"Dream a little dream of Russia" Louis Armstrongov

So here we are, my last couple of days here in St. Petersburg. I'll probably be posting still when I get back to the states, at least to cover what I skipped (MOSCOW) and put pictures up.

Last weekend was clearly a dream. Friday we had a Dostoevsky tour. Now this tour wasn't a regular old writer's tour which entails us walking around their house (like it was for Pushkin and Tolstoy).

Instead, we walked around the part of town where Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment" takes place. Dostoevsky also rented several apartments in this area. The tour guide took us through the novel, pointing out places were scenes happened or could have happened (such as the event - don't want to ruin it for you guys, just know it's the event).

[To the left you can see how someone painted Raskolnikov (the main character) on the wall of an alleyway. This city has so much character and personality, it amazes me. ]

Of course, this tour included us walking through eerie alleyways, seeing a room that just HAS to be some sort of torture chamber (there honestly is no other explanation - check out the 'window' below), and being yelled at by a German (and thanks to Tobi, I now know some German curse words. Sweet.)

Creep-tastic.

Also, there was graffiti along the walls of many of the places that we visited that related to the book, in both English and in Russian. It was pretty cool, a way for people of the past to connect with us - we all came here with the same purpose in mind.

After our tour, I went to see "Swan Lake" at the Mariinsky Theater. I understand I already saw it at the Mihailovsky Theater, but it is "Swan Lake" and it is the Mariinsky. It made no sense not to go.

[The theater from outside]

To be fair, I like the production, as a whole better at the Mihailovksy. There was just more life to it. But the girl who played Odette (Anastasia Kolegova) in the Mariinsky production was AMAZING. Her lines were so strong and fluid. Ahhhh it was beautiful.

[The inside of the Theater]

[The first act of "Swan Lake", also know as "Natalie being a bad girl and taking pictures during a performance"]

Saturday we took a tour of all the Religious places in St. Petersburg. I got to our meeting spot about an hour early, and I spent that hour in the large bookstore next to where we were meeting. It's call Дом Книги and is a pretty large bookstore (Borders-sized). It's famous because apparently this is where they used to make the Russian sewing machines? Something along those lines.

Anyways, the religious tour took us everywhere: from visiting churches for various Christian denominations, to more Orthodox churches (where we had to wear head-scarves), a Synagogue, a Buddhist temple, and even a Mosque (it was gorgeous, but we were unable to go inside. Sad. Here's a picture of the main door at least, so you guys can get a sense of it).

After this tour - which took about 3-4 hours - the group of us who were going to the Mariinsky Theater again that night (I was such a theater buff that weekend) headed to McDonalds for dinner. I know, ugh McDs, but I broke my boycott for a little bit to try how Russian's did it. It wasn't too bad. I also learned what a McGangBang was. You take a chicken burger and put it all in the middle of a double cheese burger. I tried a bite. It was pretty good, but I could feel my arteries shudder after that. :P

So that night we saw an opera: Eugene Onegin, which is based off a short story by Pushkin, I believe. It was my first opera. I had figured that since my mother went to a Conservatory for opera singing I should probably check some out. I really enjoyed it. The story was simple, realistic, and beautiful. The set design was amazing and the man who played Onegin had a wonderful voice.

[here is a shot of Lensky, another main character, and the absolutely gorgeous set (my favorite was the fall set, but I don't have any pictures of that).]

The schedule of all the shows and concerts at the Mariinsky

We had gone with my friends' hazaika to the opera, and she took us out to a couple clubs afterwards. We spent most of our time at 'red door', which I have mentioned before. It is shaping out to be my favorite club. It is very low-key; not too many people know of it. It doesn't even have an actual name. I feel that something like 'red door' would work out pretty well in New Haven, at least for the artsy and hipster crowd (I refused to combine the two, especially since I used to always consider myself 'artsy'). Apparently, another friend's hazain (male hazaika) DJed there the night before. Pretty cool. The music that night was the best: 70s - 90s music mash ups, from Billy Idol to U2. My kind of music. Yeah baby.

Later we went to another club where the hazaika's friend was DJing. It's call the "Laundrymat" and actually works as a laundry mat during the day. Those resourceful Russians.

Their hazaika also let Sam and I spend the night, so we wouldn't have to deal with more bridge escapades. She called a gypsy cab to take a group of us to her place. For those who don't know, a gypsy cab is where you stick your arm out and any rando who needs a few extra rubles will pull up and drive you wherever you need to go. Pretty sketchy if you don't know what you are doing. Apparently, my friends' hazaika always says the same thing "200 rubles. It's not far," even if it is far. Love her. So the 5 of us piled into the three available seats and we were off.

The next day was pretty chill, but maybe one of my favorite days here. We didn't really have a plan. A group of us just started wandering the side streets off Nevsky. We found this amazing park, bought ice cream, and just relaxed in the shade. I didn't realize such calm places could be

found so close to the crazy center of St. Petersburg. We also found a giant souvenir market (or рынок) where we proceeded to haggle with the kiosk owners. It was actually a lot of fun, and I managed to pull off being a Russian, or at least not an oblivious American. I didn't buy anything, though. The plan is to give our friend, Allen, a list of what we want and he will buy it for us. He is actually Russian, so he definitely gets the better deals. Plus, if we buy things in bulk we get better prices. We Yalies are savvy fools.

[The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. During sunset. It's given this name because this is where Czar Alexander II was assassinated in 1881. Every corner of this city has some historical significance. It feels so strange to be living here, right where all these moments happened.]

So there was my beautiful dream, only to be disrupted by school the next day. Darn.

Natalie wonders why it took so long to realize the beauty that is Russian dessert

My dad told me as I was being shipped off to Russia that there are two things Russia is known for which I must try: their vodka and their ice cream. I have to say....the ice cream is delicious. :P At every corner there must be another lady with a cart selling ice cream bars, and if you go into shops, that's where the real magic is. Their scooped ice cream is to DIE FOR.

I can't recall how many times I've had it (which could be a bad sign), but I have yet to have a flavor I do not like. Even during those times when I had absolutely no idea which flavor I was eating. I just pointed and asked for a scoop. My favorite would have to be the Venetian Evening (Венецианской вечер) which I had in Moscow- chocolate with caramelized almonds. Amazing.

They have other wonders besides ice cream - there is a pastry truck that stops outside the metro station near my apartment every day. Today I decided to give in to its teasing and try something small. I asked for something with chocolate, and I bought a small pastry for 20 rubles (about 65 cents). It tasted like a donut, but much richer. The chocolate on top was amazing, like a mix between milk and dark. Ahh heavenly. I'm going to have to pick one up again soon.

What's even better is the fruit. Fruit isn't too common here, except for apples and bananas, because most things aren't in season or are too expensive. Therefore, what you are able to get is completely worth it. I bought cherries my second week here, and they must have been some of the best cherries I have every had.

Story time: I come home yesterday, extremely thirsty (Russia is having a record-breaking summer at the moment). I head to the fridge because I remembered leaving a bottle of water there to cool over the night. I open the fridge door and what do I see? The entire fridge (not an exaggeration - at all) is filled with pots and pots of raspberries (малина). I was stunned. My hazaika explained to me later that she buys them in bulk over the summer and then preserves them as jams or juices. Raspberry juice - OHMIGAWD so good. It might be one of the best types of juices ever. It is sweet and thick, like nectar, but not overwhelmingly sweet. It has a tangy aftertaste as well.

For tea today (because you always have something sweet to go with your tea. I love this country) I made myself блины with that raspberry jam. (блины are like French crepes - thin pancake made into rolls with a filling that could be jelly, honey, cheese, meat, etc. My mom makes them at home, and I had never realized how much of a delicatessen they are) It got to a point when I was eating the jam straight out of the jar. Self-restraint, Natasha, come on.

To be fair, most sweets anywhere are amazing, but they have just been wonderful in Russia. Annie and I found a cafe/bakery, similar to Panera Bread, that has these gorgeous cakes/pastries/parfait displays. Annie and I had made a plan to sample all the cakes they had, but with only having a week left here (ahh! I don't wanna leave!), I don't see how that's possible.

And on a more simple side - the plan butter cookies here are delicious. I'm going to see if I can bring some home with me.

It might get to a point where I will forego the silly "meal" stuff and head for the sweets. Sounds like a plan.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, what a great find - the Broncosaurus! A creature that survived merely on beer and waffle cookies...."

So I'm writing this as I'm packing to go on my Midnight Train to Moscow (Gladys Knight got nothing on me), I figured I should write my short blurb on our camping trip last weekend.

Prologue: outside the station....

Here is a large Lenin Monument. We were wondering if this had been torn down during the siege.

Outside most of the metro and train stations you can usually see old ladies selling either flowers or fruit.

Aaaand Welcome to Lake Lagoda, an absolutely GINORMOUS lake in the north of Russia. ("A" was our camping spot, St. Petersburg towards the bottom, and ohhellofinland to the left). Since it is pretty north, the White Nights were even more prominent. It maybe got dark-ish around 3? But then it would brighten back up before 4. We would usually go to bed around 4:30, so it was pretty light by then.

Our trip - first we take a 3 1/2 hour train to the rural parts of Russia. It's amazing how different it was from St. Petersburg. But to tell you the truth, this is how I pictured Russia: fields and fields with scattered cabins/houses throughout. So peaceful. All it needs are the dancing bears and my vision is set. Then we get on a rickety bus with an insane driver. From various movies, picture the stereotypical Russian sleez-ball (skinny, losing hair, crazy voice, shouts randomly, plays gypsy music on the radio, practically drives our bus off cliffs). yea. He even stopped at a market for 'water,' but reminded us that we could buy alcohol inside if we wanted. So begins our wonderful trip. haha

Once we get to the site (after some more walking - we were really in the middle of nowhere), we see that people are already there. I actually got to meet Russian gypsies (or at least that's how I'm describing them)! A bunch of хозяйки joined us on our trip as well. These were of the younger crowd, maybe just two or three years older than us. They were all wonderful people and meshed amazingly with our group (the guys were great soccer players, just sayin').

The main camp was in a little clearing in the forest, but a group of us decided to set up our tents on the beach. Best idea ever. It was wonderful waking up to the lake every morning (bad because it was freezing during the night and a sauna in the morning, but totally worth it). And it motivated me to do some yoga on the beach. Makes me wonder why I never did it before.

We spent our time there between cooking meals, cutting down trees, and wandering the beach. In the evenings I joined the guys in soccer games in the sand (which is ridiculously difficult). I actually made a goal. Go me! :D

[By now you must all be saying: why, Natasha, how did you survive missing the Germany-Argentina game on Saturday?!

Well, my young friends, we managed to get updates via texts as someone's хозяйн kept asking people back in the city. You can imagine my excitement when I got the final score :D Ah, those were happier times....]

We also reverted back to our younger selves and started building sand castles (or Russian Cathedrals :P). I also realized that once you hit a certain age, you really just want to dig as deep of a hole as you can. No real goal in mind, just to dig. At least, that was the case for some guys in our group (they wanted to build a sauna?). Bronco wanted to be covered in sand, so we decided to get creative with it and make him into a giant dinosaur-turtle-thing. We had a whole story set up, and an unveiling. yea, 5 years old are we?

There was also canoeing! The lake is much much much larger than you think it is, and an island that seems close by is twice as far as you thought. (you heard me, this lake had multiple islands). We didn't get to see them all, but the ones we know of are as follows: squishy moss island (known in some circles as shimmy island?), naked island, and bird island. All pretty self-explanatory.

While I had avoided falling into the lake (can't say so for some other people...), on the second day we all decided to brave the freezing waters and jump in together. Live together, dietogether, catch hypothermia together, all along those lines. IT WAS FREEZING. I mean, we did jump in right after playing soccer, so we were all warmed up, but it was still SO COLD. I have no idea how those Scandinavian kids do it. It got to a point where my legs were heating up, which I took to be a bad sign. Needless to say, our game of frisbee in the lake ended pretty quickly.

And one of my absolute most favorite moments was when we all gathered on a smaller inlet and watched the sunset (at 11:30). My group got lost at first, and ended up on top of a mountain. It was gorgeous, and reminded me of FOOT :)

Scratch that. My favorite moment must have been right after, where I helped lead a campfire sing-a-long that lasted 3 hours. What started with Classic Rock songs moved to 90s hits (Mambo #5, anyone?) and later to foreign pieces (picked up a few good Russian songs, as well as an attempt at Numa Numa). Loved it.

Also, I'm currently heart broken over the German loss last night. I watched the game at a bar with a German and an Englishman (who switched over to support Germany after England's loss). Let's just say it was a UN of dispair.

Cutting off here - heading on my train to Moscow in T-minus 40 minutes!

Пока!

--Н.И--

NEWS FLASH

I just got hot water again, after two weeks of washing myself out of a bucket of heated water. Урааа!

See, this is how it goes in St. Petersburg: every summer they shut off the hot water to clean the pipes. Which means, I had only cold water to wash myself during my showers. Either that, or I could heat up a bucket of water on the stove and pour it over me with a pot. Since my хозяйка comes home late (10 or later) I figured I could make do with just taking cold showers. False. This cold is not your average cold. It's absolutely freezing. And I think it is the main reason why I'm currently sick.

Needless to say, I quickly switched to the boil-water-and-pour-out-of-pan method.

But no longer! Hot water, here I come!

Пока!

--Н.И--