(NOTE: This is the most recent of about 10 entries all posted at the same time, scroll down to the Vodka Museum post and begin with the one after that if you’ve been following me for a while.)
Things have slowed down considerably here in St. Petersburg in the past week or so. We’ve gone through about three-fourths of the sightseeing here and school is finally starting to get to all of us. We had another extended school day today, which on top of the rain and cold almost led to a student mutiny. I know some people are going out to the club again tonight, but I’m simply too bone tired to do anything other than lay here, eat cookies, and do my homework. Russia is wonderful but there are some days I simply want to be home!
The Jean-Jacques Rousseau wine bar was awesome. We split an 800 ruble/27 dollar bottle of wine four ways for two glasses a piece. The wine was surprisingly good for that little and the atmosphere of the restaurant was perfect for a rainy evening! Also, we discovered that they had Happy Hour from 1-4 every day when the whole menu is 20% off. We’ll be going back it seems!
Tuesday we had a fascinating lecture on Russian perspectives of American people and the West as a concept. Since all of our lectures are taught by Russian professors, it’s interesting to see their points of view versus the official figures we’re taught at home. The lecture actually really made me think about Russia as a whole and what its people have endured over the past century alone. During the past 100 years, the population of St. Petersburg has gone from over 3 million to approximately 500,000 and back again twice. The tragedy of Russia is certainly something to behold. And I am of the opinion that this country does not receive what it is owed by the world. Perhaps an interesting topic for another paper?
On Tuesday night we got a little dressed up and went to the St. Petersburg Philharmonic to see the orchestra perform. What we saw was part of a series of concerts in honor of 90 years of the St. Pete’s Philharmonic. The music was beautiful and the theater itself was stunning! The poor old Russian lady who was stuck in the middle of all of us found us completely amusing, luckily enough! We’ve found that the majority of Russian people (save those on waitstaff in restaurants) are patient enough with us and appreciate our (often botched) attempts to speak Russian to them. After the performance, in all our dresses and patterned tights-ness, we hit up the Datscha Bar on Dumskaya Ulitsa for a post-theater beer and to avoid going home to do homework. The bar was great, the bartenders were hilarious, and they had an excellent DJ. Thus, we didn’t leave till about 11pm. Datscha also has tshirts (!!!), and I wouldn’t be surprised if I can come home with one, ha!
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| St. Petersburg Philharmonic |
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| St. Petersburg Philharmonic |
Even though this morning was rough because of the extra para and the unexpectedly cold weather (coat and jeans), I’m still having a wonderful time here in the Motherland! Two and a half weeks in St. Petersburg and five weeks in Moscow to go!
xoxo
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