Settled in St. Pete

Pictures of smog in and around Moscow.  Beth took these before we left the city.

Beth and I made it to St. Petersburg early Sunday morning.

Because we bought tickets last-minute, we had a slightly uncomfortable overnight ride there (probably more uncomfortable for Beth than myself).  Most trains were sold out, except for one leaving at 1:30 in the morning and arriving around 10 in the morning.  Beth and I had a four person compartment (called a "купе" -- it sounds like "koo-pay") with two bottom bunks and two top bunks.  When we arrived two men were already asleep on the bottom bunks, so that left us with the two extremely narrow top bunks. Beth and Liam had to share a bunk together, which made for an interesting night.  That, and we were nervous about Liam being a disturbance.  But somehow, some way, Liam was quiet the entire trip (other than his laughs or attempts to talk to us).  It was incredible.  We couldn't believe it.

Upon arriving we were overwhelmed by the hospitality of those with our company here in the city.  We were picked up and taken to where we were staying at a university in the city.  Once we were settled in and thoroughly sanitized and de-smoked, we met up with fellow teammates for an early dinner.

Since Sunday most of our time here has been sightseeing and walking around downtown St. Petersburg.