I went to a vodka museum in St. Petersburg. I was the only visitor and since every word of the museum was in Russian I got a guided tour in English included. I hadn't realized that Gorbachev tried and failed to make a Prohibition. The tour included three small shots of vodka, and several traditional Russian snacks, including pig fat on toast! After drinking vodka, even that tastes delicious. I bought cranberry vodka, and birch vodka for later in the trip.


I was lucky to get a ticket to the Mariinsky Theater, fourth row center. This is the view from my seat.