I spent around three hours walking
around Strasbourg. It is a most beautiful Medieval City with a wonderful
relaxed feel. I am staying near Petit France which is the historical centre and
will explore that more tomorrow.
I go to the supermarket and I should explain that visiting
French supermarkets are one of my favourite holiday adventures. The produce and
variety of foods is unparalleled anywhere that I have been. I bought some
raspberries, blackberries, salad ingredients including goat's chees (Chevre),
smoked salmon and packaged lobster bisque one of my discoveries on a previous
visit. All of this is for lunch and dinner today and breakfast tomorrow and
turns out to last most of my time there.
I am amazed at how cheap EVERYTHING is in the supermarket. I
am guessing a basket of my regular items would cost 50% in France of what it
would in Sydney and the produce maybe 33%.
I drop that off at the hotel and continue my exploratory
walk picking up brochures (including a chocolate museum) for tomorrow’s
activities. Sleep consists of three patches of two hours each and I don’t feel
too bad in the morning but it will likely hit me later in the day but I am so
chilled that a sleep in the afternoon will be OK too. The upside to that is a
totally empty inbox and all my todo emails attended to which is kinda nice when
holidaying.
I make breakfast and leave the hotel around 09:30 heading
towards the Cathedral. I had my usual internal debate, a jumper or not - I hate
carrying things - and I decide not which was good as it was around 18 degrees
when I left the hotel but soon warmed up to mid to late twenties.
Now when you travel a lot churches are a dime a dozen and
one can easily become blasé about 'another' church but I must say this church
was quite something. The stained glass windows were stunning.
Just behind the cathedral are five museums but not really in
the mood as my plan was to get the bateaux mouche, a glass topped river boat to
tour the city. Talk about Deja Vous all over again!! Last year I went to
Brugges and did a river tour and knock me over if it wasn’t almost identical in
look, feel, buildings etc. as the one I have just taken. The only real difference
is the new buildings of the European Parliament which I am guessing is having
its own crises at the moment.
Strasbourg is a very beautiful Mediaeval city with wonderful
little streets here there and everywhere. There is something wonderful about cities
built around rivers - for me anyway.
I spend a few hours in the afternoon just walking the streets occasionally going into some quaint little shops which grab my attention but not buying anything which in itself is worthy of noting herein.
Back to the hotel for a soup and prawn salad which I made for dinner - exactly what I felt like so didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything. I am planning a good meal tomorrow night (perhaps).
I wake up at 05:00 Sunday morning but having had 8 hours of
uninterrupted sleep so ready to face the day.
Well I get moving around 10:00 walk out of the hotel without
a jacket which was fine as the weather was around 18 and rising to 26
apparently quite unseasonal. Sunday in France and the shops are all closed
but there was something quite tranquil and peaceful walking the
streets with shops closed and only a few people around. I enjoy this and do it
for around three hours stopping only once for a coffee.
Now if it looks like a tourist trap sounds like a tourist
trap it probably is a tourist trap. I decide to drive the 14kms to the
Chocolate Museum which was quote interesting and good value at E8 in exchange
for a bag of 10 truffles and I did learn a lot about cocoa and chocolate but
hey it was a tourist trap albeit an interesting one.
Back to town and I stumble on a Sushi Train with nice sushi
including Nutella, which I resisted and which serves me well for lunch/dinner.
Then back to the hotel for an early night as I have to wake at 01:00 for a teleconference. Lucky I had an early night because it
went for 3.25 hours - oh well. I manage another few hours before waking,
packing and checking out of the hotel only to find it is Pentecost Monday and
another holiday. I normally check for these things but as it didn’t really
matter I didn’t bother this time.
I head towards Frankfurt and take a detour to Baden-Baden a
town I had visited in 1978. There are a few places I have been to which ooze
class (and wealth) and Baden Baden is one of those places. It is such a beautiful place again around a central river. The bad thing
is I arrive to find out it is Fingstag (I am guessing Pentecost Monday) and
everything is closed. Oh well a coffee and walk around for an hour and I keep
going towards Frankfurt, my stop for the night before the short plane trip
(2:45) to St Petersburg tomorrow morning.
I looked around for an airport hotel and managed to find an
EXCELLENT 3.5 star brand new hotel about 1km from the airport at just E44 a
night versus the E179 the Sheraton wanted. It surprises me how some marketers
don’t get it. The hotel is built on a brand new road which doesn’t exist on my
GPS and I am guessing all GPS (and yes Justin my maps are up to date). I write
to the hotel asking for the coordinates which I can enter manually and they
send me a map. When I arrive at the hotel they tell me that people have been
complaining since the hotel opened in January and arrive very angry after
spending time to find the place. So I get the co-ordinates for them and they
say oh that’s a good idea....yawn.
I dump my bags and go into Frankfurt only to affirm my utter
dislike for the place. I head back to the airport to return the car and was
feeling a little lazy intending to return the car only half full and paying the
premium on the fuel. Well that was until I worked out the premium was
just.....$A60.....out the garage to the nearby service station fill the car and
return it. Shuttle back to the hotel and it is now 19:00 so I watch a few
episodes of The Wire, write my blog and will soon go to sleep.
I have really enjoyed the past 3-4 days chilling out
relaxing and now ready for a holiday.
Interesting how many people and young ones at that still smoke in Europe. And if you want to make money here then gear yourselves towards Russian Tourism they are EVERYWHERE how do I know well have you ever heard anybody speak Russian quietly.
I wake up ridiculously early and head to the airport
managing fast checkin and its two hours before the flight. There are lot worse
airports to have time to kill than Frankfurt so the time goes quickly and I
board my 2:45 flight on what I can best describe as the most budget plane I
have seen in a long while. No entertainment as in NO entertainment music or
otherwise, Spartan uncomfortable seats etc. They did serve a meal but luckily I
had eaten at the airport not that the meal was that bad but I preferred what I
had already eaten.
I arrive at St Petersburg (from herein StP) and see a lot of
planes lined up on the tarmac with steps which is one of my pet hates having to
schlep down the steps get on a bus to a terminal then usually schlep up stairs
etc. But...I was spared from this when the plane taxied for what seemed a long
term to well how to describe it. Justin had it best - imaging every cold war
movie you have ever seen and you’ve arrived there.
I queue up to get through passport control and it isn’t too
crowded except for this guy that seems terribly intent on invading my space and
maybe wanting to get ahead of me. I was pretty pissed off so I turned to him
and said "you are obviously in a hurry go ahead of me" to which he
replied "you obviously haven’t been to Russia before and learned how to
queue up. My final retort "no I haven’t but I have been to the school of
manners". Now if I were him there was no way I would go ahead of me but he
clearly isn’t me.
Mercifully I remembered I had a black (or was it green) bag
and collected it to be met by my German (born in StP friend Alex Smirnov - the
name indicates his taste in drinks). He arrived yesterday and spent the night
at his grandfather's place and will share a hotel room with me. He hands me a
bundle of money on account which we had prearranged for him to exchange for my
trip which at 30 Rubles to the $A seemed like a lot but was only $A400. has
phoned for a fixed price taxi to the hotel.
Well StP. At first all the buildings were drab, old, run
down and basically summarised as "shitty". But as we got closer to
the city and the traffic got worse and worse things improved kilometre by
kilometre. After what must have been 40 minutes to complete the last kilometre
or so we arrived at the iBis Hotel. Standard Accor 3 star fare and it will work
fine for the week. I unpack and go downstairs to meet Alex and his father
Alexander who take me for a walk around nearby streets including a wonderful
fruit market with fresh LOVELY Ukrainian cherries - yum.
The two Alex’s take me to a restaurant which turned out to
be closed so we went to a nearby pub. We then go to the Russian Orthodox Church
where Alex (Jnr) was confirmed. After I found out that there are no seats and
you stand there for two hours I decided not converting. The service was
underway and it was quite nice to listen to with a choir in the background.
Lots of Russian Icons around the walls and pillars.
We then take a walk along Nevsky Prospekt described as the
Champs Elysee of Russia. Well the Champs Elysee it isn’t but it was a beautiful
street with all the “beautiful” shops. We stopped at a gourmand shop which had
a live band (think Peace Hotel in Shanghai) playing on the balcony.
The Alex’s go to the Metro to pick Nye/Ally and the kids up
from the train they have caught from Helsinki (3 hours). We all meet in the
lobby at around 21:15 and head to the VodkaRoom restaurant. It was old world in
a wonderful old world way. It had a Vodka Museum which had only passing
interest given that it was all in Russian and curated in an equally old world
way.
The meal was very good. Usual Russian fare starting with
Beers for all (ok most) some entrees Alex Jnr had Pelemeni (Russian Ravioli/Wonton),
Nye/Ally had fish while Alex’s half-brother Sergei who had joined us and
Alexander had breaded cutlets. We had communal desserts which were VERY nice
and each course was accompanied by a toast of vodka. Nye and I split the very
reasonable $50 a head bill.
We leave the restaurant at midnight Auryn (5) had fallen asleep
as soon as we arrived and Jules (1+) was wide awake. It was kind of nice that
when Jules first saw me his face lit up and he came running to me for a cuddle –
c-u-t-e I am so ready!! And as we left the restaurant the sun was just setting –
at midnight for G-d’s sake how weird.
Anyway next morning I wake up at 06:30 so I toss and turn and
check emails on my iPhone under the covers and chat with sundry people until 08:15
when I can stand it no more so I shower and shave and leave Alex who is a late
sleeper for breakfast downstairs. No breakfast starts at 04:00 – well people it
is full sunlight then isn’t it – with continental switches to full breakfast
and then back to continental finishing at midday. There has to be an angle here
to save money and have two breakfasts – have to think about that one.
Anyway 10:30 and we have a minibus, driver and guide organised for 3 hour tour which is going to cost all of $A125 which seems very little to me for 5 people. Anyway I have asked for the Synagogue to be included and we were going to a beautiful park later so I suggest that the tour drops us there at the end which is well received.
Weather not expected to be too good but we’ll play it all by
ear.
Catch you all soon around these parts.
Love to allDavid
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