Clap, clap, clap; the spontaneous cheers of dozens of homesick Russians erupted when our airplane tires hit the tarmac. “Мы дома!” or We’re home!, they shrieked. We too were happy to have landed safely in St. Petersburg, Russia after a long flight across ‘the pond’ with a tedious layover in Moscow.
If you visit Russia, do like we did, plan ahead with Saint Petersburg.com. After retrieving our luggage from the airport claim carousel, our driver, Boris Leostrin, was found holding up an I-Pad with the name “Albany-Tula Alliance” boldly displayed for us to see. We were impressed to hop aboard his Mercedes SUV for a 30-minute joyride to downtown St. Petersburg.
“Oh my God, there’s a Maserati! That guy is driving a Bugatti! Is that a Maybach? No way!” Isaac squealed in delight at the number of obligatory luxury cars driven by the incredibly wealthy. The world’s most expensive cars weren’t going any faster though. They too were stuck in typical bottleneck fashion on a Friday afternoon in the former imperial capital.
Bang! Poof! With one loud spark and a whiff of ozone, my dependable control strip went up in smoke not more than five minutes from unpacking at the M-Hotel. The lights in my room dimmed and eight previously functioning outlets (an impressive number for an older hotel) died on the spot. Thankfully, it didn’t trigger the fire detection system or cause grief for my neighbors. The staff were quick to come to my rescue calling in a repair man to reset the circuit breaker. Lesson learned. Always check with the hotel reception, particularly in older hotels, how much voltage rooms can handle. The control strip was graded for 110/220 volts but with so many electronics plugged into it, a reaction was inevitable.
Stay tuned. More eventful moments from our weekend in St. Petersburg tomorrow.