Saint Petersburg

St Petersburg is inexorably linked with the personality of it's founder - Tsar Peter I. Peter was the grandson of Mikhail Romanov, founder of the Romanov dynasty. On May 16,1703, Peter laid the first stone of the fortress he named St. Petersburg in honour of Saint Peter, guardian of the gates of Heaven. Across the river from the fortress Peter built a shipyard (the Admirality) Peter then build a city around his little fortress & shipyard, providing Russia with a trading port and a 'Window to Europe' through which Russia could gain the knowledge of the world.
The 18th century saw Petersburg develop not into Russia's political and economic centre but into it's cultural centre as well. Russian & European culture met in St Petersburg, with more & more members of the aristocracy studying abroad and learning foreign languages at home. While the rest of Russia remained mired in backwardness, Petersburg flourished under the auspices of the nobility and the merchant classes that were based here.
Now in St.Petersburg lives more then six million inhabitants.

Below is some information regarding St. Petersburg for your convenience.

Telephone and fax
Russia's country code is 7
St. Petersburg's city code is 812
Moscow's city code is 095
To make an international call dial 8 and wait for the second dial tone, then dial 10, the desired country code, city code, and phone number. For international destinations the best rate is on weekends at half the regular tariffs. 20:00-08:00 on weekdays will get you a thirty percent discount. For intercity calls within Russia the time after 20:00 will give you the best rate.
Central Telephone Office
Long-distance domestic and international calls can be made at the Central Telephone Office located between Nevsky Prospekt and the Triumphal Arch that leads to Palace Square. Bolshaya Morskaya Ulitsa 3. Metro: Nevsky Prospect. Open 08:00-22:00 seven days a week. The Central Telephone Office also houses a Business Communications Center, providing a stack of services including computer rental, e-mail, express mail, fax, telegraph, and local, intercity, and international telephone access. They'll even type texts for you if you are that lazy. They have convenient pay phone booths on the premises too.
Central Telephone Office is at Bolshaya Morskaya Ulitsa 3. Metro: Nevsky Prospekt. Open 08:00-22:00.
Public pay phones are located all over the city. These run on metro tokens/ zhetons (which are being phased out) or special phone cards that can be purchased at any metro station. Pay-phone cards are sold in 25, 50, 100, 200, 400 and 1000 units.
TRANSPORT
Metro
The St. Petersburg metro operates from 05:30 to 00:30 and unless you really want intimate contact with the Russian people (all of them at once) try to avoid traveling during the peak commuter hours of 08:00 to 10:00 and 17:00 to 19:00. Stations are indicated by a large "M" and as you approach you will see two sets of doors, one for incoming (marked ) and one for outgoing (marked ). It's pretty easy to see which is which - just go with the flow. The metro is very deep because it passes through soggy marshland under the canals and rivers. The left side of the escalator is a passing lane so keep to the right Tokens and Passes Turnstiles are automated and operate with tokens (zhetony) or magnetic-strip cards which can be purchased from the small windows or booths. The tokens are also used for the older style of pay phones, so even if you buy a monthly pass or a magnetic-strip card it's still a good idea to pick up a few. Monthly metro passes - in the form of recently introduced magnetic-strip cards - can also be purchased from the token booths of metro stations.
Getting Around on the Metro
The metro network is not all that difficult to use. There are four color-coded numbered lines crossing the city and it is undoubtedly the most convenient way to get around. Maps are usually located at station entrances, before the turnstiles, and there is usually one in each carriage.
Trams, trolleys and busses
'Above ground' transport operates from around 05:00 to around midnight depending on the part of the city (in the center it tends to run later). If you're going to be around for a while, your best bet is to acquire a Municipal Transport Routes Map available at some kiosks and stores that sell maps. Know in advance where you will be getting off as stops throughout the city can be quite far apart and a missed stop can result in a fifteen-minute walk.
TAXIS
In your average Western city - New York, for example - the taxicab ritual is pretty straightforward:
1.Hail the vehicle with a wave of the hand
2.Get in and state your destination
3.Pay the amount listed on the meter
IF YOU WANT TO DRIVE YOUR OWN CAR - GET INFO FROM EDUC
During the Summer period drawbridges that cross the larger rivers rise with a vengeance at different times between 02:00 and 05:00 to let ships pass through when the river isn't frozen solid. Note that although the smaller bridges come down again for a time, the large bridges crossing the Neva River stay up for the entire interval.

CULTURE
St.Petersburg is culture capital of Russia. There are greate museums, art galleries, theatres, monuments, architecture achivements that well known worldwide.
Museums:
Winter Palase or State Hermitage - residence of russian tsar denasty
State Russian Museum
Academy of Scienses
Peter and Paul Fortress
Issaac Cathedral and more and more interesting...
Theatres:
Mariinski Theatre
Teatralnaya plostchad
Tel. 114 4344, 114 5264.
Performances begin at 7 pm. Box office open from 11 am to 6.30pm.
Musorgski theatre
Plostchad Iskusstv, 1.
Tel. 219 1949
Performances begin at 12 pm. and 7 pm. Box office open from 11 am to 7.15pm.
Shostakovich philharmonic theatre
Mihailovskaya Ulitsa, 2
Tel. 110 4257
Performances begin at 7 pm. Box office open from 11 am to 7.30pm. (break from 3 pm. to 4 pm.)
Newspapers:
We can recommend you two papers which you can get in all McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Carols, Patio Pizza and other bistros, restaurants, clubs, etc. There you can find all city news, information on museums, bars, disco's, performances, exhibitions, so on and all this in English:
- Pulse, Saint-Petersburg
- Saint-Petersburg Times
Books: You can get books in English and English speaking staff at the British Council Library. Its address is Fontanka embankment, 46.
If you want to have a reference book with addresses and telephones of all Saint-Petersburg's establishments, we recommend you to buy a YELLOW PAGES OF ST.PETERSBURG book. You can by it for about 1 USD.
E-MAIL AND INTERNET ACCESS
We have opened an internet cafe in the grounds of the St. Petersburg Mechnikov State Medical Academy. The club is open to all students and students of the EDIS get a special discount. The days when Internet was considered an attribute of computer geeks are way past, even here. Today, all major universities and many companies have Internet access. There are also places in the city, which offer e-mail and Internet access for travelers and short-time users charged by the hour or based on the kilobyte size of the message and/or destination.
Internet Cafe Tetris.
The interior of this cafe strangely combines an office and an artsy hang out. They offer quick internet access, some discount times. If you are planning on exploring St. Petersburg in virtual reality only, opening a personal e-mail box with them might be a good idea. They also conduct complex searches and offer various computer-related services. There is a snack bar on the premises with a standard menu of sandwiches, ice-cream and drinks, reasonably priced. Ulitsa Chernyahovskogo 33. Metro: Ligovsky Prospect. Open 10:00-21:00 Mon-Fri,13:00-21:00 Sat-Sun. Tel: 164 6785, 164 4877; e-mail: tetris@dux.ru.
RED FOG.
Internet access for about 1-1,5 USD an hour. Grivzova, 14 Metro: Sennaya ploschad, Sadovaya. Tel: 219 18 71.
The Central Railway Ticketing Agency.
E-mail and Internet access ($6 an hour), personal e-mail boxes ($8). Kanal Griboyedova 24. Metro: Nevsky Prospekt. Open 08:00-23:45. Tel: 168 6734, 310 5628 (some English). Business Communications Center, Central Telephone Office.
They charge from 0.5 to 25 rubles per kilobyte, depending on the destination. Ulitsa Bolshaya Morskaya 3. Metro: Nevsky Prospekt. Open 08:00-22:00. Tel: 314 0140 (English).
Peter link. Nabereznaya Fontanki 118. Metro: Nevsky Prospekt. Open 09:00-17:00 Mon-Fri. Tel: 310 0105, 310 0337, 310 0327.
Sovam Teleport,
a Russian-British-American joint venture, offers complete e-mail, on-line database, and other information and telecommunication resource services including Internet. Customers can send faxes and telexes directly from their PC's via e-mail, at prices lower than standard international tariffs. One line service, temporary, and long-term accounts available. Nevsky Prospects 30. Metro: Nevsky Prospect. Open 09:00-18:00 Mon-Fri. Tel: 311 8412; Fax: 311 7129; e-mail: spbsuppo@sovam.com, spbsuppo@online.ru
CHANGING MONEY
Changing money legally is no longer the logistical problem nor the blatant rip-off it used to be. Exchange offices abound, particularly in the centre and around tourist areas. Rates at different currency exchange offices vary not much. Both banks and exchange booths will change most major currencies into rubles at the posted rates of exchange and almost all banks will change major travelers cheques.
Many give cash advances on credit cards. Fees and commissions are often posted at the exchange window, though sometimes only in Russian. There is a tax on all currency exchanges. In order to exchange money you are supposed to present your passport. Do not recommend exchange hard currency through unknown persons on the street or in other places. It's advisable to change currency only in banks (currency exchange offices).
In case of emergency dial the following numbers:
Fire 01
Police 02
Ambulance 03
Special police for foreigners 278 30 14
You can get any information on phone numbers, currency exchange rate, etc. If you dial the number of ELDOPHONE - 326 96 96