Got up early took the tram to the station to catch the 6:30 train to St Petersburg. Learned an important lesson today, never go somplace completely unprepared. I'd left most of my luggage in Helsinki and only brought what I'd absolutely need for one night. So I didn't bring my guide book, since I'd already read it, and I'd just pick up a local map at the tourist desk. No turist desk. Worse no one in the station speaks English. I managed to change some money, but then realized I had no idea where the hostel was. No address, no phone number. I walked around the neighborhood, unwilling to believe there wasn't tourist info somewhere. Then I tried to get some help from a group of policemen. They tried, but they couldn't speak English either. After almost two hours I was getting a little scared, when I found a scrap of paper with the hostel's phone number in one of my jacket pockets. I bought a phone card, called the hostel, and got the address. Still feeling a little shaken up I decided to go with a taxi rather than risking public transportation. Caught a cab, got to the hostel.
At the hostel I bought Lonely Planet's city guide for St Petersburg. Armed with the book I spent the rest of the afternoon / evening exploring Nevsky Prospect. Didn't really go in anywhere, but went by Kazan Cathedral, the Winter Palace, and the Admirality.
Went out to a small restaurant (maybe 30 x 30 feet), where I was definitely the only foreigner, ahd a a couple beers, read my guide book, and watched th world go by.
