Nicole writes:
Dear friend Irina Bochorishvili picked us up in the morning and made sure we got safely on the express train to St. Petersburg. When we arrived in the Moscovskiy train station, we stored our luggage in a locker for a couple hours and strolled along Nevsky Prospect in the rain. Then we checked into our apartment in St. Petersburg. We were enchanted by the lovely Buddhist shrine in the courtyard. Nicole went out on a grocery and dinner mission and we stayed warm & dry at home that evening.