 9:20am from the hotel lobby…that was only 3 hours away and the discounted rate for the hotel was going to be almost $200 (US) after taxes. We opted not to check in until later. The hotel stored our luggage and we walked to a coffee shop on Nevsky Avenue (the main street in the city centre). We drank lattes, had Russian pancakes and read for about 2 hours. The sun came up so we decided to walk around for a bit. We walked by St Isaac’s Cathedral again and by the Hermitage.

St Isaac's Cathedral

Fountain in front of the Naval Admiralty Building across from the Hermitage

We came back to the hotel lobby around 9am, and Alex was there waiting for us. We then left for the baby home to see Emma again for the first time in three months.

Our visit with Emma to follow…