Today we took the Allegro high speed train from Helsinki to St. Petersburg. The trip was 3 1/2 hours but it went by quite quickly between customs and eating lunch in the dining car,so I didn't even get a picture.
Our arrival in St Petersburg was quite stressful. In our rush to leave the train, we left the diaper bag on board in one of the overhead compartments. Luckily, St. Petersburg was the terminal stop, so I was able to run back and grab the bag. I had to mime to the mean looking security guard to get him to let me back on, and got yelled at by a couple other station staff in Russian, but we didn't lose our most important bag! The taxi I had booked with a car seat for Jasper was waiting for us as planned, but Jasper decided to scream the whole way to the hostel.
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| Nap time in the hostel common room |
We were all happy to be out of the (-20 degree) cold and safely arrived at our hostel. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging around the hostel. It is a really great place, with a big common room full of couches, a well stocked kitchen and another lounge room with computers and chairs for reading.
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| Playing in the common room |
We happened to arrive in Russia on Orthodox Christmas eve, so we got to partake in yet another Christmas dinner with the other hostel guests. For 1000 rubles (roughly $18.30 CDN), the staff cooked us a three course Christmas dinner and served wine.
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| Ready for dinner |
It was nice to meet some of the other hostel guests and sample some traditional Russian foods.
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| Christmas dinner at the hostel |
Jasper enjoyed the meal, especially the fried cheese patties with blueberry sauce for dessert.
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| Can I have some? |
We are staying in a family room at the hostel, with one bed on the main level and another in a loft up above. There is a little alcove by the window that Jasper likes to play in. He often bumps his head on the window, not realizing that it is glass. The view from the window is excellent, looking right out on the embankment of one of the canals.
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| Full of beans late at night |
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| Playing on the hostel bed |
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