A self-guided tour of St. Petersburg

I'm a few minutes into a 10.5 hour overnight bus ride to Vytegra, where I will live the next few weeks. To pass the time, I will recount the events of my last day in Petersburg (there is, of course, no internet on the bus, so this will be posted late).

It has been a long, exhausting, fulfilling day. I had to check out of my hostel by 11 a.m., and the bus wasn't scheduled to leave until 8 p.m., so I spent the entire day out on the town. Luckily, the weather has been beautiful—sunny, a little over 20 degrees Celcius (about 70 Fahrenheit). The hostel let me leave my luggage there to pick up later, so I was free to explore the city unburdened.

My first stop was the Russian Ethnographic Museum, where there was supposed to be an exhibit on the Baltic-Finnic peoples of Russia, including the Veps, whom I am here to research. Unfortunately, half the museum was closed for remodeling, and the most relevant exhibit I could find was the peasant clothing of the closely related Saami and Karelian peoples.

I was a bit disappointed, so I visited the Church on the Spilled Blood less than a block away. I had been there during my last trip to Russia, but the church is so breathtaking, I could never tire of it.

After that, I sent myself on a literary tour of sorts. I visited not one, but two statues of Pushkin, a statue of Gogol, the famous bookstore Dom Knigi, and the Dostoevsky House-Museum. I also tried to find the site where Mikhail Bulgakov's Master and Margarita begins, but couldn't find it on my lousy map.

I eventually was able to meet with Igor Brodskii from the Petersburg Veps Society. He is also a professor of the Veps language at Hertsen University. He spoke excellent English and gave me a full orientation to the status of the Veps language. His prognosis wasn't promising and, he said, if the language dies, so will the Veps people, because "the language is the people," to use his words. My favorite thing he said during our meeting, "Russia is such a wonderful country. Pity that the government is on the moon." A common sentiment among Russians, I believe.


From our meeting, I rushed back to my hostel to collect my luggage and catch my bus to Vytegra. I was running late, and I would never have made it if not for the help of the staff at the hostel. Even though I had checked out hours before and they had no reason to want to help me, one of the staff members personally found me a cheap taxi, helped me carry my luggage, and rode with me to the bus station. I tried to offer her money, but she refused, saying it was a bonus to her karma for the day. So, to anyone planning to visit St. Petersburg, I highly recommend the Soul Kitchen Hostel. You couldn't ask for better customer service, even from a luxury hotel.

So here I am, riding the long, bumpy road to Vytegra. I will arrive very early tomorrow morning and should probably try to sleep. I'm sure tomorrow will be just as busy for me as today.