St Petersburg is a very big city. I rolled in late last night, very late. It was close on midnight, dark and I was cold. I should have stopped earlier for the night, but I was in one of those ‘too close to stop now, but still quite far away’ type scenarios. What I hasn’t realised was how far the centre was from the turn off.

First impressions were awesome, even in my tired state. Long lines of great buildings along both sides of the streets. Lots of bikes around and I’m guessing it’s like Moscow, where bikers come out to play at night. At one set of lights there were nine other bikes abreast with me. I had the only set of foreign plates, so I don’t need to race to prove I’m a biker!

I’m staying at the Art Kultura hostel, which was recommended by Helgi in Moscow. It’s a handy place with friendly staff. Last night I was offered pancakes on arrival, but was too tired to partake. They were deferred to today, when Ольга cooked up a storm for all of us. Around the table are Freddy, Евгения, Ольга, Надя and Aлексей.

They were delicious, which is no surprise as Ольга is a chef. I brewed some fresh coffee to go with them, and had then with left over мёд. It’s well travelled that honey! вкуснa!