By KMorris117
This past week, I have spent a good amount of time on public transport. St. Petersburg is an extremely accessible city, and there is a bus or train that goes just about everywhere. While the set-up is similar to that of DC, there are some major differences as well. The following are 8 facts/observations I have made about St. Petersburg public transportation the last few weeks.
- The escalators (or lifts as they say) are incredibly long. The ride up/down takes multiple minutes, which gives you enough time to really think about how far underground you are going. Spooky.
- People don’t walk up or down the escalators like most do in DC. You pick a stair, you stay on that stair, and you ride the incredibly long escalator all the way down. It’s nice, though, because people are not in such a hurry. There isn’t the same frenziness that one can often feel on the DC metro. Although a lively and crowded city, the overall pace of St. Petersburg is no where near as hurried as DC or New York.
- The escalators (last one about them, I promise) are a prime spot for PDA. I have no idea why because they are all well-lit, and at first I thought it was just one-time thing. But no, it is a consistent thing that many Russian couples participate in. Valentine's Day was very interesting.
- The Metro face. Russians tend to smile less and look more serious in general, but it gets brought to a whole new level on the metro. I’ve never seen so many faces stay so straight for so long. It’s impressive-no noise or sudden halt fazes them.
- The public transportation is very on time and very efficient. Trains come about every 3 minutes, and buses are just as punctual. After the disaster that was the DC metro this past summer, this aspect is very much appreciated.
- The metro stations themselves are beautiful. The architecture makes each station look like some sort of art museum. There’s paintings and ornamentation on the walls, marble pillars, and even some chandeliers.
- Each ride on the metro and the bus is a flat 40 rubles, at any time to get you anywhere. No rush hour pricing. It’s lovely.
- There is no limit of how many bodies can be squeezed into a metro car. There is also no concept of personal space. I’m used to crowded train cars, but that definitively has taken some getting used to.
This coming week will be very exciting. I only have three days of school because Thursday is Defender of the Fatherland Day. It will be very interesting to see what that day entails, and I will make sure to tell you all about it next week. I am also going to the ballet on Wednesday at the famous Mikhaylovsky Theatre. St Petersburg is the cultural hubbub of Russia, so I hope this performance will not be my last.
до свидaния!