When Daryl and I were planning our route for the two weeks we would be travelling together, Russia never came up. That was until we stopped dead in our tracks when we got to Tallinn, because the next step would either be to go up to Helsinki, or go back down to Eastern Europe. We did some research, asked around, and found out: you don't need a visa to enter Russia IF AND ONLY IF you went in via the cruise. Well, they give you 72 hours to get your ass out of there, and that's better than nothing at all imo. 

We took the St. Peter's Line cruise from Tallinn to St. Petersburg, then from there we took another cruise to Helsinki. Listen up, the cruise is not just some ferry you climb aboard and tadaah you're in Russia. No, it's an actual cruise. With proper restaurants, bars, pools, decks and all that full works. We were genuinely surprised when we saw all of that (it reminded me a lot of my trip on the Royal Caribbean with my parents after A levels and that was A LOT of eating). Everything is paid for in Euros or Russian rubles and they were not exactly cheap. It was an overnight cruise, so we had beds and all that. And yes, we woke up in Russia.

I was extremely excited because hey, how often do you get to go to Russia? The only things I knew about Russia were from mafia movies like Transporter and it made me feel badass hahahaha. Guess I expected to see fast cars, skinny blondes and men in shades and suits... 

But of course that wasn't true. Being the nearest city to the rest of Europe, St. Petersburg doesn't have much of the rustic charm Moscow has (presumably... because I haven't been to Moscow). It was more Westernised and modern than I'd expected.

The Palace Square is absolutely enormous.

Went to the Military Museum and walked in circles observing the different tanks and armour the Russians used in the past (like I actually know anything about that hahahaha).

St. Peter and Paul Cathedral

This is the Singer House, the House of Books. It reminded me a lot of Gringotts Wizarding Bank in Harry Potter (place it in Diagon Alley instead of Russia).

Church of the Saviour on Blood -- I was pretty fascinated at how Russian architecture preserve their Eastern Slavic flair but at the same time incorporate a tinge of modernism as well. Some buildings look very... Soviet-style while others look Western.

Street artists with their spray paint and gas masks -- saw the same ones in Eastern Europe.

Look at how they grab at every opportunity to sunbathe.

The weather was great on the day we arrived but it was cold, wet and gloomy on the second day. I was freezing my ass off and the rain didn't make it any better. I had to buy a poncho at the park we were in because my Zara raincoat was not actually waterproof (resistant, there's a difference) and an umbrella sold by the same dude was SGD40 (who buys a $40 umbrella really?). So plastic poncho it is, and I still have it dry and tucked away in my cupboard rn.

This bottle of vodka cost us less than SGD3 (but they asked for our IDs hahahaha)

'nuff said.

I walked home from the club at 2 in the morning and got myself a Twix fix ;)

One of the best hot chocolates I've ever had!!!!

This was when we needed sanctuary from walking in the pouring rain in the cold. The warmth never felt this good...

Desperately looked for any chocolate milk I could lay my hands on but it's so rare here in Europe (???)

And we satisfied Daryl's Asian-food craving...

The cruise that I mentioned earlier -- The St. Peter's Line

Daryl and I spent an hour on the cruise deck debating how the sky can be both bright and dark at the same time. No but really, how is it possible?