Unfortunately, my first impression of St. Petersburg wasn’t the best. When I boarded the Express Train from Helsinki to St. Peters a man helped me put my bag up on the storage rack and ended up sitting across the aisle from me. He was a big, burly, older man (mid-50’s) with a giant belly and bulbous nose. His name was Valery, he spoke English well and was excited to have someone to practice with. I’m all for helping people with their English, so we chatted for a bit.

And then, he would not stop talking. Not for the entire six hour train ride.

For the most part it was all innocent enough; although some of his opinions on homosexuality and a woman’s “role” did not sit well with me. It was just more exhausting than anything. I had planned to use those six hours to catch up on some writing and instead I was trying to decipher what Valery was saying while feigning interest after about the first three hours.

Other passengers joined the conversation as well – Vladimir and Natalia, who spoke no English but commented through Valery’s translations and Claudio, an Italian getting his Masters from a Uni in St. Peters. By that point there was no way around being part of the conversation. And at the center was Valery; overbearing, talking over everyone else and making sure we all heard his poems and jokes.

When we arrived in St. Peters I was relieved to get off the train and made a B-line for the taxi stand. But Valery wouldn’t have it. He would escort me to my hostel and make sure that I arrived safely because “St. Petersburg can be dangerous place.”

I really didn’t want him to know where I was staying, but in an effort not to be a “rude American,” I let him show me the correct bus to take. Safely aboard the bus, I breathed easy. Then, at the last minute, Valery jumped on the bus.

At the hostel I said goodbye outside the front door, but he insisted on trying to haul my bag up six flights of stairs (the elevator was broken). However, in his physical state, I did the hauling myself (as I preferred anyways).

He got really upset, shouted some things in Russian and then stormed off. The staff cautioned me about men like him because, “he is a strange man indeed, please do be careful.”

Great. Not exactly the way I wanted to kick things off in Russia, but it was nice to meet up with Conor.

The city itself gave me the impression of a place so steeped in tradition that updates and progress were difficult – kind of a faded glory feeling. There was construction all over the city, but nothing seemed new. Traffic was crazy, as were the drivers and parking was a complete free-for-all. That said, it was a really pretty city with great architecture and gardens; large, but not overwhelming so.