After all the splurge and luxury we’ve had since we got here, leaving for our ferry back to Helsinki had to be just as grand. Three staffmembers loaded our belongings onto the hotel car and we were Grand Turismo’d by a budding Lewis Hamilton on the way to the Soviet-era St Petersburg ferry dock that has clearly seen better days. Since there was no elevated bridgeway, we all actually had to carry our heavy – in some cases, very heavy – and huge luggage up an approximately 30 foot high stairway to the ship entrance. Not very luxurious that part.

For all its rich culture St Petersburg still has a lot of growing up to do to make it on par with Western European cities so if by some fluke I ever did go back I hope it’ll be when the infrastructure is better and well-maintained, motorbike and fancy car drivers are less ADD-prone, and people are not putting their pants on in front of regular traffic.