Revenge of the Owls (Saint Pete's Part 2)

The next day we went on a series of tours where we saw amazing things like the Hermitage. Honestly I was too tired from the 6 mile trek with all of my belongings from Rainbow to Azimut where the Lily group was staying to really comprehend a lot of what I saw. After the tour we checked into our next hostel which translates to Science Hostel. It was in an alley with cats screeching like they were being disemboweled and our we all stayed in one beautiful room. The catch was that the hostel owner was sleeping in the living room so that was kind of strange.  Our last day there we thought it would be a good time to get our souvenirs while the rest of the group went on their extravagant tour we couldn't afford. However we were doing this under the impression that the group would come back for us to take us to the train station with them. Apparently they had different plans that involved leaving two young girls alone in Saint Pete's to fend for ourselves and then get ourselves to the train station on infant level Russian. Thankfully Saint Aliona, our tour guide, called us a cab so that we could at least get to the train station to meet our group.  So Lauren and I set out to go purchase a million matryoshka owls (one of our friends at the home base is a Chi O and wanted us to get them for her). After visiting every stand in the city, we finally just went back to the stand where we had originally seen them on the first day and our owl dealer recognized us. After some confusion over why we wanted 7 owls, the fact that we did not think 7 Putin matryoshkas were a suitable replacement, countless calls to his owl associated, and a heavy dose of hooting and acting like an owl we walked out half an hour later with six owls for the price of three and zero dignity.  By the time we were done with the gift ordeal, it was time for us to meet our cab. Cabs in Russia are not like those in the US. Here, they can be marked or unmarked and in just about any kind of car you could think of. After 40 minutes of standing on the corner in the rain and getting creepy stares from Russian men, we jumped in a cab and showed him the paper Saint Aliona gave us with directions for where he should take us to which he simply responded, "no" and started driving. One brief bout with vertigo and a panic attack later we arrived at what he insisted was our train station so we got out and eagerly awaited the arrival of our group. 45 minutes later after we had started standing back to back against a building (partly so we would see them from any angle but mostly for security) Saint Aliona came bounding up to us looking as surprised and relieved that she had found us as someone who just let their mentally challenged puppy off the leash to walk back home. She informed us that our group had decided it was a better idea to go eat at the mall next door first and then come find the two young girls standing alone in the rain because really, what is a trip to Saint Petersburg without someone from your group being abducted?! The train ride back was the same sweet hell I remembered from the first train ride except this time instead of being freezing, we left the windows closed and were in our own little sweat box the whole time. Somewhere along this ride my roommate got bitten by a train bug of death and now she has a club foot.  And that was my trip to Saint Petersburg.