Before we move to our next tourist location, here are a set of pics that speak to I don't know what. This first one we found very ironic. Note the Christ-like figure the guy is standing in front of. Now note the bottle next to his right foot. I watched him for a bit. He would pray. Then he would look at Christ. Then take a drink. Then start the process again. I believe at this point, he is either waiting for some holy reaction or thinking of his next request...

Across the street from the church above is this HUGE souvenir bazaar. They sell everything one would ever hope to buy in Russia. And they are dutifully aggressive about wanting you to buy. One thing you see everywhere in St Petersburg are matryoshka's (stacking dolls). About a million of them. But one thing we didn't think we would see were stacking dolls painted like Big Ten Mascots. Kind of freaked us out. And of course they sell fur hats. I told Hillary that if she would don one, I would start singing Somewhere My Love from Dr Zhivago. (While she removed it before I could warm up my vocal cords, truth is she's been talking about getting one of these since the start of our trip. We fully expect to be bringing one back on the plane. In summer. To Chicago.)












The second night we ate at this wonderful outdoor cafe. Rather than walk, we opted for a cab. We were warned that taxis in SP can be questionable. So our hotel flagged one down. Scooter (hotel guy) stopped what appeared to be a random car (no taxi sign, no meter, some windows missing) to take us. He ensured us skippy (cab driver) would get us to the restaurant. We flew off with radio blasting. Good news. We made it. Bad news. Skippy let us off about a mile from the restaurant. Took me 3 minutes to order vodka. Shared it with Hillary who also informed me that sipping vodka was a bit foreign to her. (vs what....?)