The Glamorous Life

Another in my continuing series of posts designed to prove that my life pitching the GMs is not as exciting as it sounds. Here's my room in St. Petersburg at the Nevsky Grand Hotel. I've had smaller rooms - the one in Madrid jumps to mind, although I've had a couple in Vienna that were pretty close. That said, it's half a block off the Nevsky Prospect, one of the most famous and beautiful streets in the world - and all for only $88 a night! It's hard to find a deal in Russia, but you're going to come a lot closer in St. Petersburg than in Moscow. I searched and searched and the best I could find in Moscow was a room that went for $220 a night, which by Moscow standards is a steal. This room is only a ten minute walk from the Hermitage, which, being the nerd that I am, is where I'll be spending all of tomorrow. There's a great St. Petersburg tradition of all the bridges going up at midnight all across town to allow the larger boats to go through - all the drawbridges stay up for a couple hours. I think I'm going to go check it out either Friday or Saturday, although I'll be sure to carry nothing in my pockets because pickpockets are pretty common in St. Petersburg, especially along the Nevsky Prospect. I really like St. Petersburg although the darkness is sort of overpowering - we just think it's a problem in Vermont - I don't think it got fully light this morning until around nine and the sun was down again by around three. However, they also tell me that during high summer they have days where the sun never actually sets. So, very dark and non-stop cold rain so far, but still a beautiful city. Just wish it would stop raining long enough for me to take some pictures.