ST. PETERSBURG - St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Tallinn - page 32

About 30 yards down, on the right, the Буквоед sign marks an outlet of the Bukvoyed
bookstore chain—a handy place to pick up a St. Petersburg map if you need one. (The
looong Cyrillic words over the door look intimidating. But sound it out: книжный
супeрмаркeт = knizhniy supermarket = “book supermarket.”)
At the next intersection, look left down Bolshaya Morskaya street to see the magnificent
yellow arch of the General Staff Building. The archway opens to Palace Square—where
we started this walk. To the right, the street leads to a handy branch of the Teremok
(Теремок) Russian fast-food chain (see here ) and, beyond that, to the square in front of St.
Isaac's Cathedral.
• Continuing one more block on Nevsky Prospekt brings you to the first of St. Petersburg's
concentric waterways, the Moyka River. As you proceed straight across the bridge, stick
to the right side of the street.
Moyka River to Kazan Cathedral
Crossing the Moyka, you'll likely see many touts selling tickets for canal cruises. While
this is an excellent way to get your bearings in St. Petersburg, most operations have com-
mentary only in Russian. Confirm the language before you hop aboard—and consider tak-
ing the English-language Peterswalk cruise that leaves from near the end of our walk (see
here ) .