Another Good Night in St. Petersburg...

Another adventure in St. Petersburg, Russia and probably my last one. Who knows. We didn't arrive until 4:00pm yesterday in St. Petersburg, which was new for me. I've always been used to getting there around 10:00am at the latest. I got invited from some cruise staff friends to hang out in town around 6:30pm, and this way I could exchange money for the big night later. It's a scam if you try and do it at the club. We got a cab into town in a van and didn't pay the guy. My friend doing the arranging for the pick up time said we'd just pay him the total amount later when he took us back to the ship. I was also always used to paying at least half the amount, but I guess her reasoning was that if he wasn't paid yet then he'd come get us for sure. We went to the black market behind the Church of the Spilled Blood for a bit and I veered off for a few to exchange my money and some of my friends' money. I met up with them again at the market. We wanted to take a canal ride because they said it would be amazing especially at night. We were all geared up for it and even found a boat that would do it for pretty cheap. We checked out a few others close by, but they weren't as affordable. We got to the original guy after finding our dinner spot and it turns out he was full. The next canal ride wasn't leaving until 8:00pm and we still had to get dinner in. We opted out of it thinking it wasn't meant to be. We went to our dinner spot at the St. Petersburg Hotel. Here we would get dinner and a folklore show since we were eating close to 9:00pm, which was when the show started. It was gorgeous on the inside and the set up kind of reminded me of the old German place that our family used to go to for dinner occasionally in Ohio. It had a bandstand and the tables were in little compartments around it kind of. It was very chic looking and the menu was kind of pricy, but we were willing to spend a little more for the show. We all pretty much ordered the same thing aside from the drinks. We started with borscht soup. It was hot and not cold, which is what I prefer. It was so delicious. We all pretty much added sour cream to it so it was even tastier. The main course came much later, which is good since I had little room after the large serving of the beet and potato soup. In between we got 2 half shows of the folklore. It was great. These dancers definitely made use of the space they were given and it wasn't much. Ballet trained of course. The girls were all super thin and had amazing posture. The show was delightful with 2-featured singers and about 10 or so dancers. I'd seen a folkloric show last year with more dancing and more singers, but this was so fun with the minimal space. The main course came and we all ordered the stroganoff. The plate came exquisitely decorated and with a side of julienne potatoes (hash browns, lol). The stroganoff was off to the side in a little pot sitting over a candle. The presentation was definitely over the top. I mixed the stroganoff with the potato since there were no noodles, which is how I'm used to eating it at home. It was mouthwatering delicious. Wow. Amazing to say the least. We got out of the restaurant about 2 hours later. Yes it was a long dinner. One of us ran off to meet the cab, which was supposed to be there at 10:15pm. The rest of us met up with her at 10:30pm expecting our ride, but alas no ride. We waited until 10:50pm before I decided we needed to get another cab back since I had to report to the lounge around 11:15pm to check in with the new cast and their rehearsal and I also wanted to get ready to go out with everyone at midnight. I barely made it back in time, but we managed to do it with little effort. Whew! I quickly met the cast for their run and checked in to make sure everything was okay and if they had any questions. I was excused and met my other friends to go to the club. This was not the Metro where we normally club, but another place called Pappanin. The cost was $14, which got you round trip transport, a free drink, and admission. This was good since to go to Metro you need to budget for $15 in cab alone, plus the $14 entrance, and all drinks are for purchase. I didn't realize it would be that easy and realized I took out way too many Rubles for the evening. That's okay. This place had food for order as well. However I was still full and content from dinner I couldn't imagine ordering more. We got to the club and it was pretty neat. It was below ground and had a cavernous theme. There was a live band playing when we got there and the place was hopping. It wasn't as big as Metro and didn't have as many clubbing options, but it was good since the crew were all there that were hanging out that night. I danced like a maniac and sweat like crazy before getting on the shuttle at 4:00am. Whoa!! Needless to say I was a little tired today. I'm not THAT young anymore. It was another good night out in Russia if I'm this tired today. I just chilled out today and bought some pirated DVDs. One being the new Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix that's currently in theatres. I think I'll watch that soon.