Time is all around...

...and winding down, unfortunately. I wish that I could stay for the entire summer, but I have to make the most of what I have left. I've been spending a lot of lovely afternoons outside, staying out until 11pm or 12am. The sun goes down at 10pm now, so it's very easy to lose track of time. My favorite thing, however, is that there is no more snow! Just 3 weeks ago I was walking down this same stretch of beach, treacherously crossing the ice... now look at it...

I sat right on the beach in a light t-shirt and shorts. I dipped my feet into the water, but I have to admit it was pretty chilly. Plus, although it looks sparkly and blue, it's not particularly clean, being a river and all.

The group's last excursion was to Yusopov Palace, which was a special treat. This palace is notorious known for being the site of Rasputin's murder, but it also is a delicate and ornate family home. This feeling is retained throughout the palace, especially once one sees the libraries, secret doors, music rooms, and the gorgeous theatre.

These past two weeks have also been spectacularly filled with musical performances. I've been lucky enough to attend two concerts, one being a typical classical concert -- with waltzes, polkas, and mazurkas from composers like Shostakovich, Waldteufel, Strauss, Sibelius, Khachaturian, and so on. This concert was truly special, since only traditional Russian folk instruments were used (balalaikas, and the like). The second concert was based on Soviet composer Schnittke's pieces and Russian film music. For me, experiencing these performances was like seeing magic happen. There is nothing more intoxicating than beautiful music, talented musicians and conductors... I'm still bowled over with excitement, just thinking about those evenings at the theatre.

I've also volunteered at the Hermitage, which guaranteed to be an extraordinary amount of fun no matter what you do -- greeting tourists or drawing fragments of ancient artifacts. So far I've greeted and directed visitors to the museum. It's a little nerve-wracking to tell an 80-year-old grandmother that she has to take her coat off, but most visitors are courteous and abide by the rules. My friend and I ran into a bad situation with one group of tourists, but we took their bad tempers in stride and managed the situation.

The cat that is "hired" by the Hermitage. Did you know that in Russia there is a national cat day that is celebrated? The Hermitage had cat sculptures, paintings, and an actual room filled with cats for the visitors to play with.

I'm hoping to volunteer again this weekend, and I'll definitely mention any more interesting happenings.

So long for now!

"доброе утро. This is Finland. We speak English."

I’m finally back from our weekend excursion to Helsinki and Tallinn. We took a “ferry” to Helsinki -- however, it resembled a cruise ship more than anything else. I was really excited to be on the water, but once we arrived in Finland the real fun began. Our first morning consisted of a bus tour through the center of Helsinki.

Lovely sunset on the ship.

Sibelius monument in the first park that we stopped by. It's an abstract work constructed to commemorate the work of Jean Sibelius, and is supposed to embody the spirit of his compositions.

Senate Square and the Lutheran Cathedral

Uspenski Cathedral -- this is an Orthodox church.

The most interesting thing I saw and experienced, however, was the Suomenlinna sea fortress. It’s a lovely little island that was particularly deserted when we went. My friends and I started off by walking around aimlessly, spotting a submarine; eventually we ended up in a really neat area where you get to climb up on grassy knolls.

There were tons of cannons that we could examine and Hobbiton-like hill bunkers to explore. I wandered by the water and on the hills, going into a bunch of places that said, ‘Danger.’

I managed to climb through some windows to overlook the ocean. The best part, however, were the secret passages and tunnels. The tunnels literally go under and through the hills and some are half-flooded, iced over, or you can only get out through small crevices or windows. At one point, I spotted a really neat tunnel by the docks… my friend Steph and I started walking forward until suddenly she says, “Wait… what is that hole there?” It turns out that we had been walking on super thin ice, and the hole revealed water several feet below. Let’s just say that after that I was more careful… on ice, anyways! It felt wonderful to adventure with true abandon, throwing caution to the winds.

Finland was very fun -- the thing that surprised me the most was how nice everyone was. I’m sure that during the height of tourist season the Finns lose some of their carefree attitude and patience, but for the time that we were there, they were absolutely lovely and helpful. At one point, an entire bus was attempting to help us find our way.

As for Tallinn, it was very beautiful and quaint. Within the old town, there are only cobblestone streets and alleys, and it’s very difficult to get lost. Here are some of the cool places that I went to in Tallinn:

This is just an example of a lot of the architecture in Tallinn.

This building can be seen upon entering the walls of the Old Town, and it is currently owned by the Masons.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

View of Tallinn from a look-out point.

Back in Finland, the second day we went to an open-air museum on the island of Seurasaari. Although I didn't spent much time here, I know I'd like to come back and explore it some day.

Just one of many traditional Finnish buildings relocated to the museum island. It's a complete park with tons of traditional houses, stables, boat houses, and even a Nordic village.

Reflections and Revelations

My time in St. Petersburg is so limited, but I've had a wonderful semester. Next week we're going to Helsinki, Finland and Tallinn, Estonia, but lately I've been wishing for just some more time in SPb with my amazing friends instead.

I'm going to try to sneak more photos of the ride down the escalators in the metro at some point. Technically, one of my teachers told me that last year, a motion was passed to ensure photography was legal in the metro, but I don't want to risk being fined. However, it's one of the most interesting and odd sights I've seen in SPb, so I'll do my best for you guys! You can probably read an article or two on the metro, or have several conversations with your friends... it's about a 3-5 minute ride down.

You can't even see the end of the tunnel! It's the deepest metro in the world, because of SPb's unstable and swampy soil.

Another fascinating thing about Russia is how the citizens dress. At home, college students are renowned for wearing sweatpants and t-shirts, and most people wear casual clothing for average daily activities. However, here just stepping over the threshold to go to the store for food is a fashionable occasion. Every young woman I see wears flattering boots and outfits -- it's practically the country's uniform.It's refreshing to see such a large portion of the country looking nice and presentable -- especially since all of it is done with a very matter-of-fact air. I enjoy that looking nice doesn't have to be a special affair here. There's no such thing as someone going up to you and saying, "Wow, you look great today! What's the occasion?"

A great part of spring coming along (besides the weather getting warmer) is that the days are becoming noticeably longer. The sun sets at around 9 pm now, so that means more time for wandering around the city! It used to be 6 or 6:30, so this makes a huge difference. It'll get even better, although it really is too bad that I'll miss the peak of White Nights.

As mentioned previously, I've been doing more exploring on foot and wandering around -- without a map! Recently my friends and I have found a neat factory complex called the Red Triangle. It used to be a rubber and shoe factory, but now is fairly abandoned/used for suspicious activities/random stores.

One of the abandoned buildings.

Inside the above building.

I'll post more of my adventures soon, especially when I went to Peter and Paul Fortress and the Siege of Leningrad Memorial. Till next time, good hunting!

Adventures, Adventures

I've been remiss at blogging, I know, and partially it's because I'm away from the Internet so much. Frankly, I rather enjoy being away from the computer and doing more things in the dorms or the city. The rest of my week in Moscow was wonderful. I stayed with a friend of the family, and she was absolutely fantastic. It's a truly different experience, living with a Russian. For one thing, I got to ask hundreds of questions and discover more about daily Russian life. Speaking Russian for a week straight was great, too -- I definitely learned some intricacies of the language that I hadn't taken notice of before.

The palace and park that Galya showed me. It's not even outside Moscow, which is pretty amazing in and of itself. 

Since I haven't written in a while, I'll try to sum up the past two weeks with a photo montage. I was quite ill shortly after returning to St. Petersburg, but my weeks have been quite eventful nonetheless:

The group went to Puskin's apartment and we've come to the conclusion that he was Batman. There's no other reason for that bat doodle.

Here's Glenn and Renee at the Smolny Institute. We were lucky enough to be able to go inside, and we even got to go up to the podium seen here! Our teacher remarked, "Let's not dream of revolution, please."

I finally went up to the top of St. Isaac's, and this is just one of the many beautiful panoramic views. Church on Spilled Blood is in the distance.

This is the performance hall where the entire group got to experience a Tchaikovsky Gala concert. The orchestra was wonderful -- all the pieces were fantastic. The 1812 Overture was played, and just when I was expecting a "typical" version of the piece, men (probably from the Navy) came up on stage with horns and they actually tolled the victory bell as the original composition requires. It really was a magical night.

The other activities that I've been involved in have been:

• the Kunstkamera - the first museum, founded by Peter the Great, with special exhibits from Frederik Ruysch. Ruysch was a Dutch anatomist and botanist who developed unique methods of preserving anatomical specimens. 
• Hermitage - I've made it my personal goal to go to every exhibit in the Hermitage while I'm here. It actually is possible! 

Additionally, my future library. My favorite room in the Hermitage thus far.

• Russian Museum - the folk art exhibits were particularly interesting in this one. There was traditional lace, icons, toys, dishware, etc. 
• I've been taking more and more long walks throughout the city. My favorite type of days are the ones where I start off with a "planned" event, such as a museum, and then go wandering from that point until I get exhausted.