I just gave my underwear to a bartender

We made it to St. Petersburg on 5/18 on the overnight train from Moscow. Slept amazingly well on the train. Woke up in the middle of the night to realize I'd fallen asleep in my jeans and tennis shoes with my iPod on. Dave and I played nice guys and gave up our lower berths in one of the compartments to two members of a family of four traveling together. At the time we didn't realize that we were trading for the upper berths in their compartment, so we got shafted on the deal.

Didn't have long to find the hostel and get cleaned up before we had to meet Olga (no kidding on that one) and the driver for a tour of the city by van. It was just the 6 of us and Olga who was very nice. She looked like what you'd expect.

Not sure what it is, but I have a feeling I'm going to like St. Petersburg much more than Moscow. The town just seems friendlier. Might be the sunny weather. The last few days in Moscow were really gloomy.

A couple of things I've noticed:

1. There are no gas stations here. We have walked all over Moscow and after today St. Petersburg too, and I can honestly say I've seen 1 gas station. Apparently these people have found an unlimited fuel source that they aren't sharing with the rest of the world. I have a feeling it's a concoction that contains part cigarette ash part vodka and all the deoderant they don't use - which I believe is all of the deoderant in Russia.

2. Russians walk fast. Maybe their bred with an extra muscle in their calves that help them walk fast to avoid confrontation with the KGB or maybe they are just in better shape than we are - who knows, maybe the surgeon general is wrong, maybe 4 packs of smokes a day betters your speed in the 40 yard dash instead of making you wheeze like you've got a kazoo stuck in your throat.
I was next to a woman today and I swear if she had been a couple years younger, say maybe in her 70s, I wouldn't have been able to pass her. Maybe her hunched walking style and the tight bun she had in her hair led to better aerodynamics.

3. If New York is the City that Never Sleeps than Russia is the Country Filled with Insomniacs. First of all, the sun doesn't completely set until...well, I've never seen it set. We were out last night around 11 something and it was still light out.

4. Russian architecture is like a meal for someone with high-blood pressure. Bland. To me, most of the buildings look like big blocks with windows. Of course there are the really old buildings that are amazing. Ornate, hulking things with great detail. Those are beautiful. But the vast majority of the buildings - especially those in Moscow - look like they were chunks in the stool of the Soviet machine.

5. I'd starve if I was a clothes dryer sales man here. Apparently they don't believe in that new fangled machine the clothes dryer. We were offered the laundry service at the hostel and found out it is just washing. We would get a stack of clean clothes that we would have to dry in our room which has not clothes line and I believe the windows are painted shut.
We opted to take our clothes to the only place in town that offers do it yourself laundry. Turns out it's a bar of some sort and we had to drop off our laundry instead of doing it ourselves. When you drop to your knees tonight please pray that I get my boxers back.

Well, that's all for now.

B