Journey on the Trans-Siberian: St Petersburg
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> The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR, Russian: Транссибирская магистраль, tr. Transsibirskaya magistral', IPA: [trənsʲsʲɪˈbʲirskəjə məgʲɪˈstralʲ]) is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East.[1]
Saint Petersburg–Moscow Railway is considered a separate railway line [2].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Siberian_Railway
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg%E2%80%93Mosco...
However, topicstarter didn't traverse this path anyway.
Around Red Square in Moscow you will probably get along with English. In the rest of Moscow‘s city center: doubtful, but possible.
Elsewhere? Forget about it.
Except for St. Petersberg. Only one person I tried to talk to did not speak some English, a ticket inspector in the tram. Fortunately, just about every Russian around was immediately trying to help and translate. :-)
Oh, and learn by heart how „Выход в город“ looks like. I learned it after I spent about half an hour trying to emerge from the metro station to the surface, and only getting to yet another train line.
That being said, how do people say goodbye in the USA?
With women it is if you are an acquaintance then a nod, a friend usually a hug, can be a kiss on the cheek sometimes. With women from smaller towns they might hug and kiss strangers probably out of habit.
Since US is quite rural that would explain more hug prone culture.
Hey man. I am really interested in this part. There is way too much info out there and not sure what is outdated and what is not and which ones are legit.
Is there a good authoritative source for this.
I also bookmarked this page: http://www.myazcomputerguy.com/everbrite/Page9.html ... It's old, so I would not trust the schedule information, but it's a good introduction and has links to other writeups.
Is there a particular topic/area that you wish you had an authoritative report on? Maybe I can cover it in an upcoming essay.
which is the website to buy rail tickets in Russia. It might be a bit confusing I have to agree, especially finding the correct inputs for "from" and "to" fields.
(I went in Spring when it was -10, which I think was about the right mix: endless snowfields, and plenty cold enough).
You really want to visit Peter between May till September. End of June to early July during the White Nights is quiet fun.
My favorite thing is to roam the city on bikes. Peter is a large city and having a bike gives you a great freedom to take it all in.
Peter has many restaurants. Armenian (Erevan or Yerevan named after the capital of Armenia is very good but a bit on the pricey side), Georgian, canteen (soviet style buffet). Many places on or around the Nevsky Street open late or never close.
SIM card is cheap, Megaphone and MTC is your best choice, but you can't buy Megahpone at the airport, but there are many locations in the center of the city. I think I paid like $8-9 for 10-12 Gigs of internet.
Russian language knowledge is very helpful. Though a lot more people speak English in Peter than rest of Russia, but if you plan to wonder off, Google Translate (download the Russian language to your phone to be safe) is your friend.
If you want to learn Russian, learn the polite way of saying hello (Здравствуйте) it's hard to pronounce at first, but I find it very disarming and helpful.
Uber has now become Yandex taxi. But you can still use your Uber app which is what I recommend once you arrive into the airport and want to get to city upon arrival.
IMPORTANT - If you stay at AirBNB, the host may not register you. So either ask them to register you or ask them where you can register. Registration is free, but people doing it will charge you some money. There were agencies that would do it last year, but with the world cup rules changed a bit.
If you like street music and you want to fit in, be sure to listen to the music of KINO (with the front man Victor Tsoi) they're a legend in Peter and you'll hear their music always played in the street.
I never got asked to prove my registration, but why risk it? If your host is unable or unwilling to register you, you can self-register at the nearest police station.[0]
[0] Please verify this, don't take my word for it.
EDIT: Depends on length of stay of course, under few weeks they generally don't care, over a month they will definitely contact the owner and check everything.
Owner might not want his address being mentioned too many times, registering 10 random people within 2 months would definitely attract tax office attention and since renting is income tax needs to be paid on that.
So it's my understanding that the registration goes into your computer file. Before the World Cup registration was required if you stayed more than 5 days in a given city. During the World Cup it was reduced to 3 days [0].
I did meet an Australian group who did not have the time to register and I'm guessing there were probably a lot of visitors like them.
It's possible (speculation at my part) the border controllers were instructed to go easy on people from Western Countries.
Perhaps given the large bureaucratic process of registration, it's possible the orders were to be flexible. It's also possible that when they scanned the visitor's fanID when entering a stadium (again speculation) that it became a form of registration, and these people were flagged as real football fans and not some threat.
It's clear this world cup was used to boost tourism (seeing how the FanID visa free visit is extended till the end of the year [1]) and the last thing the country wants is some Kafkaesque experience by some western blogger. So there is probably flexibly built into this rule. I just wouldn't take the chance.
That being said, I just assume to follow the rules. Particularly, if you think one day you may want to visit Russia again.
[0] https://www.accountor.ru/en/fifa-registration-rules-for-fore...
[1] https://www.dw.com/en/russia-to-let-world-cup-fans-come-back...
Do you like beer? AF Brew is basically as good as a lot of breweries in NorCal. They even do the whole indie canning thing.
Also, be sure to check out the anti-cafes: pay-per-hour "third places" where you can go to work, hang out, have a coffee, etc.
Museum-wise, the Erarta and General Staff Building are pretty incredible.
Wish I could say more but I had very limited time in both cities.
The first time I applied for a Russian visa, my photo was rejected for smiling. My second Putin-serious photo was accepted just fine. What's the story with smiling? Do Americans come across as goofy there for smiling too much? (off topic, I know, but potentially useful)
Most people don't walk around with a giant grin on their face. A picture of a resting face is more accurate than one that you pose and contort your face for.
Passport photos aside (which really do require a neutral face, even in the US), Russians do not smile in public or to strangers the way we do in the US. Smiling in public is seen as a sign of foolishness or low intelligence. When Americans come to Russia they interpret the lack of smiles as hostility, which isn't true.
Incidentally, that slighty-more-serious mood in Russia feels comfortable for me. Maybe because I tend to smile less than I "should" in the US.
[1] From https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/require...
"You must have a neutral facial expression or a natural smile, with both eyes open"
One may smile when he meets a friend or sees some cute kitten, but in general people are walking in some meditation alike state, thinking about the current affairs and not particularly paying attention to the people they passing by.
And when russian person meets the grinning stranger with cold eyes (not his real mood). It looks kind of creepy. Ordinary people usually do not pay much attention for this kind of encounters. Police (are you drunk?) and street scammers(are you a tourist?) - do.
And yes, if you smile too much you are taken for лох, even if you are native. Get to an urban market some day and smile to sellers, посчитай на сколько обуют.
>>The virile ruler, the vodka, the endless mounds of sour cream—they are pleasing to some. It’s just that grinning without cause is not a skill Russians possess or feel compelled to cultivate. There’s even a Russian proverb that translates, roughly, to “laughing for no reason is a sign of stupidity"
Your average street level transaction will degrade if you smile or even too polite.