As mentioned in my 2019 Round-up , I visited Moscow and St Petersburg in July 2019. Russia is one of the most interesting countries I've been to and the culture was very different from anywhere else I've visited.
The infamous visa process required a lot of time (and money), starting with a painstakingly detailed online application, including a list of every country visited in the last 10 years (with dates), followed by a trip to the Visa Application Centre in London. As mentioned in the Round-up, this involved handing in my passport, which almost cost me my trip to Greece, however thanks to my dual nationality I managed to salvage the trip.
First we visited St Petersburg, where it rained most days. This was our first experience of Russia and a lot of things shocked me. Firstly, English didn't seem to be very wide spoken even though we were in a major city, which isn't an issue at all, but what caught me off guard was peoples' reaction to me and my friend, Becca, speaking to each other. Locals would actively stare and be so shocked that we weren't speaking Russian, and often had little patience for us (especially in supermarkets). The stereotype of Russians being stern was confirmed, but on the other hand, this made us extremely grateful to anyone that did help us, including one lady who went out of her way to teach us how to use the metro system. That was the second thing that shocked us - the metro stations in Russia were beautiful (as shown in the pictures below). St Petersburg was easy to navigate and I'd definitely recommend visiting the Hermitage and the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood.
We then took an overnight train for the first time to Moscow, which was quite the experience. We had no idea how to make our beds and of the correct etiquette (since we were sharing the carriage with two others), however a student from Saint Petersburg University thankfully helped us with everything. The trip was very cool and I slept through most of it, however one night was definitely enough. Although I thought St Petersburg was a beautiful city, I loved Moscow as it had more character. We took the city sightseeing bus to all of the major landmarks, including the Kremlin, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, and one of my all-time favourite landmarks: St Basil's Cathedral. I'm an avid fan of these buses (except for in Havana and Istanbul, where walking makes more sense) as they take you to all of the main landmarks, whilst providing commentary on the city's culture and any significant facts.
Before visiting, I didn't know much about Russian cuisine, however I was very impressed and would recommend trying vareniki (dumplings), blini (pancakes), and beef stroganoff the most. Borscht is also very common but I didn't try it since I'm not a massive fan of beetroot. Vodka was also rife, with many flavours I hadn't tried previously. This country is very unique and I'd urge everyone to visit at least once in their life!
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