Tsarkoye Selo

Stop number two of Saturday. After leaving Spilled Blood, we headed to the village of Pushkin, about 45 minutes outside the city, to visit Tsarkoye Selo, a estate frequented by the Russian nobility from the mid-18th century to the early 20th century. It was also the place from which Nicholas II and his family were taken when they began their trip east to Yekaterinburg, from which they did not return.

My first impression of the Catherine Palace (built by Catherine the Great) was that it looked exactly like the Hermitage. Maybe they had the same architect or something. Also, I'm pretty sure they were built around the same time. I guess this was what Catherine liked. Beautiful for sure, but I was surprised at the repetition. Right down to the colour.

On the left is the Hermitage, on the right Tsarkoye Selo. SO similar.

Church of the Spilled Blood

This is without a doubt one of the most interesting churches I have ever visited. So often when I find myself in beautiful cathedrals, such as St. Pauls, I marvel at their majesty but at the same time notice that there are many similarities between them. Cross-shaped, made of stone, big pillars, rows of pews, maybe some crypts, organs in the big ones, similar altar at the front, and big windows, either stained-glass or clear. The basics are all the same, and while each church or cathedral has taken that and made it unique, I still feel a sense of deja vu when I walk into one.

Not so with this church. I walked in and my jaw literally dropped. I'm not kidding, I stood there like a fish for a few seconds.

The entire inside, and I mean ENTIRE, is covered in mosaics. Take a look:

Swan Lake

Russian Ballet!

On Friday night I went to see Swan Lake at the Mariinsky Theatre with Dad and Ann. The only other ballet I've seen is the Nutcracker at various Christmases, so I was looking forward to this. Especially after watching Black Swan. Although, surprise surprise, the storyline in the real thing is kinda different. Mostly because there's TWO swans, one black and one white.

The theater is extremely unassuming from the outside, and equally beautiful on the inside. All red and gold and a huge chandelier.

This is the inside of the theater during one of the intermissions. I was actually a little surprised that it wasn't bigger. I'm not sure why but I expected there to be more seats, and more rows of seats instead of so many boxes.

But totally decorated. You couldn't look anywhere without there being some sort of gold trim; tassels on the curtains, gold-coloured patterns on every flat surface.

The Hermitage 1

My Dad and step-mom are visiting the city for a few days, so I spent yesterday afternoon wandering around the Hermitage with them. They're on a two-week trip around Europe (been to Switzerland, Finland and the UK to go), which includes three full days in St. Petersburg. Since I will have several more weeks to visit the sights and museums around here, I'm letting them decide where to go/what to do while they're here. And first up, Hermitage!

The main part of the museum is comprised of four buildings, one of which was originally the Winter Palace of the Romanovs, aka their home while in St. Petersburg. Seeing this building was our objective while visiting - at least for Ann and I, who had not much interest in looking at the extensive collection of painting, after painting, after painting, after painting.

The front of the building from the south side.

I've Arrived!!

I've made it to St. Petersburg!

Despite including a 12-hour layover overnight at the airport in Kiev, my journey from London to St. Petersburg went smoothly and fairly easily. I had originally intended to get some photos from the air, but ended up sleeping the entire way, on both flights. So my first views of the city were of the tarmac. I didn't think you'd want to see those. Kinda boring.

I was picked up from the airport, and an hour later was at the dormitory that will be my home for the next seven weeks.

At first glance its pretty sketch. The kitchen and bathroom aren't too great, and its not particularly clean. My room is nice and big though, and bright from a big window and balcony.

This is my half of my room. Pretty basic but that's ok. At least I fit in the bed. Well, as long as I don't try and stretch out tooooo far.











My flatmates are all from China, and most have been here for several months, including my roommate who will be here for another year.

Max

July 2001 - June 18, 2011

When I thought about going away again this summer, this isn't the note I imagined starting my trip on. Max enriched our family every day of his life. He welcomed everyone with an open heart, and loved unconditionally. He will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him

Weekend in London

I've officially begun my trip!

I arrived in London on Friday morning, met up with my friend Caitlin who was my roommate/teaching partner in Nepal, and headed out. Our original plan was to go see the changing of the guard at 11am (my plane was scheduled to arrive at 7am, plenty of time!), but instead I landed 30 minutes late and spent 2.5 hours in line at customs. Clearly a much better option to be inside a windowless hallway with a bunch of pissed-off people than outside with a friend I haven't seen in a year.

Long lines (I hate lines... sometimes I change my plans simply to avoid a line) aside, Friday was a lovely day. After some much needed food - after dropping my bag at the hostel Caitlin and I started walking with no thought about direction or whether we should pay attention, as long as food was the destination - we headed for the Natural History Museum. I went there 18 months ago and remember being kind of bored, but this time I thought it was fantastic.
I did a project on Blue Whale's when I was eleven, and there was a life-size model of one hanging from the ceiling. HUGE!!!! It made the other animals look tiny tiny tiny in comparison. Even the rhinos and elephants underneath. Such an awesome animal.