delayed pictures and events

I have been keeping myself pretty busy this week. This past weekend I got to see the Pushkin's apartment and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra play because Kelcey's mom plays the violin for them. They were so wonderful and the performance was really great! AIFS is taking us to an orchestra this weekend too, so I get two in a week! Yesterday we went to the Russian museum, where the AIFS art history class goes every week. It was really nice, and fairly small, so we were able to see the whole thing in a few hours. Later that night, I went to another grocery store, which has an international foods section so I was able to make tacos last night! They were really good. Today after class, I went back to the Hermitage, the huge museum that in theory takes years to go through. We were there until they closed and we saw one very small section of one floor! We did, however, see the new Spanish exhibit, which was great. We plan on going back often to see how much of it we can see. They started to talk to us about end-of-the-semester business, which is making me realize how quickly this semester has passed and how soon the end is. I really will be sad to leave, and I still have so much to do and see. If there is anything that you have heard about St. Petersburg that you think would be enjoyable, leave a comment and I will try my best to go check it out. Anyways here are the very delayed pictures from spring break:

In the red square in Moscow

Although it was closed, we got to see the outside of Lenin's mausoleum 

                                                        

It is good luck to throw a coin over your shoulder, sort of like a dry wishing well

Tiger at the Russian circus

Norway landscapes are breathtaking, and the entire country is beautiful, from what I could tell

Again, Norway is beautiful!

Spring break part 2

Hey sorry it took me so long to do part 2, we had midterms and I got caught up studying. Anyways where was I? Oh so the train ride back to Oslo from Bodo was beautiful. We had gorgeous weather (again) and we were sad to be leaving Norway....Until we got to Barcelona. We got there in the afternoon and we wandered around the city for a bit before we went to Nidhi's dorm (where we were staying). We saw La Sagrada Familia and took lots of pictures (coming soon!). There was so much sun, which made me so happy. Then we met up with Nidhi at her place (which is amazing) and she and I went out for tapas. I had forgotten how wonderful tapas in Spain were! Later we went to a bar to celebrate St. Patty's day for a bit and then we walked back to her dorm. It was wonderful to walk around without a coat.
   The next morning I caught a morning train to Tarragona. It was so wonderful to be back. Not much had changed and the best part was seeing my host parents waiting for me at their flat. Words cant describe how happy I was to see them. We walked around the city a little bit and then had a delicious seafood lunch! As they did when I was with them in high school, they fed me very well. We had delicious Tarragona seafood, amazing Spanish ham, and STRAWBERRIES! We caught up for 3 hours and surprisingly, we had a seamless conversation (I thought I would have forgotten all my spanish). They told me I was always welcome to come back because it was my home too. I was so sad to leave them again, but I hope to be able to return soon. I also met up with Nina, the director of IH (the program through which I went to Spain in high school) and met her adorable daughter Emma. It was so great to see old family and friends, but in the afternoon I had to go back to Barca. One day was not nearly enough. Also, we lucked out and got the first sunny day in a week. And it was REALLY sunny!
    Anyways the next morning we had to get up at 4am to catch a bus to the airport to fly to Oslo to fly to Tallinn to take a bus to St. Petersburg. Immigration was way less painful than I thought it would be and even though I miss Spain terribly, it does feel good to be back home. 

Moscow-Tallinn-Oslo-Bodo-Oslo-Barcelona-Tarragona-Barcelona-Oslo-Tallinn-St. Petersburg

...no joke, thats what we did. I have spent more time on a train in the past week than I have in a very long time. Surprisingly, though, I am not that tired. We got back last night at around 11. I made a simple dinner (I didnt have much food left...need to go to the store today), unpacked, cleaned up, and then went to bed. But as for the trip, it was absolutely amazing. I still cant believe that it happened and that it was only 1 week.
      So the trip started in Moscow. They took us on an overnight train, which was really nice. We did a lot of touring around the red square and the downtown area and we went to see the circus. The second day we went to the Kremlin. Unfortunately, we had to leave after that because we had to catch our train to Tallinn. I barely got to see Moscow, which is really sad, and I hope to be able to spend more time there. I can say that the people there were SO nice. I had heard that people were a bit colder and meaner in Moscow, but I experienced the opposite. Also, more people spoke English and they seemed to have more western things like Starbucks. Anyways we took a 15 hour train ride from Moscow to Tallinn. I actually slept a lot, so it didnt feel that long. They gave us tea and there were extra seats so we could spread out and lie down across several seats. It was an overnight train, and we happened to get to the border at some ungodly hour, like 4 am or something like that. Doing immigration while half asleep is never a good idea. They were very strict and took our passports, migration cards, visas, and registrations, which made me nervous because AIFS has been stressing to never part with them if we want to return to Russia after the break. They asked several questions about our travels and our stay in Russia, but eventually we made it. We were in Tallinn for a few hours then we flew to Oslo, where we waited in a ghost town called Rygge (seriously, I ran around looking for people, and EVERYTHING was deserted) until we could go to the train station, which was incredible. I found a place with thai food and talked to the owners (in broken Thai) for a bit. I even got some spicy Thai food which made my tongue rejoice! We were amazed at how different Western Europe is from Russia. Everything just seemed nicer, the fruit was fresh, everyone spoke English, and (of course) prices skyrocketed. We then spent the next day on various trains to Bodo (pronounced Buda) and the scenery was beautiful. Side, note, it looks like this will be a long post so I will do a separate one for pictures. Scenery in Norway is in a league of its own. EVERYTHING was beautiful.
   When we got to Bodo, we were met by Kelcey's friend's boyfriend Martin. He drove us back to his apartment, where we showered and chilled for a little bit. We sort of helped make dinner, which was an amazing salad, homemade pasta with some of the most amazing sauce I've ever had, and bread. Dinner was extraordinary, especially since we had been eating instant noodles and snack foods on the trains. Martin and Hanna were so nice, as was their friend who joined us for dinner. It was so great to talk to them. They were so welcoming and warm, even though we had just met and I hope to meet them again. Martin plays for an orchestra that sometimes travels and I told him that he should try to make it to SF! We went for a night hike to try to see the norther lights, but it was too cloudy. The hike was still really nice though. The next morning, we went on a 2 hour day hike, which was EXTRAORDINARILY GORGEOUS! Wait for the pictures. We had to stop every 5 mins to marvel at our surroundings and take pictures. After the hike, we went back to the apartment and had lunch (fishcakes, bread, and another salad, which had avocado) and talked with Martin a bit. We were about to leave, and he let us make salmon sandwiches for the train ride back. We were so grateful and the sandwiches were delicious. Then we began the day long journey back to Oslo to fly to Spain. Ok wow this post is a monster. I'll continue it in another because there is still a lot to say. 

On my way out

Hey all, we leave for Moscow tonight, and from there I leave for Norway (then later Barcelona) for spring break, so expect many pictures when I get back next Sunday. Until then!

I sat in a park downtown and watched the sunset, which was gorgeous 

масленица

масленица is a wonderful Russian holiday when people come together to celebrate and eat blini. Blini are like crepes, and by like, I mean they are. We literally cannot tell the difference. So on Sunday, we all went to Pavlovsk (which is about an hour away) to celebrate масленица! It was really fun and gorgeous. They gave us a tour of the palace there and then gave us 4 hours to enjoy the festivities. I had an amazing time and it just so happened that the trip coincided with my birthday, and I was so glad to be in the middle of a Russian festival (especially one so focused on eating). 

Even without the festival, it still would have been a great excursion because the area was so beautiful

Kids on sleds EVERYWHERE!

AMAZING шашлик. We had to stand in line forever, but it was completely worth it

Yes, that is a reindeer. 

I love Russia

This was a straw doll that represents winter and cold so during масленица they burn it to represent the end of winter

So many people

Towards the end of the burning. Afterwards, we had to run to make it to the meeting point on time. It wasnt necessarily far, but we had to trudge through thigh-high snow, so I was exhausted.

I really could not have asked for a better way to celebrate my birthday and I'm so glad that our program took us there. I found a recipe for blini, so I may attempt to make them sometime soon. Oh and sorry I didnt take a picture of my blini, I ate it too quickly. But really, they are just crepes. And they are delicious. 

кладбище

...is the word for cemetery in Russian. It would have been  helpful to know when Aleks and I decided to look for the particular cemetery where Dostoevsky was buried, as we got a little lost, but did not know the word for "cemetery".
       So on Tuesday we decided that we wanted to go on our own little excursion and we had both heard of a small cemetery attached to a monastery off of the green line. We decided to check it out and the one little excursion ended up spanning two days. So on the first day, we got there and wandered a bit, only to find that the cemetery with the famous people closes at 5, and we had arrived a little after then. Wanting to make the most of our journey, we wandered around the smaller cemetery, which ended up being beautiful. We wandered around and then found a church, which was the highlight of my day. We  had to cover our heads (luckily we both had scarves on) but we got to see one of the most beautiful churches I have even been in. It was a functioning church, so we obviously couldnt take pictures, but the interior was truly breathtaking (Talisa, you might have melted a little). Everything was so intricate and colorful and the CEILINGS were magical.

The smaller cemetery

The outside of the Church, which does not do justice to the magnificent inside

grave

So today (Wednesday), we went back, since we had more time in the afternoon. With our student cards, admission was really cheap (50 rubles, which equates to a little under $2) and we marveled at this amazing cemetery:

Dostoevsky. Literally, he is buried there.

Where Tchaikovsky is buried. You can see his name in Russian behind me

                            

                                                  I think snow makes everything prettier, especially snow this wonderful

So the excursion was a success. We had a great time, saw some famous people's burial sights, and got to see an amazing monastery, church, and cemetery. After that, I went for a very lovely walk until it got dark, then I came home and made dinner. 

Menshikov's palace

Its officially the first day of spring! We can actually tell, because it is much warmer. The sad part of this story is that we are still in the negatives, but I swear, its pretty warm here. So I've been a little slow about posting, but I also dont want to do one long post about all the events I've been doing for the past week so I'm limiting this post to Menshikov's palace. I'll do the rest on another post.
    As some of you know, I am taking a course about the culture and history of St. Petersburg. Since we have the rare opportunity to actually be in the city we are studying, we get to go on excursions every couple of classes. Our first one was to Menshikov's palace, which is supposedly not open to the public, which is pretty cool. I paid for a photo pass, so I went a little crazy with the pictures. Here are just a few:

A group of us from the St. Petersburg class

A very cool-looking desk inside Menshikov's palace

There were several rooms that were completely made of porcelain, even the ceilings! 

As Sam said, "to prove that we were actually here!"

A really awesome seashell cup that Menshikov used to drink out of. It was supposedly his favorite

Russian ceilings are absolutely incredible.We spend most of our tours looking up.

Again, beautiful ceilings 

Our view on the way back home after the museum. Leaving St. Petersburg is going to be so hard