Leaving Singapore at 11.55 pm one would think you might be able to sleep through the night and wake up refreshed. I can tell you that isnt the case at all. We were close to the front of the section with an empty seat next to me. The front row was vacant but some arrogant #$### took over all 4 seats so no one was able to stretch their legs even though the hosties invited people to use the extra leg room. The only justice was everytime the hosties did a food, snack or drink run, he was woken twice.
Given that there were a lot of infants and small children on the flight, it was suprisingly quiet through the night. Only one girl around 3 was screaming at the top of her lungs for a short time. Mother was oblivious to the fact she woke up the entire plane.
Three or four movies, and a couple of albums later we were descending into Frankfurt. We did manage to get some sleep through the night but it was very interupted. I was just dozing off again when we touched down. It scared the crap our of me.
Once off the plane we found our departure gate was next to our arrivals so no mad rush to get there. It was time for a REAL coffee and a good stretch to loosen up the tight muscles.
Franfurt airport, where we arrived, has 3 types of seat. There is the general uncomfortable seats, some semi comfortable low back seats, and some fixed recliners for snoozing. They all have USB ports and power sockets for charging mobile stuff but dont hold your breath trying to find one that works. Most USB ports are totally stuffed so I wouldn't risk using then anyway.
The stop over here was a short one so we were off and enroute to St Petersburg around 2 hours later. This was a short run, about 2 1/2 hours, this time flying Lufthansa. We were suprised to see there was no in flight entertainment, not even music. If you wanted to though, you could buy some internet time for the trip. We had a twin seat at the wing emergency exit. The leg room was good, although these seats had no recliner because of the emergency access. We were served yet another breakfast and both the food and service was good.
Landing at St Petersburg was a challenge with some cross wind causing a bit of an issue. Once on the ground we now had to clear immigration, collect luggage, clear customs and find our transfer to the hotel. It all went suprisingly smooth and we were out of the airport in no time. We arrived at the Angleterre hotel in the heart of St Petersburg. This is a pretty up market hotel and the service here is exceptional. It is across the road from St Isaac's Cathedral.
The Russian Orthodox cathedral is a must see in St Petersburg. It cost 550ru to go to the museum and climb the 300 steps to the colonade. The view from the top alone is spectacular, not to mention the ornate parapit sculptures and fittings. The sheer size of the bronze bell has you wondering how they got it in place in the early 1800s. It was built between 1818 and 1858 and inside there are images and miniatures of how it was constructed.
No words can describe the inside. We rushed our visit but allow a good 2-3 hours to take it all in.
After our visit we just had a short wander around looking for a venue for dinner. Attached to the Angleterre is the Astoria. This is another hotel and had a fine dining restaurant serving Russian cuisine with a french twist. The prices are pretty reasonable as well. We decided to stay and have dinner there and then, as it was just nudging 6pm and we didnt know how long we would stay awake. The concierge greeted us and we exchanged names. During the course of the meal we were addressed by our name and the waiter was on the ball with his service and eye for detail. Out meal cost us 5800 ru (around $128 AUD) for 2 entrees, 1 soup, 2 mains, a bottle of sparkling water and 2 cappacinos. We could pay the same in a pub in Australia these days. The meals were exquisite.
They were expecting a couple of large groups to come in and were practicing some syncronised food delivery. It was interesting to watch the precision they applied just to deliver meals.
After dinner we retired to our rooms and it didnt take long for us to get to sleep.
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