Traveling to St. Petersburg

Just a few days after returning from Budapest, I set off again. This time to St. Petersburg, Russia. To be honest, I was a little anxious about going, thinking about the the history, stories I have heard, the current political climate, and relations with the United States- though I fully recognize someone could think this same thing when considering the U.S. Anyway, I did not let this perturb me too much.

Earlier in the semester I joined a group called Erasmus Student Network, or ESN. It is essentially an organization for international and exchange students with chapters all over Europe. I joined the group in Lappeenranta as a recommendation by a friend who is a member. Throughout the year ESN hosts various events and trips (read more when I write that blog post). As an active member I had the opportunity to go to St. Petersburg as a group leader, for free. My duties only included answering questions posed by the participants (I received one phone call before the trip), checking people in at the bus, and lightly assisting the tour guides. The trip included travel, accommodation, and most activities. Overall the value was 430€. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me!

Day 1

Our group consisted of about 60 students, including 3 group leaders and mostly exchange students (at LUT for one semester). First we traveled three hours to Helsinki by bus. The second leg of our trip was a 14-hour, overnight, visa-free cruise across the Baltic Sea. This wasn’t my preferred way to travel, but it is the only option for tourists without a visa. I wasn’t super impressed with the boat (a little old-fashioned and creepy), but there was a nice Russian variety show in the evening.

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Day 2

Before officially entering St. Petersburg the next morning, we had to go through passport control. We were warned beforehand that a few of us would likely be selected for random questioning. Based on past experiences, I was sure it would be me. As I stood in the long line, I saw the Russian border patrol guards lead away two people of color in front of me. My heart rate continued to rise as it was taking my Albanian friend in front of me longer than the others. She was taken away. Once called, I stepped before the window, where the lady began asking me questions about myself, who I was traveling with, my intentions, etc. Several times she flipped through my passport and kept looking back up at me. A second guy came in, they chatted, and took a picture of me on a cell phone. Finally I was released. Definitely felt like the longest 3 minutes of my life. That wasn’t the end of it, though. Before our tour continued, we had to wait for the 3 students who were being held and questioned, which took a little over 2 hours. Luckily, my friend reported that it was lots of waiting and random questions, not too scary. While correlation isn’t necessarily causation, when 2 of the 4 people of color on the trip get questioned (black German and Vietnamese), it makes you think.

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Finally after that we were able to begin our trip. First we took a guided bus tour of the city with our travel guide, Vladimir. We got off at various monuments to take pictures and look more closely. This experience exponentially increased in value due to Vladimir’s explanations of history and culture. At 2°C, windy, and humid, it felt extremely cold compared to Budapest last week! During one of these stops, 3 Russian guys insisted on taking a picture with me. Once I figured out what was happening, I tried to refuse and had to force myself from under one guy’s arm. Later I saw them taking pictures with people in costume and was yet again made to feel weird while traveling black.

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Next we ate and got to relax at the hotel. Then some of us went to the Russian ballet to see “Swan Lake,” which was the only activity I had to purchase. It was beautiful and the theater was surprisingly intimate. The last activity of the day was a night limo tour with sparkling wine. While it wasn’t my favorite (foggy windows and blaring music), we got to get out a few times. I was mesmerized by one of many cathedrals in the city, this one a striking blue and illuminated.

Day 3

The next day we traveled about an hour away to Catherine’s Palace. There Vladimir told us all about this palace with another fantastic blue on the outside and dazzling gold on the inside. During free time I went souvenir shopping with some friends. With a population of 5.5 million, the same as all of Finland, it was a bit stressful to walk on the streets, where a good 30 or more people could be crossing at once! Later we had a Russian dinner with live folk music, a show, and funny yet cringingly gendered traditional games.

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Day 4

We started off the last day by visiting the State Hermitage Museum, where Vladimir told us stories and history about some key pieces of art. For lunch we got sweet and savory Russian pies. There I was able to spend all but 12 of my Rubles that I had exchanged for Euros earlier in the trip. At the time, about 70 Rubles equaled 1 Euro and everything was pretty cheap. Finally, we went on a tour of 3 cathedrals, all of which were stunning. I couldn’t stop looking up at the intricately decorated ceilings. Later in the afternoon we went back through customs and boarded the ferry to Helsinki.

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Though I don’t necessarily see myself going back due to the travel logistics and border control process, overall I had a wonderful trip and greatly attribute it to our tour guide. Thanks, Vladimir!