Smells

They say that a smell can cast you back immediately to another place or another time, like the scent of a perfume or aftershave can remind you of someone long gone, or a flower of a time in your childhood. Well in St. Petersburg, the stench of diesel fuel and dirty engines, cast my mind straight back to Prague circa 1994. I know that I am going to have the worst cough ever by the time I get to Beijing, and then what respite for me will there be there. All our pussy clean air policies is turning us in whimps when it comes to breathing in these yonder parts! I am seriously considering starting smoking again, it might actually protect my lungs!
It's a little colder here than I expected it to be, so thanks for the jacket Jer. I was a little worried that my all denim ensemble would look a bit naff, but it appears to be all the rage in these parts, I fit right in, well almost, the women here in general are just way too beautiful for their own good, I feel a bit frumpy and porky.
Before I came here I googled my hotel and the review, by the Russian tourist agency said it was a dump and not to stay there. I tried to get trailfinders to change the booking but that didn't work, so to say that i wasn't looking forward to seeing my hotel is an understatement. It's called the Aolla if anyone is interested. Well it's not as bad as it sounded. It's close to the centre so I could walk to the hermitage. There was an old man outside climbing around in a skip, the alleyway down to it is a bit dodgy but in general it's okay and Sasha the receptionist is really nice, although whether she will still be nice when I tell her that I lost her map, I don't know.
The Russians seem nice, they don't smile. And the don't do niceness, (am being whisked back to Prague again). But I don't really mind that, I would prefer for someone to be honest and sullen than be smiley and fake.
I spent most of today in the Hermitage. It was amazing if slightly disorirntating. It's very big, I got lost and spent about 2 hours trying to find the exit. The interior is so ornate, one can even start to imagine the lifestyle enjoyed by the Czars.
Tomorrow I have all day in St. Petersburg and then I catch the midnight train to Moscow. Don't what I am going to do in the evening. But I need to contact my tour operator in the morning to get my ticket and maybe they can sort something out for me. After all the nightmare stories I have read about Russia, and Moscow in general I can't say that I am looking forward to it. ...