Of Celebrations and Obstacles

Suddenly I am half way through my stay in this wonderful city. I am torn between wanting it to last longer and getting home. Between Glasgow and here I seem to have been travelling forever and I really just want to curl up on my own sofa for more than a couple of nights at a time! However, I will be so sad to say goodbye to 'Peter' again.
Either The Pink Terrorists have departed or they were on their very best behaviour last night. Not a squeak! Celebrations! Obviously the gymnasts are much more serious and in bed early. I noticed an Italian team this morning as well as the others. Some of them have Beijing patches on their tracksuits so I am assuming they are the real deal and this is a major competition. Haven't seen TeamGB yet!
As it is Sunday morning everything is very quiet here. I will meet up with Tony and the archive tour people later today and we are going on a walking tour along the Embankment. Until then I am passing the time in CafeMax (Internet cafe) and probably have coffee and a muffin or two in Coffee House.
As I have mentioned in other posts the traffic here is something to bedold but I thought I would also add that it is not the only daily obstacle that needs to be carefully, yet nonchalently, negotiated! For a start, the pavements have not been flat since they were laid (doubtful if they were even flat then!) They are very uneven and full of potholes to trip up the unwary. If that is not enough, we have had snow and icy conditions here some mornings and gritting is not considered necessary. I have a very stout pair of walking boots but most young women here wear impossibly high stillettos and I have developed great respect for their ability to stay upright on icy, pot-holed pavements (and avoiding the tram lines as they cross the street!)
This morning I discovered yet another obstacle. Pavement cleaners with power hoses! These come in two forms. There is the two-man version where one operates the hose and the other sweeps the resulting mud into the street and the large truck that drives onto the pavement and use even larger hoses to blast pavements and lamp post and...well, generally anything they decide needs cleaning. I have to stress the size of these trucks. They are not the small Green Machines they push along the centre of Aberdeen to clean up the pavements, or even the chewing gum cleaners they brought in a couple of years back. These are like smaller versions of petrol tankers and not much smaller at that! Of course, the pavements on Nevsky Prospect and the width of a small street but I still prefer to think that pavements are for pedestrians and streets are for the traffic! These monsters just drive onto the pavement and start blasting away at the accumulated dirt and you had better get out of the way if you don't want a soaking! It is impossible to avoid a few splashes as these things are so powerful spray is sent in all directions when they get started.
I realized early on that personal responsibility is the byword here. If you get wet, knocked down, fall over, have falling masonary drop on your head there is no point looking for one of those personal injury lawyers here! You are absolutely responsible for your own safety out there. Once I realized that, it is really no more dangerous than any other place.