At this point, it was about 3 in the afternoon and none of us had eaten since breakfast. We were all peckish, and I was ravenous, so Ksenia took us to a Soviet doughtnut-and-coffee shop that was super cheap. I got my first taste of Russian dumplings, or pelmeni as they're called in mother Russia. Dumplings are a staple dish in this part of the world, and I ended up eating loads of them in the Baltics, and actually in all the other countries I went to after Russia. They're generally served with sour cream, or even yoghurt, and are small in size and round-shaped, and are served this way in Latvia as well. The Russian equivalent varies slightly from their Polish counterpart, which is called pierogi and is served with pickled cabbage, or sauerkraut.
Pelmeni. It was love at first taste and I enjoyed it so much that I ordered a second serving, which delighted Ksenia so much that she actually began filming me, narrating delightedly 'Taiwanese girl goes nuts eating dumplings!'
After this, we walked along the prospekt, to the restaurant where Alexander Pushkin ate his last dinner before going off to duel with his love rival. He brought a pen, whilst his enemy brought a revolver. No prizes for guessing who lost.
The restaurant was located at the corner of Nevsky prospekt and Moika River Embankment, at 18 Nevsky prospect, and you can see a wax representation of the famous wordsmith, who by all accounts was not known for his good looks. I should also add that Pushkin is my favourite Russian writer, and I don't mean this is a facetious way at all.
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