Not a World Cup prediction post

Since for some inexplicable reason I didn't make the cut to continue in the @blocktrades world cup predictions, I thought I would add some photos from my one and only trip to Russia. A few years ago my wife and I took a two hour train ride from Finland across the border to St Petersburg, a city with about 5 million inhabitants. That is the population of Finland. What we found was surprising to say the least.

 

It is a beautiful city that is reminiscent of Paris and while we were there a lot of the buildings were being restored. I would like to go back in a few years and so how much it has changed as those that were already done looked really really nice. But it wasn't this that surprised us, it was the people.

 

Firstly, despite the lack of English ability with some people, they really were friendly and went out of their way to help us whenever we needed. Really out of their way in some cases. One couple who could string a few dozen words together in English between them rode the subway with us past their station to make sure we found where we needed to go. Because of a tunnel closure, it was a bit of a mess so instead of trying to explain, they happily showed us the way. Not common in big cities I would say.

Another time, we were looking for a place to dance and found a 'private' salsa party at a dance school. We danced and talked with them there , they watched our style, made a few calls and then found us another party not too far away that was better suited. Perhaps that is just a thing with avid dancers though, there is a camaraderie of sorts between dancers.

 

The other thing that was very noticeable was the amount of people reading. I don't mean staring at screens, I mean reading actual books. On the trains, on the escalators, sitting in the parks, at cafes and wherever they had a spare moment, the number of people with a book in their hand rather than a phone was incredible. Definitely a rare sight these days.

We were also there during the height of the publicity surrounding their 'persecution' of homosexuals yet, this to was a surprise as at least in St Petersburg, gay couples obviously didn't feel the need to hide and gay clubs proudly had their flags flying. I can't speak for the entire country but at least in the case of this city, fakenews.

 

We were only there for 5 days but in that time we walked between 130-140 kilometers. It will change when we can eventually travel with our daughter but walking through a city is really the only way to get a feel for a place which brings me to the most surprising part of the trip. We felt safe. Really safe.

Besides a tail from a pickpocket unit, no matter where we went we felt safe enough to not be on guard every moment, even late at night with drunk crowds surrounding us. There is a difference in the feel of a crowd when they are angry or happy drunks and they definitely felt like happy drunks. They seemed to enjoy living their lives outside, socializing and laughing. It was refreshing.

I really miss traveling and experiencing new places and people and I am looking forward to a time where our daughter's allergies are in a state that allows us to be away from home for more than a night or two. I am hoping that she will have the opportunity to travel in her life if she chooses and get to know more than what she has always known. Travel is a luxury item though and will always take a backseat though just getting out of the home city can do wonders for the mind.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]