St.Petersburg Russia 1992

During my first contract with Renaissance Cruises I worked on two ships that enable me to see over 20 countries during a 6 month contract. During the Scandinavian portion of the contract we visited places like Stockholm , Copenhagen , Helsinki , and Taillin but there was one stop that was really exciting for me and that was St. Petersburg.

In the morning we docked in this city and it was real neat to be in a country where just a few years earlier the fall of Communism occurred. I remember talking hockey with the immigration guy at the bottom of the gangplank and taking a walk about the city during the afternoon. Also since we were there during the summer how long a day it was before night fall.

The guests would have an early dinner and be out by 9 then we would set up quickly and head to the Chyka bar. Unfortunately there was a midnight curfew for the crew because of some prior incident that happened with a crew member on another cruise ship who never made it back to the ship and went missing. Perhaps Russia isn't the safest place for foreigners to be wandering the streets at night.

In any case I remember when 11:50 came and we had to make a beeline for the ship. It was so light out it looked as bright as 7:30 in the evening back home.

There was a lot of action with plenty of people everywhere but everything looked so old. The architecture was beautiful but the roads were all full of potholes and the cars were all pretty used looking.

But just being there and thinking about all the country's history and what it was now embarking on was really interesting. It is a place I will not forget.