The plan for today was modest: eat in a proper Russian restaurant, not a western chain, then find Sennaya Ploschad' metro station and go to Peter & Paul Fortress. Not, to be entirely clear, out of a burning desire to go see Petropavlovskaya Krepost', but because it made for an excuse to go on the metro. Breakfast was that sugared toast. I can't figure out if she's using a batter with eggs, a la French toast, or if it's just butter and sugar. Whatever it is, it's tasty.
Around 12:30, I set out for the first leg: lunch. I'd passed a place called the Hunter's Hut on my way to Dickens, and the St. Petersburg In Your Pocket guide had good things to say about it, so I headed down Lermontov, opened the door, and went in. Inside it was cozy, if on the campy side, with music to match--a peculiar mix of American standards (New York, New York), country music, disco, and sappy sounding Russian tunes. I'm pretty sure I caught some Tom Jones in there, too. Sitting just inside was a Russian bear--two, really; both a taxidermied one and a bear of a man who seemed to be an owner, manager, or something. I sat down, and apparently looked Russian enough to confuse the waitress--I hadn't said anything, so she asked uncertainly whether I needed a Russian menu or English. I rather apologetically asked for the English one: I just don't know enough food words to be certain of what I'm ordering yet. Hunting Hut, as the name suggests, specializes to a certain extent in game meats. Unfortunately, they're a bit on the expensive side, so I went with that most Russian of dishes: veal stroganoff. To compliment it, I selected what turned out to be the most Soviet of beers: Жигули (Zhiguli). The waitress was friendly and attentive--she even smiled! Maybe it's just my rugged good looks. The beer arrived, and was fairly delicious--I guess I've got my Russian standby for now. A few minutes later, the meal: stroganoff, with a side of kasha and mushrooms. The stroganoff was nothing short of delicious; the mushrooms and kasha unsalted and thus a bit bland until I added a bit of salt. Price, with tip, came to about 600 rubles--not an every day sort of meal for me. Maybe not even an every weekend, sadly. But well worth it.
I did make one mistake: I should've tried to strike up a conversation with the waitress. (Or the giant bear man, I guess. Ok, probably the waitress would be a better bet.) The shyness just kicked right in, and with the lack of language skills, shut me down as certainly as a whole herd of tongue-hunting cats. Next time, I try to chat up the waitress--whether it's here at Hunting Hut or somewhere else. (Not at McDonalds, though.)
Thoroughly full, I headed down Lermontov until I figured out that I'd already passed Sadovaya. Oops. So I headed back up Lermontov and picked up Sadovaya. And then I walked down Sadovaya what felt like roughly forever until I found the biggest crowd I've yet found in Russia: Welcome to Sennaya Ploschad'. (Hay Square, wiki tells me. Today, I learned the adjective for hay, sure to come in handy sometime soon.) How to describe it… Market stalls selling CDs and DVDs, mobile phones and service, bliny. Guys with tables selling Red Bull and head massagers. People EVERYWHERE. A five story shopping mall off to the side. McDonald's. (Hi! Be seeing you again soon, McD's. ) A little band of buskers playing music by the metro. The metro, with a constant flood of people streaming in and out of it. Having this within (somewhat lengthy) walking distance makes me feel a bit less put out at being far from Nevskii and the centre.
It was about this time that I learned another lesson: Be careful what you drink when you're going out walking around. By the time I got to Sennaya, I kinda had to pee. My only choice (I thought) was one of the pay toilets. 15 rubles, or about 50 cents, for a moderately clean bathroom with a couple of urinals, a toilet, no soap in the dispenser and no paper towels. But it beats peeing yourself if you haven't got the stones to pee in the street twenty feet away from the toilets, like some guy I saw the other day. (Later, I realized that the mall had toilets. Sometimes a lesson has a precise price: in this case, fifteen rubles.)
I steeped into the crowd going into Sennaya Ploschad' metro station, then stepped over to look at a map. Yup--this is where I need to be, two stops and I'll be at Gorkovsky Station, right next to Petropavlovsky Krepost'. I fished out my token, put it in the turnstile, and got on the fastest, longest escalator I have ever been on in my life. (Not Sennaya, but to give you an idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrpbYFFTkC4&feature=related) After what felt like three or four minutes, I reached the platform, quickly figured out which way was which, and hopped on the train, which came in about two or three minutes. The train wasn't quite as busy as, say, the 6 at 9 on a weekday, but it was still packed. We hit Nevskii, then took off again, picking up what felt like ludicrous speed as we went under the Neva; it made for a nice breeze from the vents in the roof of the car. We came to what seemed like it ought to be Gorkovsky, slowed down… and kept right on going to Petrogradsky. Confused, I started to leave the station, conferred with my map to see that I'd be nowhere near Petropavlovskaya Krepost', and got right back on the train heading back to Sennaya. We passed Gorkovsky again--this time we actually stopped there, but it was obviously closed. Back at Sennaya, I came out the way I came in (in other words, via extremely long escalator), popped in the shopping mall--it seems to have a casino on the top floor--and headed home.
So at the end of the day, I did ride the metro--I just didn't actually take it anywhere. I might have another go at it tomorrow--Sportivnaya Station is within walking distance of Petropavlovsky as well, and I could pick up that line from Sennaya Ploschad' as well. (Technically, from Sadovaya ul. station, but they're connected underground.) It seems to be a *really* long walk from here--I didn't time it, so I could be exaggerating. I feel like I'm going to have to figure out the surface transport systems--the buses, trams, and mashrutskoye taxis, but right now it seems impossible. The little transit map book I've got doesn't seem to help much.
Coming home, I had another too-early dinner (must talk to Natasha about these) and watched The Empire Strikes Back dubbed into Russian. Now it's Columbo in Russian till bed, unless I get a powerful itch to study.
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