What, the people are smiling?
It seems I no longer have to wear my oldest clothes and walk expressionless down the street to blend in when in St Petersburg.
The scaffolding is down, and the streets are cleaned up
Didn’t this used to be the black market? The souvenir fair gets an official awning.
Whaaaaat… flowers?
Signs for tourists at every corner.. 
And the most disconcerting was that people were speaking a little bit of english.
And smiling!! Eeek!
I had fun trying to read the signs. “Bar, Salon, Pushkin Cafe, Bank, Restaurant…
Freakadelki?”
More flowers – what is going on?!
This is for my Bro
The tradition of brides getting their picture taken in front of all the monuments continues. I will see a lot of these this summer!
At least the port remains unchanged.
Tomorrow I will get a day off in St Petersburg, one of three days there. I am interested to take the metro to the outskirts to see if it has changed so much as well. 7 years since my first visit to St Petersburg, and each year it changes just a little. It was an interesting time back then, but although I feel the loss of an era, I am happy for the new one.
4 responses so far ↓
Ex-Shammickite // June 21, 2007 at 7:20 pm
So Russia is staring to open up to tourists and they realise that you get more results with honey than with vinegar… or something like that.
Betsy // June 22, 2007 at 6:42 am
Umm, Stacey? Are you sure you were in ther right St. Petersburg? Where are the piles of banana peels next to the garbage cans? Or the Kvass tankers with big beer-bellied, rosy cheeked men sleeping off their hangovers on nearby park benches? Something is fishy– Could it be possible that it’s changed that much over the years?!!
Little Miss Moi // June 23, 2007 at 11:46 am
Dear stacey. It looks sooo pretty. Can’t wait to get to Petorborg. Can’t imagine what it would have been like seven years ago (perhaps what Kyiv is like now?)
Ginnie // June 24, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Hmmmm. I’d love to compare notes with you, Stacey, on when we were there just a year ago! Too much to write down here but it still had a feel of paranoia to it all, for lack of a better word!