St. Petersburg has generally been much more pleasant than Moscow. The weather is cooler, which I didn't expect. Another woman we met at the hostel described the countryside outside the main city as small Alaskan towns. Our hostel is a bit outside the city center, but as a result it's also a LOT less expensive. Today we're walking up and down Nevsky Prospect, a street with a million things to see and do. It's a bit exhausting when you think about it all at once. I enjoy culture in smaller, more digestible portions. For example, looking at a painting by Pablo Picasso is very cool. Looking at 45 paintings by Pablo Picasso doesn't have 45 times the same effect on me. For those econ majors out there, I believe its called decreasing marginal utility.

Thanks to everyone who is commenting and emailing! We'll be on the internet every day until Tuesday. From there we're headed to Irkutzk on a 3 day train ride, so we'll be out of touch for a bit. Just in case... Happy Fourth of July! Yay USA! Eat a burger for me.