Mon 1st - went for a run along river and to Finlandskyi station as we wanted to see if possible to walk there (train early to Finland from here). After run went to get pancakes for breakfast and then walked to church *******. We bought tickets to walk up to the top and get panoramic views of the city then we also looked inside which was stunning. After this we walked to Peter and Paul fortress. We had lunch before at Burger King. The fortress was interesting, good views of city river. We then walked back towards city, walking by the eternal flame and taking photos of the Church of Spilled Blood. We walked along the Main Street and by chance discovered the Faberge museum. We walked back to hostel and had soup and toast for tea.
Tue 2nd - we wanted to check we could get to the train station by subway on time so got up early and took the first subway to Finlandski station. We then walked back along the river to the hostel and had toast and waffles. We went to the post office to get stamps then walked over to the Hermitage. We got there a bit early so decided to walk over the bridge to see the Steve Jobs memorial but couldn't see anything. We walked back to the Hermitage which was amazing. Very big. Unfortunately some of the famous pictures etc were not on show but we saw a few. Managed to see most of it but would need another day to see it properly. After about 4 hrs there we had lunch at Burger King then walked down the Main Street again. We went to see the Arcade Machine museum nut it was 300 rubles to enter which was a lot (the Hermitage was 400!). We walked back to the hostel and relaxed then walked down to the Faberge museum for 4.45pm and had a tour in English. The Royal eggs were beautiful. After the Faberge museum we walked to have pancakes for tea then back to the hostel to pack.
Wed 3rd - got up early, checked out and took subway to Finlandski station to get Allergro train to Helsinki.
Likes
- the hostel was amazing, the best hostel so far (possibly ever been to)
- museums were great. The Hermitage was surprisingly really interesting for me and so was the Faberge
- the architecture was stunning
- the shopping street was really pleasant to walk down
Dislikes
- hard to find toilets
- no great supermarkets
