Floating down the Neva

(NB: Once again, there’s a week’s worth of entries here, so go back to the post about the wine bar and with the post following that day!)

The plan for Saturday was to go to the Hermitage again at noon, but that turned out to be a fatalistic idea. The line was long to get in, but we decided to stick it out and got our free student tickets after about 20 minutes. We spend this trip on the second floor looking at French, British, and German art from the 18^th and 19^th centuries. The art was beautiful, but I’m not really much of an art museum person. The real reason to go to the Hermitage, and what works well for us with our free tickets, is to look at the rooms of the building themselves. The Hermitage is housed in part of the Winter Palace, ergo the rooms were designed for royalty. The wing that houses Flemish art has the most beautiful painted ceilings, and it was our mission yesterday to find those in particular. After we found those rooms, we stumbled upon a sign directing us to a room with a display on knights. In that room where several full suits of armor, weapons from all different countries, and four suits of armors set up on fake horses to full scale, which was really cool. On our way out of the Hermitage we found ourselves in one of the old libraries of the winter palace. It was beautiful and everything I’ve dreamed of having one day! It was a two story library with a staircase and more bookcases on the balcony. Hannah took some illegal pictures and I was about to, but then the room attendant turned her evil eyes on us and we scurried away.

After the Hermitage, we met up with Corbin and Joe in the park outside Kazan Cathedral while we waited for the rest of the UA group to arrive. The excursion planned for that evening was a boat tour of St. Petersburg on the Neva.  The tour was 99% of things we have already seen, so everyone spent most of the time talking and relishing the chance to sail down the Neva on a boat. Unfortunately it was raining, so our time was spent below deck looking out the windows. We were all jittery because we planned a beach party following the boat tour and it started raining (following a completely sunny day) right when the tour started. But we got lucky! When the tour ended, we could see it clearing in the distance over the beach at Primorskaya!

me chilling in the park in front of Dom Knigi (on right)

Hannah and Joe hamming it up for the camera

arch we saw on the boat tour

Ergo, we staged our second party on the beach in Russia. We once again had delicious sashlyk and the boys got happy with the lighter fluid as usual. It was colder this time around, but it didn’t matter since we all had sweaters and a roaring fire to keep us warm. We used a door (yes, a door) that we found washed up on the beach to protect the fire from the wind coming in off the Gulf of Finland and all was well! The original plan for everyone else (I live a block from the beach) was to head out in time to catch the metro, but when the time rolled around, the majority of us decided to stay out on the beach. The boys found a stash of good wood, so we had a good fire going from 8pm to 5am. It was a lot of fun to just hang out with people, and since we’re 4 of 5 weeks through our time here in St. Pete’s, everyone is getting tired and just wants to chill. And I’m down with that. 

After getting home at 6am, after seeing everyone off, I passed out for about nine hours. And just before I typed this up I had the glorious experience of washing smaller pieces of clothing in the bathtub. Not as bad as I thought it would be, but definitely not an experience I care to repeat. I miss my washing machine! (Oh, first world problems!) But now I have internet for the next few hours since I’m at a café in Petrogradskaya with Kara, so all is right with the world!

Love and hugs to all! (Postcards going out sometime this week before I leave St. Petersburg!)

xoxo

It's a Russian Beach Party!

I am 100% not kidding when I say that I went to an all night Russian beach party on the Gulf of Finland in the Arctic Circle last night. Once again, everyone got caught with their bridges up (except for me, I live on this island!) and partying till dawn ensued. Actually it was a very interesting mix of people: lots of Americans, lots of Russians, a few Brits, a few Canadians, and one entertaining German. The lingua franca was Russian, of course, but after most people caught the last metro out it devolved into an Americans-in-Russia-party. It’s something of an instant bonding experience to be in a foreign country without being fluent in the language. We had people who had been in St. Petersburg for anywhere from a year to just a few weeks. People brought tons of grilling food and someone brought an over-fire grill; there was SO much food (and booze)! When we hit about 1am (when it actually gets dark here till 4am) we made a huge bonfire on the beach, which served very well at keeping us warm. The sunset was absolutely stunning over the Gulf (with a nuclear power plant serving as a backdrop, ha!). 

Nuclear Power Plant Sunset

Lindsay, Me, and Nuke Plant

Joe and Sonya make sashlyk

Lindsay and Corbin

The boys making FIREEEE

It may not be a beach like we’re used to back home but it was so nice to have my toes in the sand, a beer in my hand, and to sit in front of a beach bonfire with good friends. We all miss the beach so much since we don’t get to spend the summer in the states! We also had fire roasted sashlyk, and now I understand why everyone in Russia and the Caucasus makes such a big deal about them. They’re beyond amazing! Hats off to our Kavkazian friend Sonya for an amazing dinner on the beach!

Last night was well deserved after a very intense day of 5 hours of grammar class in order to make up for having Monday off. Today is a chill day, catching up on sleep and blogging, doing homework, etc. Tonight we’re going to a ballet at the famous Marinsky Theater at Teatralnaya Ploshad. Tomorrow we’re going to Pushkin to see Catherine’s Palace.

I think we’re all a bit worn down right now but on Monday it’s back to sight-seeing! Only three weeks left to crash St. Petes! I’m going to go get ready for the Marinsky now (it’s fancy dress), but love to all at home! I’m going to try to set up Skype dates soon with you all but I need to figure out when I’ll have internet.

Hugs and Kisses to all!