St. Petersburg I love you.

 

Spilt Blood Church

What I would give to spend just one more day in St. Petersburg. Just one more day! By the end of the trip I was completely comfortable with walking around by myself, I knew my way around, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. Much more than Moscow (sorry to all you Moscow lovers).

We arrived to St. Pburg by train. It was maybe a 4 hour train ride. Long, boring, somewhat uneventful. We did have a short dance party. Hecker and I put on nutella mustaches and pretended to be french men smoking cigarettes. Luckily we have lots of pictures of the shenanigans. Once we got to St. Pburg we settled our stuff in the hostel and I don't really remember what happened after that.

french men smoking

The next day we had a 4 hour walking tour of the city. It was alright.. but I didn't retain much information from it.. oops. I will say though, the architecture was breathtaking! Absolutely phenomenal!

We all had free time after the tour, then went to this show called Feel Yourself Russian. It was ridiculous. It's basically a showcase of Russian dances and talents, along with free finger foods, champagne, vodka, and wine. Quite the evening! I will neither deny nor confirm my consumption of alcohol that evening. After the show Hannah V., Diana and I went and had some bellini's (pancake/crepes). There were only a few of us at the hostel so it was really quiet and really nice to be there just to relax.

Hermitage

Prodigal Son

The following day we went to the Hermitage, and in the Hermitage is the painting Prodigal Son, by Rembrandt. I got chills and super misty eyed when I finally had the chance to stand in front of it. It made for one happy art major that's for sure. And the Hermitage used to be a palace.. it is beautiful inside and out! We walked around for a long time, got lost, got found, and got lost some more.

Picasso Ceramics

I found out that Picasso did ceramics..? Crazy right? I got really excited when I saw some of the ceramic works on display there. They were very Picasso-y too. So his style is consistant throughout the mediums he uses which is kinda cool (ceramic nerd in me).

Next day a few of us went to Kunskamera museum, a really strange museum. I loved it. There were preserved babies and body parts in jars and abnormalities. It was eerie and great. I got tripped by pushy people trying to get in and out of the museum. I fell on my face, and it was hilarious. But damn the Europeans are pushy! So that gets old after a while. If you know me, you know I already don't love crowds.. or being pushed around. So, being in a crowd of pushy people is potentially one of my biggest frustrations.

Kazan

Hecker and I at ballet

After the museum I went on a stroll by myself. Popped in the headphones and listened to some good music.. I went and sat in front of Kazan Cathedral. That building has such a powerful presence. I watched two little girls feed the birds with their grandmother, it was so adorable. I sat there until I got cold.. and bored. That evening we went to a Russian ballet, Romeo and Juliet. I couldn't really see anything and the stupid man in front of us was literally trying to block our view on purpose. Which made us laugh which made him give us a numerous amounts of the stink eye. It was pretty hilarious. Also annoying. 

So the ballet was eh.. but after the ballet almost all the americans went to Carls Jr.. hahaha. I never thought I would give in. But I did. :/ Either way it was DELICIOUS. I never thought I would say that about Carl's Jr.. but man when you've been gone from fatty america long enough I guess you do miss the greasy food. Sadly.

Spilt Blood

On our last day I did not have any desire to leave. Sad face. We saw the inside of Spilt Blood Church, it was a bunch of intricate mosaics with tiny tiles. Pretty astonishing. It was nice, but I didn't stay in there very long.. I was kind of over appreciating the inside of churches.

We went to a Russian sauna. Which was really cool. We all loved it. And we're gonna go to one in Klaipeda we loved it so much. 

After that we all just kind of did our own thing until it was time to leave for the train back to Lithuania. Hannah V. and I hung out for a while. Then I went on a walk with Oksana. 

The train ride home was so wonderful. We had a really good conversation that I am still thinking about and processing. 

Oksana and Vaiva

Now I am listening to Christmas music.. Hating the time change (it is only 5pm and pitch black out).. and waiting for dinner at 6:30.

Going to Russia finally made Lithuania feel like home, and I don't really want to leave anymore. :[ and I would kill to go back to Russia!

Do svidaniya!

Paige

Russian smiles