Not Gone

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Absence makes the heart grow fonder. I've been gone a long time but I'm still in one piece and away no longer. I spent four days in St. Petersburg and the highlight was the sunny weather. The city is northwest Moscow and five hours away by train. Train travel isn't glamorous or dangerously exciting, but smart operators humble themselves enough for a nap. Sergey and I must be proud in disguise because we ended up on the unofficial Kidz Kar, so napping was went out the window right before I debated whether or not to jump.

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St. Petersburg is an interesting city. It was stubbornly built in 1703 on top of 48 islands in a swamp near the Arctic Circle and is the "cultural capital" of Russia, which actually means it's the only place in Russia with culture. Honestly. There were a few interesting particulars though. In most cities around the world, the lower class of people usual take up residence on the outskirts of the city, where the cost of living isn't nearly as expensive. St. Petersburg has quite a few older building that are very similar to each other smack dab in the middle of the city. Some bright young thing decided to renovate one, designating nine seperate apartments to each floor, but only one universal kitchen. The big spenders caught on and before long, low income residents dominated the central hub of the city. Fortunately for nightlife, it was mostly cash starved party hard college students that took up residence in these old buildings, thus giving St. Petersburg the unique cultural distinction. 

Blond dreadlocks won't ever look good though.

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I spend four days on my feet, walking around the likes of Peter the Great's summer gardens and the Hermitage, the old royal palace*official museum of Russia located right by the Neva River, which sounds awesome out loud when spoken with a great southern drawwwl. The best part about the four days there was definitely the sunny weather, which apparently is unheard of in St. Petersburg this time of year. Nothing else extraordinary happened though, which accounted for an overall A+ walkabout. I saw The Stooges live too.

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My time here in Russia is closing soon and I'm trying my best to avoid retrospect right now. October 4th will come soon enough though and all my luggage will be under 50 lbs, cuz what I don't need gets left behind. Africa's next. Shake your dreads. 

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