Stas’ niece arranged a three-hour, English language overview of the city tour for us on our first day here. Having arrived at 2 am the same morning, you could see a head or two nod off as we drove from site to site. It was simply a taste of the city – passing by all the sites we should go back and visit in-depth during our time here. I was surprised at how European  St Petersburg is – wide avenues, a plenitude of manicured parks, and beautiful pastel buildings with ornate grill work. And the water! So many rivers, canals, and boats. It’s going to be a fun week.

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