What can I say? They like their beer!

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On my way to the beer festival, I stopped to take this picture of one of St. Pete's many canals.

I turned around and took this photo of the street and canal (except you can't see the water).

Notice the flood of people heading towards the beer.

Right around the corner from St. Issacs, traffic (and pedestrian) jams reigned supreme.

We made it! This was the scene at St. Issac's square. I particularly enjoyed the big beer barrel with a head made out of balloons. It contrasts nicely with the sculpture of Nicholas I.

St. Issac's, like many buildings in St. Petersburg, is undergoing extensive restoration in preparation for the city's 300 birthday in 2003. I think the rain cleared out some of the people.

Here I am, in front of the famous statue of Peter the Great.

A close-up of the sculpture, immortalized in Pushkin's poem The Bronze Horseman.

Stepan Razin brewery employees getting into the spirit of things.

One of those silly photos I was talking about...

A very big (1.5L) bottle of strong (13% alc.) beer from the Stepan Razin brewery. I really got a kick out of this bottle because it commemorates the 1984 championship victory of the company soccer team.

I was shocked and horrified when Olga opened this little snack.

Olga with her best-friend, Natasha.

Later in the evening, Natasha ran into her coworker, Irina, and Irina's husband, Aleksei at the cafe down the street from our building. They live in Pushkin, and have invited me to visit.