Rendezvous!

It’s been quite an afternoon (we spent the morning in quiet preparation for it). We were scheduled to take a tour to see St Petersburg through Russian eyes, and I thought it might just be possible to meet our friend Jurij at some point. As the photo shows, I was right - but it was quite an adventure.

We have no visa for this visit; the only way we can leave the boat is with an authorised tour. We began with a metro ride, involving three changes of train, several escalators and tunnels, and keeping up with Sergei, our guide. The main fear was of being left behind, either on a train or on a platform. We all had earpieces on, like a geriatric Borg hive, and warnings about pickpockets would sound in our ear as Sergei spotted a likely culprit.

The there was the market - where is originally thought we might meet. Not a bit of it. We were galloped through the authentic market and ended up in a gift market for tourists - and that’s when my phone rang. Jurij was at the market , but where would we meet?

In the end, I galloped after Sergei and let them sort it out. In Russian. And we met at this restaurant where we were having a vodka-tasting and it was lovely. J and I downed 4 shots of vodka and ate blinis and caviar and talked to Jurij, who was driving to his dacha on Lake Ladoga in the evening and couldn’t touch a drop - even though the tight-lipped Scandinavians (I think) at our table left several glasses untouched. It was great fun, and completely crazy. I may yet suffer...