GOOD MORNING, ST. PETERSBURG

The 10:11 trained pulled out of Moscow last night -- exactly as scheduled. I shared a cabin with three very nice Russians, one, a quiet, very helpful youngster in the military services, spoke with me in English when the other two were absent. He's from a suburb of Moscow and is doing his training in St. Petersburg.

We all turned in about an hour out of Moscow. It was a wonderful ride; like a baby being rocked ever so gently, back and forth. I was sure to place my feet at the window since I feared getting a cold. Even though our bodies were moving sideways, the motion of the train assured that never once did I feel that I was gong to roll out of bed. In fact, if you closed your eyes, and closed or open the cabin was totally dark, you could play mind games and imagine any position you wished. You could have your head going in the direction of the train, or your feet.
We made up our beds and tucked ourselves under blankets. I don't think I've had a better sleeping experience.

Just before 5 AM, I noticed a lot of activity. The guys were up and already dressed. What is going on, I wondered. So I got up and put on my clothes. I went to look outside and noticed a city. That city happened to be our destination!

My first experience in the city was quite good. A woman left her office to try help me find out how to get to Hotel Neva. Finally, I bought a map and discovered the site. I considered walking, but that was a very foolish idea it turned out. I bought ten tokens for 80 roubles and took the metro at the train station just one stop to Chernyshevskaya.

Without asking for help, so as to ensure a good start to the day, I walked to the corner and made a right on Kirochnaya Ulitsa. While traversing this incredibly long block, the street lights went out at 6:33. Obviously it was timed to go off then because daylight was a long way off, and the skies were totally overcast. Looked like rain would fall today.

I made a right on Liteyny, crossed the street and walked one block. And there was Neva Hotel. I opened the street door and sat inside for a while since nobody seemed to be stirring inside. I sat on the steps, read a little of The Catcher in the Rye, ate some chocolate, drank some water.

At about 7:15, the first employee arrived and knocked. A guy came out and took my very heavy bag. The lady behind the desk said I "couldn't possibly have paid over the internet, you don't have a reservation; what's your name? Oh, Patrick Barr; yes, you paid $224?; oh, I am sorry. But you have to check at noon, unless you want to pay for the day".

I left at about 7:30 and walked very slowly done Liteyny toward Nevsky Prospekt, stopping at a restaurant for a roll and coffee. The cook addressed me in French, but Je ne parle pas de francais. I continued walking and took photos of some grafitti in an entrance way off the street. It is really private property but I took photos anyway and a woman seemed annoyed but I told her I didn't speak Russian and that seemed to cool her off a bit. I was really on private property.

It was a bit cold and I could have used a sweater.

So here I am at the Quo Vadis internet cafe quote in the center of the city unquote. (Did you guess that I am having trouble with the quotation marks?) The morning rate cost me 80 Roubles for two hours. That cannot be beat. Less than $3.

I slept well last night. Got up once to use the toilet. But I am still tired and think I will probably spend a lot of time in bed today.

Greetings from St. Petersburg.

Patrick Barry Barr