From the huge, gold plated buildings that line the main streets and fairy tale cathedrals that burst with colour, to the men who almost all seemed to be in uniform and the majority of women who tottered around in sky high heels dressed in head to toe designer labels, everything about St. Petersburg seemed to scream excessive extravagance.
We ate macaroons the size of our palms dusted with gold leaf, and survived potent vodka shots in glasses double the normal Australian size, but beneath all the decadence we couldn't help but feel that there was a more gritty and realistic underside of St. Petersburg that was being hidden.
It was a city where you were very obviously either a tourist or a local, and while I always felt surprisingly safe wandering through the streets, it was much harder to uncover the little gems off the tourist track that other cities had delivered.
However in a city where the tourist attractions really are so spectacular, I was more than content to spend a few days touring through the canals and being in awe of the rich history that the city is built on. We did manage to stumble upon an awesome little restaurant around the corner from our hostel called Zoom (find it at 22 Gorohovaya Street) that provided by far the best meal of all our time in Russia. With walls filled with art and postcards, and a range of both traditional Russian and other European food, it was clearly a popular option as we had to wait about 20 minutes to get a table, but the delicious food and seriously affordable price made it well worth the wait.
Russia had always been an absolute dream destination of mine and St. Petersburg definitely lived up to my hype but next time I will definitely be visiting with a local to try an scrape more than just it's beautifully embellished surface.
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