Getting Around in St Petersburg can be a challenge. We got lost trying to walk to our hotel from the train station because we were warned not to trust the taxi drivers. No one speaks English and all the signs are written in the Cyrillic alphabet. It made things very interesting.

Ah the Russian subway system. Same problem with the unreadable maps and no English speakers. They are about 100’ deep because they were also designed as bomb shelters. A few brave souls tried to give us directions but it was largely a game of charades. We finally found a security guard who spoke surprisingly good English and gave us the proper directions. Crowded and confusing the tunnels are also the lair of the pick pocket. This is where I got my wallet lifted. The blocked my way on to the train then two more came in behind and stole my wallet. Not subtle, more like a mugging, but effective.

 
Mini busses to you & I, the marshrutkas were an adventure. They don’t have regular stops. You have to tell them were to stop, which is a problem as our Russian was no better than the bus driver’s English. We didn’t even know what the price was…we made a good guess that seemed to satisfy the driver. We also had no idea where our stop was and since we couldn’t tell where we were going that also made things difficult. Oh yeah, the Russian sitting next to me was huffing glue from a soda can…what fun!!! We all scrambled off of the bus as soon as one of the other passengers got off. Fortunately the stop was very near where we needed to go.
The city trams are everywhere. After giving up on the mini bus, we started using what we affectionately referred to as the ghetto tram as our primary means of transport. Slower and it didn’t look particularly safe, ( you could see the street through the floorboards), but much easier.

Left: Traffic accidents are common in a city as congested as St Petersburg.

Bottom left: The Russian Lada. Notoriously poorly built, but economical to drive, they are the ford escort of the east.

This tourist helicopter took off and landed from a crowded river front spot in front of the fortress, sand would kick up and hats would fly. Never mind that on close inspection, I wouldn’t have set foot on that thing on the ground let alone in the air.