St. Petersburg, Russia
Quality of Women: 4.5 / 5
Ease of Hooking Up: 2.5 / 5
Things to Do: 4 / 5
Time Spent There: One month
Lays: 3 (All Russian)
Executive Summary: I love this place. Russia is not for everybody, but I'm nervous writing this data sheet because I don't want this city to become overrun with a bunch of horny westerners. For a certain type of person (i.e., me), this place is an untapped goldmine. For others, it'll be horrible and they won't want to come anywhere near it.
A Note About Race and Culture: So let's get this out of the way early. If you're not white, you'll probably want to think twice before going to Russia... or at least spending more than a few days there. The people are openly racist. It's not an hateful, "I want to stab black people," kind of racism. But more of a, "We don't want to talk to people who aren't white," type of racism. It's different than racism in the West. It's less about superiority than just wanting to be with your own kind. I asked some locals about it and they said that if minorities came to Russia, they would probably be fine, but just expect to be ignored by many locals and not treated with the same respect in restaurants and shops, etc. Middle Easterners or people who look Middle Eastern (Latino, Indian) are particularly the targets of the racism. I think it's because of the stuff in Chechnya, the terrorist attacks over there and Russia immigration problem.
It is possible that guys of a different race would be able to self-select in Russia very easily -- and that is basically the name of the game over there -- but the overall pleasantness of your stay may not be worth it. In my month there, I saw 10 Asians at the most, and less than 5 black people.
When it comes to culture, Russians appear to Westerners as cold and disinterested. Or even at times, assholes. This isn't true and took me a while to get used to. The fact about Russians is that they don't bullshit. They see no reason to put on niceties or a fake smile so that people will like them. If they don't know you, they really don't care what you think, and so they see no reason to be nice or friendly with you until they've gotten to know you. Westerners regularly misinterpret this as them being rude, but it's just how they are. Once they get to know you, they are some of the warmest and most fun people in the world. But it takes time and patience.
They are also incredibly blunt. If they think you did something stupid, they'll tell you to your face that it was stupid. I had a girl look me in the eye and tell me that what I said was dumb on the first date. It wasn't a shit test or flirting. It was matter-of-fact, "That's stupid, why did you say that?" This also takes getting used to.
But if you're the kind of person who doesn't like dealing with bullshit, dealing with fakeness or fake status, someone who prefers to be to-the-point and communicate open and honestly, once you get over the initial shock, you'll love it. It's like a drug. I talked to some of the other people at my language school and they agreed. People who stay in Russia either love more the longer they stay, or they hate it more the longer they stay and this is the biggest reason why. You either love their style of communication and socializing or you hate it, and that will probably determine your entire experience with everyone there.
Finally, Russia is corrupt as hell. Nothing works. People are late everywhere. People drive on the sidewalk and park in the grass. Cops drive the wrong way up one-way streets. Waiters will randomly walk out and smoke a cigarette instead of serve you. Get used to it. It's just how the country operates. You either go with it, or you fight a losing battle against it. It never gets any better. Russia is basically a first world country that operates like a third world country.
The Women: The women are incredible. I've been to 35 countries and have 20 flags, and Russian women are at the top of my list. Again, part of it's my values (no bullshit, honest communication, party like it's your last day on earth), but part of it is my taste in women (super skinny, feminine, angular faces, amazing legs). If you're into women with the classic model body-type, St. Petersburg is full of them. A walk down Nevsky Prospekt and you'll see 4-5 girls that could model in the US in a 15 minute stroll. It's incredible, really.
On top of that, the women are educated, sensual, feminine, and passionate to the point of being slightly nuts (kind of like Latinas). They love Western men as well. Russian men, in general, are short, hairy and brutish. There's currently a severe lack of quality men in the former Soviet countries, so the dating market is stacked way in our favor. Strangely enough, they love Americans as well. There were a number of times where I'd be speaking English in public and some random Russian would come up and ask if I was American, and get very excited when I said yes. I think most of the westerners who come through are either English or German. But for some reason they love Americans and Germans. I know this doesn't make sense considering oh, I don't know, the last 100 years. But one Russian described it to me as, "America, Germany and Russia, we are like brothers. You don't truly love your brothers until you all beat the crap out of each other." And with that he bought me a shot.
Speaking of which, Russians drink. They will out-drink you. Any of them. I think it was mentioned in another thread, the drinking there is not a joke. Let's put it this way, the first girl I hooked up with out there, she was small and cute, probably 5'3" and no more than 110 lbs. After about 8-9 drinks I got nice and drunk and she was openly making fun of me for being a light-weight (I'm 6'2" and 180 lbs). Her friends soon joined in. Yes, it was my first night out with Russians and four girls were sitting around laughing at me because they drank more than me. Keep in mind, I out-drink most of my friends back home.
So super-hot, feminine, educated, passionate girls who love Westerners and love to party. What's the catch?
The catch is the language barrier. I'd say 10% of women speak any English in St. Petersburg. And St. Petersburg is the most cosmopolitan and progressive city in Russia. On top of that, Russian is ridiculously hard to learn and communicate in. And sorry, but Pimsleur is not going to cut it on this one. I did the Pimsleur's before I went and it was a joke. The grammar might as well be a Rubik's Cube. It took me a solid two weeks of studying with a teacher 4 hours a day to get to the point that I could order food or ask for directions.
So you're going to be limited to English-speaking girls. The bad news is that that means cold approaching randomly, particularly during the day, is going to yield very little. But the good news is that if you can find a way to screen for English speakers, the girl's are unbelievably reliable and excited to meet you.
And by unbelievably reliable and excited to meet you, I mean that they'll show up and not smile once. That's the other catch with Russian women. Until they bang you, they have poker faces on the entire time. I like to think that my radar for when a girl is into more or not is finely honed, but it was all over the place with these girls. Russian women expect you to be insanely aggressive. They offer you NO help. You really grow to appreciate the assertiveness of US girls in some ways. They don't ever touch you back. They don't smile back when you smile. They don't react to teases. They basically expect you to more or less start molesting them. Again, when I'm back in the US, girls regularly comment on how aggressive I am. Two of the girls I told this to in Russia laughed at my face when I told them that. One of them even said, "You? Aggressive? I didn't even think you liked me." Wow, great...
So the conclusion here is this: if you've got tight game, if you're willing to brunt a lot of rejections, and if you're comfortable being very physically aggressive, then you're going to do very, very well. If you have trouble escalating, if you hate rejection, and if you rely a lot on teasing and verbal game, then you're going to be in trouble.
St. Petersburg Logistics (IMPORTANT!)
St. Petersburg has the most unique set of logistics I've ever come across. This is because the bridges on the Neva raise every night at around midnight and don't come back down again until 3AM or 4AM. Also, the metro stops running at midnight each night.
What this means is that the city is effectively split in half from 12:00 to 4:00 every night.
What does this mean? If you live on one side of the river and she lives on the other side, all you have to do is keep her out until midnight, then she's stuck staying with you. I can't emphasize how fucking money this is. I got laid twice because of this. "Oh, the bridges are up. Well, it's cold, you can come have a drink at my place until the go back down." What else are they going to do? There's literally no way to get across... unless she wants to swim.
I recommend staying on the southern side of the Neva, as close to Nevsky-Prospekt as possible. All of the nightlife is around here, the best day game area is around here, and it's more or less the "cooler" side of the river to live on.
The Nightlife
Strangely, for such a big city, there didn't seem to be a whole lot of night life options. But there's a very good chance that I just didn't find them all because the few I did find were so awesome and I ended up shacking up with a girl for my last 2.5 weeks there.
St. Petersburg's nightlife is cyclical. Obviously it's way too fucking cold to go out in the winter. But the white nights in the summer brings the party-goers out until dawn (if there is a dawn) multiple times a week.
Fidel's: Yes, that Fidel. There's a row of bars near the University of St. Petersburg, Fidel's being the largest and most popular one. These bars are populated with ex-pats, university students and are generally regarded as the "go to" place for girls who want to meet western guys. To say it's easy to pick up a Russian girl here is crazy. Just to give you an idea, the first girl I picked up (the one who made fun of me for being a light-weight) literally told me, while sitting on my lap, with a completely straight face, that I may want to consider trading up because I could probably hook up with any girl in there. I assumed she was fucking with me, and didn't want to risk a done deal (she was cute enough).
But when I went back... yeah, it was pretty ridiculous. Not all of the girls speak English here, but most of them will respond well to English. These bars are dirty though. And they get fucking nuts. Girls taking their shirts off, people tap dancing on the bars, people buying rounds of 15 vodka shots for half the bar, polka music blasting. I had my ass grabbed no less than 6 times and the girl I was with told me that that was normal, to take it as a compliment. I told her that in the US we call that sexual harassment. She laughed at me and told me "that's stupid, it's a compliment."
Coyote Ugly: I've been to so many awful Coyote Ugly's in the US that I couldn't bring myself to go to this one. But I heard it recommended a number of times, so I figure I'd mention it. I believe it's one of the more high-end clubs. Also think it's mostly locals. Couldn't tell you.
XXXX: Pronounced "Ick Ick Ick Ick." There are actually three or four of them around the city. There's one close to Nevsky. Good clubs. Crazy dancing. Russians are fucking nuts. Lots of guys there when I went, and I was with my girl, so I didn't do any gaming. I've heard that this is another place where girls look for foreigners or ex-pats, but I can't say for sure. A few VERY hot girls here. Fuck, what am I saying, there were hot girls everywhere.
Day Game
Nevsky Prospekt and the parks up near the river, particularly the Summer Gardens. Tons of people go out and walk around them in the spring and summer.
I didn't do much day game. I tried to talk to some girls in coffee shops but only found one who spoke any English. Like I said, the language barrier is going to determine most of your options anywhere you go. The hard part is finding the English-speakers... then once you find them, chances are they're going to be very interested in you.
Things to Do
If you're a history buff, then there's tons of shit to see and do around the city. Great museums, The Hermitage, the Summer Palace, Peter's Fortress, war monuments, war museums, etc.
I was fortunate enough to be there during the Victory Day Parade, which was very cool and humbling at the same time. The amount of reverence, respect and pride they have not only in their veterans but also in their victory over Nazi Germany (and by the way, THEY beat Germany, we didn't), is astounding and very inspiring.
There are tons of great parks and good architecture for simply walking around. Kazan Cathedral and Nicholas' Cathedral are both impressive. World class ballets and operas if you're into that kind of stuff. Fuck, I could keep going. I was there a month and feel like I was just getting to know the place. I definitely plan on going back.
I'll be honest though. The food sucks. The weather really sucks (it snowed in May... ugh). The service is terrible. Everything is overpriced (it is NOT cheap there). The music is goofy. People shower half as often and often smell bad. It's not an easy place to live. And it's not for everybody. But I'll tell you this, every day I was there I loved it more. I told a British guy I was staying with that and his response was: "I've been here for six months and I feel the exact same way." I would never live there permanently. But for six months or a year? Absolutely. With a smoking hot Russian girlfriend (or three) of course.
Visa Concerns
Here's the deal with visas. And ultimately why I decided to post this since between the visa hassles, the obscene language barrier, the high cost of living, the corruption and the racism, 95% of you reading this aren't actually going to bother to go.
To go to Russia you need a visa and a letter of invitation. Getting these involves about $300-400 worth of fees and 2-3 weeks wait period for a 30-day visa. If you want to go for more than 30 days then you're looking at up to $800 in fees and a month wait period. And that doesn't even count the $1000 or so in airfare to get there.
Yeah. Blows.
I'm sure that's different for some other countries, but from what I understand the procedure is similar for Brits and most European countries. Getting there sucks. And to a lot of people it's not going to be worth it.
Quality of Women: 4.5 / 5
Ease of Hooking Up: 2.5 / 5
Things to Do: 4 / 5
Time Spent There: One month
Lays: 3 (All Russian)
Executive Summary: I love this place. Russia is not for everybody, but I'm nervous writing this data sheet because I don't want this city to become overrun with a bunch of horny westerners. For a certain type of person (i.e., me), this place is an untapped goldmine. For others, it'll be horrible and they won't want to come anywhere near it.
A Note About Race and Culture: So let's get this out of the way early. If you're not white, you'll probably want to think twice before going to Russia... or at least spending more than a few days there. The people are openly racist. It's not an hateful, "I want to stab black people," kind of racism. But more of a, "We don't want to talk to people who aren't white," type of racism. It's different than racism in the West. It's less about superiority than just wanting to be with your own kind. I asked some locals about it and they said that if minorities came to Russia, they would probably be fine, but just expect to be ignored by many locals and not treated with the same respect in restaurants and shops, etc. Middle Easterners or people who look Middle Eastern (Latino, Indian) are particularly the targets of the racism. I think it's because of the stuff in Chechnya, the terrorist attacks over there and Russia immigration problem.
It is possible that guys of a different race would be able to self-select in Russia very easily -- and that is basically the name of the game over there -- but the overall pleasantness of your stay may not be worth it. In my month there, I saw 10 Asians at the most, and less than 5 black people.
When it comes to culture, Russians appear to Westerners as cold and disinterested. Or even at times, assholes. This isn't true and took me a while to get used to. The fact about Russians is that they don't bullshit. They see no reason to put on niceties or a fake smile so that people will like them. If they don't know you, they really don't care what you think, and so they see no reason to be nice or friendly with you until they've gotten to know you. Westerners regularly misinterpret this as them being rude, but it's just how they are. Once they get to know you, they are some of the warmest and most fun people in the world. But it takes time and patience.
They are also incredibly blunt. If they think you did something stupid, they'll tell you to your face that it was stupid. I had a girl look me in the eye and tell me that what I said was dumb on the first date. It wasn't a shit test or flirting. It was matter-of-fact, "That's stupid, why did you say that?" This also takes getting used to.
But if you're the kind of person who doesn't like dealing with bullshit, dealing with fakeness or fake status, someone who prefers to be to-the-point and communicate open and honestly, once you get over the initial shock, you'll love it. It's like a drug. I talked to some of the other people at my language school and they agreed. People who stay in Russia either love more the longer they stay, or they hate it more the longer they stay and this is the biggest reason why. You either love their style of communication and socializing or you hate it, and that will probably determine your entire experience with everyone there.
Finally, Russia is corrupt as hell. Nothing works. People are late everywhere. People drive on the sidewalk and park in the grass. Cops drive the wrong way up one-way streets. Waiters will randomly walk out and smoke a cigarette instead of serve you. Get used to it. It's just how the country operates. You either go with it, or you fight a losing battle against it. It never gets any better. Russia is basically a first world country that operates like a third world country.
The Women: The women are incredible. I've been to 35 countries and have 20 flags, and Russian women are at the top of my list. Again, part of it's my values (no bullshit, honest communication, party like it's your last day on earth), but part of it is my taste in women (super skinny, feminine, angular faces, amazing legs). If you're into women with the classic model body-type, St. Petersburg is full of them. A walk down Nevsky Prospekt and you'll see 4-5 girls that could model in the US in a 15 minute stroll. It's incredible, really.
On top of that, the women are educated, sensual, feminine, and passionate to the point of being slightly nuts (kind of like Latinas). They love Western men as well. Russian men, in general, are short, hairy and brutish. There's currently a severe lack of quality men in the former Soviet countries, so the dating market is stacked way in our favor. Strangely enough, they love Americans as well. There were a number of times where I'd be speaking English in public and some random Russian would come up and ask if I was American, and get very excited when I said yes. I think most of the westerners who come through are either English or German. But for some reason they love Americans and Germans. I know this doesn't make sense considering oh, I don't know, the last 100 years. But one Russian described it to me as, "America, Germany and Russia, we are like brothers. You don't truly love your brothers until you all beat the crap out of each other." And with that he bought me a shot.
Speaking of which, Russians drink. They will out-drink you. Any of them. I think it was mentioned in another thread, the drinking there is not a joke. Let's put it this way, the first girl I hooked up with out there, she was small and cute, probably 5'3" and no more than 110 lbs. After about 8-9 drinks I got nice and drunk and she was openly making fun of me for being a light-weight (I'm 6'2" and 180 lbs). Her friends soon joined in. Yes, it was my first night out with Russians and four girls were sitting around laughing at me because they drank more than me. Keep in mind, I out-drink most of my friends back home.
So super-hot, feminine, educated, passionate girls who love Westerners and love to party. What's the catch?
The catch is the language barrier. I'd say 10% of women speak any English in St. Petersburg. And St. Petersburg is the most cosmopolitan and progressive city in Russia. On top of that, Russian is ridiculously hard to learn and communicate in. And sorry, but Pimsleur is not going to cut it on this one. I did the Pimsleur's before I went and it was a joke. The grammar might as well be a Rubik's Cube. It took me a solid two weeks of studying with a teacher 4 hours a day to get to the point that I could order food or ask for directions.
So you're going to be limited to English-speaking girls. The bad news is that that means cold approaching randomly, particularly during the day, is going to yield very little. But the good news is that if you can find a way to screen for English speakers, the girl's are unbelievably reliable and excited to meet you.
And by unbelievably reliable and excited to meet you, I mean that they'll show up and not smile once. That's the other catch with Russian women. Until they bang you, they have poker faces on the entire time. I like to think that my radar for when a girl is into more or not is finely honed, but it was all over the place with these girls. Russian women expect you to be insanely aggressive. They offer you NO help. You really grow to appreciate the assertiveness of US girls in some ways. They don't ever touch you back. They don't smile back when you smile. They don't react to teases. They basically expect you to more or less start molesting them. Again, when I'm back in the US, girls regularly comment on how aggressive I am. Two of the girls I told this to in Russia laughed at my face when I told them that. One of them even said, "You? Aggressive? I didn't even think you liked me." Wow, great...
So the conclusion here is this: if you've got tight game, if you're willing to brunt a lot of rejections, and if you're comfortable being very physically aggressive, then you're going to do very, very well. If you have trouble escalating, if you hate rejection, and if you rely a lot on teasing and verbal game, then you're going to be in trouble.
St. Petersburg Logistics (IMPORTANT!)
St. Petersburg has the most unique set of logistics I've ever come across. This is because the bridges on the Neva raise every night at around midnight and don't come back down again until 3AM or 4AM. Also, the metro stops running at midnight each night.
What this means is that the city is effectively split in half from 12:00 to 4:00 every night.
What does this mean? If you live on one side of the river and she lives on the other side, all you have to do is keep her out until midnight, then she's stuck staying with you. I can't emphasize how fucking money this is. I got laid twice because of this. "Oh, the bridges are up. Well, it's cold, you can come have a drink at my place until the go back down." What else are they going to do? There's literally no way to get across... unless she wants to swim.
I recommend staying on the southern side of the Neva, as close to Nevsky-Prospekt as possible. All of the nightlife is around here, the best day game area is around here, and it's more or less the "cooler" side of the river to live on.
The Nightlife
Strangely, for such a big city, there didn't seem to be a whole lot of night life options. But there's a very good chance that I just didn't find them all because the few I did find were so awesome and I ended up shacking up with a girl for my last 2.5 weeks there.
St. Petersburg's nightlife is cyclical. Obviously it's way too fucking cold to go out in the winter. But the white nights in the summer brings the party-goers out until dawn (if there is a dawn) multiple times a week.
Fidel's: Yes, that Fidel. There's a row of bars near the University of St. Petersburg, Fidel's being the largest and most popular one. These bars are populated with ex-pats, university students and are generally regarded as the "go to" place for girls who want to meet western guys. To say it's easy to pick up a Russian girl here is crazy. Just to give you an idea, the first girl I picked up (the one who made fun of me for being a light-weight) literally told me, while sitting on my lap, with a completely straight face, that I may want to consider trading up because I could probably hook up with any girl in there. I assumed she was fucking with me, and didn't want to risk a done deal (she was cute enough).
But when I went back... yeah, it was pretty ridiculous. Not all of the girls speak English here, but most of them will respond well to English. These bars are dirty though. And they get fucking nuts. Girls taking their shirts off, people tap dancing on the bars, people buying rounds of 15 vodka shots for half the bar, polka music blasting. I had my ass grabbed no less than 6 times and the girl I was with told me that that was normal, to take it as a compliment. I told her that in the US we call that sexual harassment. She laughed at me and told me "that's stupid, it's a compliment."
Coyote Ugly: I've been to so many awful Coyote Ugly's in the US that I couldn't bring myself to go to this one. But I heard it recommended a number of times, so I figure I'd mention it. I believe it's one of the more high-end clubs. Also think it's mostly locals. Couldn't tell you.
XXXX: Pronounced "Ick Ick Ick Ick." There are actually three or four of them around the city. There's one close to Nevsky. Good clubs. Crazy dancing. Russians are fucking nuts. Lots of guys there when I went, and I was with my girl, so I didn't do any gaming. I've heard that this is another place where girls look for foreigners or ex-pats, but I can't say for sure. A few VERY hot girls here. Fuck, what am I saying, there were hot girls everywhere.
Day Game
Nevsky Prospekt and the parks up near the river, particularly the Summer Gardens. Tons of people go out and walk around them in the spring and summer.
I didn't do much day game. I tried to talk to some girls in coffee shops but only found one who spoke any English. Like I said, the language barrier is going to determine most of your options anywhere you go. The hard part is finding the English-speakers... then once you find them, chances are they're going to be very interested in you.
Things to Do
If you're a history buff, then there's tons of shit to see and do around the city. Great museums, The Hermitage, the Summer Palace, Peter's Fortress, war monuments, war museums, etc.
I was fortunate enough to be there during the Victory Day Parade, which was very cool and humbling at the same time. The amount of reverence, respect and pride they have not only in their veterans but also in their victory over Nazi Germany (and by the way, THEY beat Germany, we didn't), is astounding and very inspiring.
There are tons of great parks and good architecture for simply walking around. Kazan Cathedral and Nicholas' Cathedral are both impressive. World class ballets and operas if you're into that kind of stuff. Fuck, I could keep going. I was there a month and feel like I was just getting to know the place. I definitely plan on going back.
I'll be honest though. The food sucks. The weather really sucks (it snowed in May... ugh). The service is terrible. Everything is overpriced (it is NOT cheap there). The music is goofy. People shower half as often and often smell bad. It's not an easy place to live. And it's not for everybody. But I'll tell you this, every day I was there I loved it more. I told a British guy I was staying with that and his response was: "I've been here for six months and I feel the exact same way." I would never live there permanently. But for six months or a year? Absolutely. With a smoking hot Russian girlfriend (or three) of course.
Visa Concerns
Here's the deal with visas. And ultimately why I decided to post this since between the visa hassles, the obscene language barrier, the high cost of living, the corruption and the racism, 95% of you reading this aren't actually going to bother to go.
To go to Russia you need a visa and a letter of invitation. Getting these involves about $300-400 worth of fees and 2-3 weeks wait period for a 30-day visa. If you want to go for more than 30 days then you're looking at up to $800 in fees and a month wait period. And that doesn't even count the $1000 or so in airfare to get there.
Yeah. Blows.
I'm sure that's different for some other countries, but from what I understand the procedure is similar for Brits and most European countries. Getting there sucks. And to a lot of people it's not going to be worth it.