I'm just trying to think what else was really interesting... the other thing you miss out on is the white nights in St. P and walking around enjoying the canals and architecture... I hope Pointman sees this thread and chimes in - I believe he is in Moscow. You could catch a hockey game. The Kirov (or whatever it's called now) ballet in St. P is considered superior to Bolshoi by many (I hate ballet). When I lived there, I was a returning Russian immigrant, so I had a different perspective and was interested in all sorts of little cultural things that probably seem irrelevant to a foreigner... Plus, I was single at the time.
