St. Petersburg Part III

There isn't a better way to get to know a city and its people than walking through a local market and riding the subway.  We spent our last day in St Petersburg doing just that. Oh, and sampling vodka too, because hey, we were in Russia!

Our bus dropped us off on Nevsky Prospekt, the main and most important avenue in St. Petersburg.  From there we walked a couple blocks to a new and modern grocery store. It was, for the most part, like anything you would see here in the US.  The difference? The liquor section was huge - thought I'd died and gone to vodka heaven. The cigarettes were cheap (equivalent to about $1/carton), no wonder everyone here smokes!  Another great thing to check out in another country:  Chocolates and baked goods.  We headed straight for the chocolate section where we found some amazing Russian chocolates: O'Zera.  I also picked up a pastry at the bakery: Лакомка or Lakomka. Was amazing, I need to find the recipe!

Entrance to the Supermarket

After the grocery store, we crossed the street and walked a couple blocks to a public market, where we found just about everything one would need: meats, cheese, fruits, veggies and the all important pastries. Our favorite: the pickles!  Russians tend to use a lot of dill in their cooking, and pickles, which obviously call for dill were no exception.

After our time at the markets, we headed for the subway, tokens in hand. The subway in St. Petersburg is the deepest in the world, over 300 feet underground at some stations, so the escalator ride down to the platforms can take up at five minutes. Each subway station is ornate and looks like it belongs in a museum. Taking photos in the St Petersburg metro stations is absolutely forbidden. While I did think about taking some photos from the hip, I didn't want to chance going to a Russian prison.

Here are a few photos taken by those brave enough:

We rode the subway for three stops and then headed to a hotel bar for vodka tasting.  We tasted plain vodka, cranberry vodka, and garlic vodka.  The garlic was a little much, the cranberry was perfection.  Our Russian guide helped herself to a few shots, as did everyone else.

The bus ride back to the ships was entertaining - our guide sang Russian folks songs solo thanks to the vodka.  As our guide said (insert bad Russian accent here and say 'Vodka' like 'Wodka'): 
"Problem in Russia is never too much vodka, only problem in Russia is too little vodka". 
I couldn't agree more!