Snowstorms, Skating and Sillyness - 24 Hours In Tallinn

As you can see from the title, it's now got to the point where I'm having to make up words (not to mention repeat them) to make the alliteration work. I suppose it's not exactly surprising though, given that I've made my way through 14 weeks' worth of titles, that the inspiration is wearing a little thin. But, while the inspiration may be lacking, the adventures certainly aren't, starting with last weekend's trip to Tallinn, Estonia.

It started with a bus journey, a six hour bus journey to be precise, which along with the six hour journey back meant that we spent 12 hours on a bus for 24 hours in Tallinn. Still, Tom and I were determined to make the most of it - actually, I'd originally planned to catch up on some sleep, but Tom had different ideas, and seeing as he was sitting next to me, I was powerless to resist!! It started when he discovered the 'in-coach' magazine, and, as I'd been telling him about Vera's annoying habit of pointing at all the cats on the TV and shouting 'koshka!', decided to thrust an advert for some kind of pet insurance into my face repeating "Do you want to kiss the koshka?" over and over. The TV at the front of the bus kept us entertained for at least another hour, first by informing us that not only did our seats recline, but the aisle seat could also be slid out into the aisle, leaving a small gap between the two seats. Of course I had to test this immediately, it was just unfortunate that it happened to coincide with us turning a rather sharp corner, leaving me fearing my imminent death. We were also amused by the music videos, featuring an array of people in successively stranger costumes - culminating in Cher's 'Turn Back Time' video, in which she seemed to have neglected to put on any clothes whatsoever! Tom then took it upon himself to make up as many inane games as possible, including 'I went to the Harry Potter market and I bought...' (which generated such amusing quotes as "What are you going to do with a Quick-Quotes Quill? Quote people to death?" and "Oh shit! Uncle Vernon isn't the only important character whose name begins with a 'V'!" and an awful lot of controversy over whether or not you could buy people) and 'How many fish can you draw?'. But the favourite had to be the 'drawing things with your eyes closed' game, if I ever get round to scanning them in, I may post some of the results of this game as they were utterly hilarious. All of this madness was fuelled by the combination of sleep-deprivation and unlimited free espresso with sugar from the in-bus coffee machine. Has anyone seen the episode of Outnumbered where Ben drinks a double espresso with five sugars and says he feels 'zingy-zangy-zongy'? I know how he felt...

Even if the bus journey hadn't been quite so hilarious, the 24 hours in Tallinn were well worth travelling for! Tallinn is, despite being a capital city, as small as Durham (at least in the Old Town, from which we didn't bother to stray), with beautiful architecture and a really Christmassy feel. The heavy snow (literally so heavy that we could barely see through it, and it looked like polystyrene balls falling from the sky) and the Christmas market were probably mostly responsible for this - I was feeling nostalgic for the Durham Christmas Market, but not any more! This was more modelled on the German markets, with little cabins in the snow surrounding a giant Christmas tree, hot mulled wine and carols blaring from the loudspeakers. Tom and I used the pretence of warming up our feet (and in our defence they were freezing) to do a crazy little dance down the street. We then spent an hour ice-skating, on an open-air ice rink near the town hall (I was appalling, but tom and Rachel helped me, and by the end I could manage a wobbly circuit without holding onto the side) before more shopping and dinner. Dinner was our first taste of spicy food since arriving in Russia, which was amazing, in an underground restaurant decorated with hundreds of Santa Helena wine bottles, and was followed by a cider in the Hell Hunt pub. The seats were a little strangely-situated, next to a spiral staircase which people kept disappearing down, perhaps never to be seen again, but the cider was good!

The next morning we had another walk around the town, some lovely food in Matilda's Cafe, and an encounter with a crazy woman in a shop. As we were staring at the swing which she had erected in the middle of her shop, she explained to us that it was there because she has a dearth of customers for most of the winter, so "from Mondays to Fridays I swing". Then, when Tom attempted to collect his change (which happened to be in 100 crown notes) she decided to tell him an interesting story about the woman on the notes, who is, apparently, a 'poetrest'. Good for her.... We also had a couple more encounters with the locals, thanks to us two incredibly friendly Estonian ladies now think that we call Denmark 'Norway' (in our defence, both countries are located next to Sweden), and Tom has broken my heart irreparably by informing a shopkeeper that we will never be together. If you are reading this, Tom, my heart is broken!! Broken!!

The journey back to St. Petersburg was somewhat less exciting that Saturday's bus trip, although it did allow me to sample the bus's excellent mochachinos. It also allowed Tom to test-drive some new games, notably 'How many fish can you draw on your visa?' and 'What would happen if you ripped the corner off your visa?'. Unsurprisingly, they didn't catch on. And so (despite a mild trauma at the border when my visa was feared to be lost forever and Tom delighted in telling me that I would have to take up residence in one of the 'border houses') we returned to St. Petersburg...

Shopping, Sushi, and Snow, Snow, Snow - Winter Arrives With A Vengeance!!

So, after a long dark November, in which even the Russians began to wonder when the snow would arrive, it's finally here! And, as if to make up for coming late, it's decided to come in abundance. For the first week, it snowed without stopping, not even for an hour, and although it's now slowed off slightly, we're still yet to have a snow-free day. Unfortunately, the Russians are adept at dealing with snow, and so we've had no cancelled lessons, no snow deep enough to wade through, and there are men shovelling the snow off the streets while it's still falling (see http://www.thebubble.org.uk/columns/life-in-the-big-ger-city-snow for more on how the Russians refuse to let snow faze them!). But, with temperatures of -15 C and falling, the river completely frozen over except for a small path carved out of the middle, and reports of the first death by falling icicle, I think I'm still being treated to a true Russian winter.

It's unfortunate that this weather came just as I'd decided to treat myself to a new pair of boots, which are far too lovely to wear in the snow - while it may not be at wading level, a wonderful mound of slush develops at the point where you step off the pavement to cross the road, perfect for ensuring wet tootsies if your footwear is unsuitable and destroying lovely new boots. But anyway, I was very pleased to get these boots, as I've been looking for a while. Russian women are extremely well-shod (well-clothed in general in fact, enough so to make me feel like a slob every time I look at them!) but seem not to cater to any shoe size much above a European 40 - as I'm a 41 going on 42, this has caused a slight problem for me. After scouring the out-of-town (or at least out-of-city-centre) shopping mall 'Mega', which is not quite as huge as the name might suggest (I'm not sure it's even as big as the Oracle in Reading, although it does contain an Ikea and a French supermarket!), and finding nothing, and trying on what felt like every pair of size 41 boots in every shoe shop in St. Petersburg, I finally came up trumps. They are knee-high, fur-lined, and with just a high enough heel to satisfy my feet (seriously, they demand heels, it's a problem!) while still being low enough to make walking possible. And they even got the Vera seal of approval, although she did feel the need to point out the two other pairs of boots in the hallway of my Russian home - if she could see the number of pairs that I left behind in England, she'd probably have fainted.

Well, that would be the snow and the shopping taken care of, which just leaves the sushi! Recently, it's become a Friday tradition for most of our Russian class to go for sushi in the shopping mall in Sennaya Ploschad. I think we've become a bit of a standing joke with the staff there, as the waitress was definitely hiding a smile behind her hand when we turned up today and started messing with the seating plan - if you only provide tables of four and five people come in, what else do you expect? I'm slightly amazed by the Russian love of sushi (in the food court where our favourite haunt is situated there are two sushi restaurants, and several more surrounding Sennaya Ploschad), mostly because it's so different to most Russian food - low on carbs, low on grease, and high on vegetable products. However, it does have the advantage of being mostly raw fish dishes. Russians do love raw (or at the very least cold) fish....

Excursions, Excitement and Eccentricity - A Short List of Exciting Things

Another entry following so soon after the last? It must be another catch-up entry! And so it is, as I dedicated so much of my last entry to our viewing of Garry Potter, I feel duty-bound to let you know some of the other (fairly exciting) things which have been happening in St. Petersburg recently.

Exciting Thing No. 1: It has snowed!! Yes, that's right, real snow, snow that actually settled on the ground rather than hanging limply in the air for a few seconds before melting on the pavement. Alright, most of it had melted by the time I went for a walk in it mid-afternoon (although there was enough left in the Yusopov Gardens to admire the pretty bird footprints in the snow, and then destroy them with my huge UGG footprints - gotta make your mark!!) and alright it had melted by the next day, but it's a start. Although I may be speaking too soon, as Natasha reliably informs us that next Thursday it will be -6 to -10 degrees!!

Exciting Thing No. 2: Tom and I have been on a day trip. The destination: Pavlovsk. Vera was very pleased, as she's been nagging me to go there for a while, although her reaction when I told her that I was actually going was "It would have been better to go last week." Well, possibly so, the temperature would certainly have been more pleasant, but the fact is, we didn't! And, despite the lightly falling snow (which sounds poetic, but was actually just cold!), and the bare branches of the trees, we enjoyed a very pleasant walk around the gardens (which featured lots of circular things - circular halls, circular ponds, circles of birches - none of which were properly circular) before heading into the palace to warm up. Here we faced some confusion - the English student price was 300 roubles, the Russian student price was 100 roubles, yet when Tom tried to blag his way in, saying "Two hundred roubles, yes?" (obviously in Russian, it would have been overly convincing in English!) the woman shoved the tickets at us saying "Russian students. Free." I think she may have considered taking back the free tickets on seeing our confused faces, but she obviously decided to pity the stupid foreigners and so we were treated to the whole of Pavlovsk palace for free! The guidebooks tell you that Pavlovsk is less impressive than neighbouring Pushkin - they are wrong. The palace is less impressive from the outside than Tsarskoe Selo's blue and gold facade, but inside there is far more to see. Even better, as it was winter, we only had 2 or 3 tour parties to contend with, rather than the usual hundred! Very, very impressive. We then decided to relive our second-week Oranienbaum visit by eating in the station cafe but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) the food here was of a slightly higher quality and the setting infinitely more impressive. It also had the added comedic value of tables directly below the train information boards, so we had dinner with an audience - luckily no-one decided to ask us a question!

Exciting Thing No. 3: Last Sunday, Tom and I attempted to do some more sightseeing. Heavy emphasis on the word 'attempted'. We had read in the guidebook (yet another reason not to trust the Lonely Planet!) that Kresty Prison, a working prison near Finland Station, gives guided tours every Saturday and Sunday, and so we went to investigate. After jaywalking (which is illegal in Russia) twice, in order to navigate around the roadworks on the main road (there was no pavement, nor was there a replacement walkway), we arrived outside the prison. Unfortunately, here we hit our stumbling block. There was no door. We walked around all four sides of the prison (a grim-looking red brick affair, with cracked glass in the windows - I would not like to be a prisoner there!) and saw absolutely no way of getting in that was not covered with warning signs. Slightly disillusioned, we trudged back to the Coffee House near Finland Station, where Tom attempted to cheer himself up with some nice hot soup. Again, emphasis on the word 'attempted', for it was not hot soup, it was cold soup (it did say this on the menu). It was also fizzy (it did not say this on the menu)! Luckily we were able to cheer ourselves up by seeing how much sugar you can put in fruit tea before it fails to dissolve. This experiment can be summed up in this quote from Tom: "Tea should not be crunchy!"

Exciting Thing No. 4: This is not so much an exciting thing as an insane thing which Vera did - last night I came out of my room in the early hours to find a curtain pulled over the entrance to the kitchen. I was ever so slightly confused by this, as that curtain has never before been there. However, I was enlightened this evening, when Vera decided to play the "Guess where I slept last night?" game. No prizes for guessing, it was the kitchen. Apparently she couldn't sleep because of a party the neighbours were having, although I couldn't hear anything so it can't have been a particularly loud party! She also said it was the best night's sleep she ever had, so I won't be too surprised if that curtain reappears....

Anyway, before this becomes a very long list of not so exciting things (ie. my recurring nightmare of being fed cold fish - no wait, that's actually happening!), I will sign off. Always quit while you're ahead!

Gamsters, Glass Floors, and Garry Potter - A Week of Hilarity

Reading the title, you might be forgiven for thinking I'm running out of ideas. But you would be sadly mistaken. Garry Potter is the literal Russian translation of Harry Potter, and gamsters? Well, that's just a joke at Tom's expense. You see, on Monday, Natasha (the culture teacher with whom I have a love-hate relationship) decided that we would play a little game. We each had to write three facts about ourselves, and then she would read them out and we would guess whose they were. It should have been easy, as there were only three of us in the class, but Tom was determined to make it difficult by denying all of his facts. That is, until we got to the third one. Natasha stared at the piece of paper incredulously and exclaimed "что такой гамстер?" - literally "What the hell is a gamster??". As Tom has spent most of one of our previous lessons trying to convince Helen that her Russian name was 'Gelen', it was fairly obvious (not to mention hilarious) that he had made the same mistake in translating 'hamster'. He will never live it down, not if we have anything to do with it anyway.

There were a few more translation faux-pas during our trip to the Ethnographical Museum on Wednesday, in which I was confused by a cabinet with a double key (i.e. two lots of numbers one to ten in the same cabinet!) and tried to tell Tom that a fishing rod was a ski pole (as it was about the length of my upper arm, I probably should have known better!) and that knitting needles were an ermine trap. Perhaps I'll reconsider that career as a tour guide then.... Among the highlights of the Ethnographical Museum were some terrifying masks, hundreds of wedding displays, and a raincoat made out of an unknown substance which I thought to be bladder but, upon consultation with the dictionary, turned out to be intestines! So Tom and I were walking around all day with 'intestines' written on our hands. Fabulous!

Also this week, as the new Harry Potter film was coming out, we decided to go and see it, in Russian of course. However, this meant dealing with Russian cinemas, and as usual, the obstacles were many. Firstly, we had to get to the cinema. It is located on the fourth floor of the mall in Sennaya Ploschad, and as the escalators there are confusing to say the least, we decided to take the lift. We got in, and (having been told it was on the top floor, I pushed the button for the fifth floor). This was incorrect, but for once it was a good mistake, as the lift which we were travelling in only went between the first and fifth floors (not that it tells you this on any of the other floors, so you look like a right idiot waiting for a lift that never shows up...). However, when we got out on the fifth flood, we had to cross a glass floor and go down some glass steps. For someone as deathly afraid of heights (or at least of walking on seemingly unsecured platforms at any height) as me, this was no mean feat. It was not helped by Tom deciding to see what would happen if he jumped.

Safely on the correct floor, we checked the screen, which informed us that Garry Potter 7 would be showing from Thursday onwards. We went to the Касса, and asked if we could pre-book tickets for Thursday. "Tomorrow," was the reply. The next day we returned. This time we were confronted will simply a sullen shake of the head. (Someone really has to teach the Russians the value of customer service). That night we searched on the Internet, which took us to the crux of the problem - there were no showings on Thursday. Why the cinema staff couldn't have told us that, I have no idea, but we had by now given up on the idea of buying tickets in advance. So on Friday, after lessons (in which Natasha taught us about 'holiday tables'. Yes, 'holiday tables'. Basically a normal table, which takes on magical powers in holiday season. When Tom asked what was on the holiday table, he received the reply: "What ISN'T on the holiday table?" Glad we cleared that one up then...) we returned to the cinema. No seats for the 4.30 showing. One seat for the 5.30 showing (well, we've asked for three tickets, so I don't think we want that one...). Two rows of seats for the 6.15 showing. Excellent, we'll take them all! Or just the three tickets we asked for in the first place (never use sarcasm in a foreign country, it can end up costing you!).

To kill time before the film, we went to the SPB (a chain of very cheap, very studenty bars) in Sennaya Ploschad, and attempted to drink our own body weight in strawberry beer (the waitress helped in this endeavour by giving me two beers when I'd ordered one, but never mind). Perhaps unwise, given that we were about to try and watch a film in Russian (not to mention sit down for two and a half hours with limited access to a toilet). In my slightly inebriated state, I ended up climbing over the front row rather than walking along the aisle, and then trying to leave through the wrong exit. Not that it mattered anyway, as the entire cinema was clearly game for a laugh, so much so that they giggled throughout the entire middle portion of the film, culminating in an outburst of hysterics and applause at the line "I open at the close." Perhaps there's some hidden innuendo in the Russian version. Perhaps the entire cinema was playing some drinking game that we weren't aware of. Perhaps they were just all stark raving mad. Who can say?

Ships, Sunshine and Smiling - Exploring Sweden and Finland

Russia celebrated some sort of holiday on Thursday - the day of people and nation, or something similarly generic. What it was for, I'm not sure, and any Russians who I asked didn't seem to be either! What's more important is what it meant for us - a five day weekend!! With our visas having recently been renewed and made multi-entry, Rachel and I decided to get out of Russia and into Europe (I know St. Petersburg is technically in European Russia, but sometimes it really doesn't feel like it!!).

Unfortunately this  meant an early start for us - looking out of my bedroom window at 5am I did think that maybe I could just stay at home and not risk getting raped on the metro. But I didn't spend over £200 on trains and ferries for nothing, so just after seven I was sitting on a train bound for Helsinki. Second panic - the conductor had taken our tickets....and our passports....and taken them off the train. But after some discussions with customs and border control (one Finnish, one Russian and both much more interested in the Russians trying to get out of the country than in us!) our passports were restored to us and we could feel a little smug.

Even smugger when we arrived in Helsinki two hours later to sunshine and blue skies - something distinctly lacking in St. Petersburg now that winter is setting in, we're considering some sort of points system to rate the greyness of the sky! Helsinki is small, and fairly nondescript (Vera says boring!), but unmistakably European, and because of this we loved it. Cars stop at pedestrian crossings, people smile in the street, shopkeepers greet you in English and ask if they can help you, they accept euros, I could go on.... It did take a couple of hours for Russia to relinquish its hold on me though, as I tried to converse with a market stall holder in Russian and read a bar name as 'Sorasavapa', before realising that of course it said 'Copacabana'!!

 We walked around for a while, enjoying the sunshine and gawping at the prices in the shops - they say that Scandinavia has some of the highest prices in the world and they're not lying! After a quick look inside the cathedral (we needn't have bothered, Russia definitely does cathedral interiors better!) and a bite to eat in the all-you-can-eat pizza buffet, it was time to board our ferry to Stockholm. I'm sorry, did I say ferry?  Because this was much more like a cruise ships, complete with multiple restaurants and bars, live music, a nightclub, and half a deck dedicated to duty free. Our cabin was small, but with bigger beds than the one I got in college in first year, a TV, and an en-suite. The TV never got switched on, although we did watch Sex and the City on my portable DVD player with a bottle of Cava and a bag of Maltesers. The alcohol was a little too effective after two months of light drinking, and I got just slightly over-excited by the 'strobe-lighting'  (i.e. dodgy bulb) in the bathroom.

Stockholm, where we arrived early the next morning, is lovely, the Scandinavian equivalent of Durham or York (i.e. with more water) . Apart from a short metro journey to and from the port, we spent the entire day in Gamla Stan, the Old Town, situated on an island in the middle of the city. There we went in the Royal Palace, which is still a working palace and is used, among other things, to host the Nobel Prize Winners' Banquet every year - so as I said at the time, I don't need to win one now, I've seen where the winners eat their dinner!! But my favourite room in the palace had to be the Carl XVI Gustav Jubilee Room, which was redesigned in 1998. The theme: a Swedish summer's day. The result: IKEA-central!! Not that it wasn't lovely, just slightly out of place among the grandeur of the rest of the palace! After some lunch in a cute little cafe (seriously I'd recommend it to anyone......only I can't as I don't know the name...) we looked in some cute little shops with not so cute little prices, before getting the metro back to the port.

That evening, we made the mistake of buying a bottle of very cheap wine (dare I say formal wine?) and washing it down with a couple of gin and tonics. Possibly a mistake - I remember very little of the evening, and it didn't exactly make the next day fun. However, we still managed to get out to the small fortress island of Suomenlinna, 15 minutes from Helsinki. We weren't really in the mood for sightseeing, but we made a concerted effort before giving up and going for breakfast. It was the most expensive breakfast ever, €5 for a cup of tea and a croissant, but the atmosphere was lovely and we made a friend! Alright, he wasn't exactly a friend, as we didn't actually find out his name, but we did get chatting to the American guy at the table next to us - very strange man, he told us that Chinese was an easy language to learn, and yet was refusing to learn Finnish despite living on the island.... That encounter over with, we spent a couple of hours looking for presents for our hosts (not easy, given that everything was shut - I think I've got too used to Russian opening hours!!) and buying paninis, which were meant to be for the train, but unsurprisingly didn't make it that far! In the station, I managed to buy an English magazine and newspaper (well, it was the Guardian, but it was the first English newspaper I've seen in 9 weeks!) and catch up with what's going on in the outside world. Anyone who thinks Durham is a bubble, let me tell you, it's got nothing on Russia!!

Late on Sunday night we returned to St. Petersburg to a flurry of snow. Winter is coming, but will we all make it out alive??

Pigeons, Parents and Pessimism - The Catch-Up Entry

The trouble with neglecting to do things is that they tend to catch up with you. And so, having neglected this blog for far too long, I now have three weeks of St. Petersburg fun to condense into one entry.

It began with a trip to the Zoological Museum or, to use Tom's more creative description, "the museum where the animals are, only the animals are dead." Whoever started this museum could surely rename himself the Noah of taxidermy as he seems to have taken it upon himself to collect at least one, if not the necessary pair, of every animal known to man. The highlight has to have been either the dogs or the pigeons, or perhaps the dung beetles... There were, of course, slightly larger and more exciting animals; lions, panthers, polar bears and an improbably large collection of mammoths, including a mummified baby, a stuffed adult with half a trunk, and numerous skeletons.

As if I hadn't had enough museums for one week, the day after our trip to the ballet (the details of which are in my article on the Bubble) I took a little trip to Vladimirskaya to visit the Dostoevsky Museum. Perhaps turning down the offer of an audio-guide to preserve my pennies (or should that be kopecks?) was a mistake, as explanatory signs in any language were distinctly lacking, but the pictures of St. Petersburg in Dostoevsky's time were very interesting. I have since done some research and discovered that in the corner of Sennaya Ploschad, where my local supermarket now stands, there used to be a huge church (the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary), which was only knocked down in the 1980s. Dostoevsky's flat (fully restored in period style, though it was turned into a communal flat under Soviet rule), was also fascinating, especially the clock on his desk which stopped the day he died. While in Vladimirskaya, I also took the opportunity to go into the cathedral there, but left quickly when I realised that, it being Sunday, it was full of head-scarfed women bowing and kissing icons.

For the next week, I did very little, other than suffering from a nasty stomach bug, and doing lots of homework so that I didn't have anything to do while my family was in St. Petersburg. They came for ten days, and we spent that time seeing as much of St. Petersburg as possible and eating a lot of Italian food (after seven weeks of bland Russian cuisine, it was nice to eat something that actually tasted like food!). I have now been to the top of St. Isaac's Cathedral, visited the Yusupov Palace where Rasputin was murdered, seen the graves of Nicholas II and his family in the Peter and Paul Fortress (and of Dostoevsky and Tchaikovsky in the Tihkvin Cemetery), and marvelled at the blue mosaic interior of the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood. However, from this busy week of sightseeing, the anecdote I most want to share is from our visit to the Tihkvin Cemetery. As many of you will know, I am a cat lover, and so I was delighted to see a cat skulking outside the cemetery. When I bent to stroke it, however, I was interrupted by the woman on the gate. At first I thought that I was being discouraged from touching a stray, but then I realised that the woman was actually the cat's owner, and was showing me her two other cats, happily munching a fish dinner inside the cemetery. Pleased as I was to have some feline company, I was a little confused - who takes their cats to work with them? Especially when you work in a cemetery....

One thing that has been getting me down since the family left is Vera's constant pessimism. I honestly think that she enjoys being miserable!! Before my parents left, my dad fixed the shower curtain (the one which I pulled down in my first week here...) and it was with positive glee that she informed me last night that it had fallen down again. "I think it is bad," she told me, with a barely-concealed smirk, and then went on to lament my lack of white clothing - it apparently makes washing very difficult!! As I prefer a slightly more cheery outlook on life, I'm finding it rather difficult to avoid saying something snarky and potentially offensive in response. Or maybe she'd enjoy being offended...

Monuments, Metro Stations and a Single Mausoleum - 15 Hours in Moscow

And so another travel experience – this time with the parents. We took the overnight train to Moscow, travelling in third class on the way, and it was surprisingly comfortable, although why they decided to leave the lights on all night I will never know! The drunks running down the corridor and shouting at 4am were also not appreciated, but we did manage to snatch a few hours’ sleep before arriving in Moscow at 8am!

Miraculously, I managed to get the four of us into the centre of Moscow despite having no prior knowledge of the Metro there (a map might have been helpful, as it’s a lot bigger than the Metro in St. Petersburg, but the guidebook had not deemed it necessary to include one), and having to contend with the lack of signage in English. Reading Cyrillic characters is a lot harder under pressure, especially when your non-Russian-speaking relative (you know who you are!) insists on asking stupid questions like whether we want northbound or southbound – this is irrelevant on the Russian metro until you get to the platform! Once in sight of Red Square, we discovered that, much like St. Petersburg, nothing is open in Moscow before 10am – this is my kind of country!! So we passed some time in McDonalds (and to think this country used to be the enemy of capitalism!) and then went into the Kazan Cathedral. It was very different from its St. Petersburg equivalent, much smaller and more brightly-coloured, although not nearly as bright as Dorling Kindersley would like you to think!!

At 10 on the dot, we were in the queue (which had been forming for around an hour) for Lenin’s tomb, a red stone structure bearing a strange resemblance to the Olympic medal winners’ podium – and in fact the Russian leaders do stand on it on special occasions! The guards are very officious, insisting on all kinds of formalities, such as leaving cameras in the cloakroom, removing hats, and walking quickly past Lenin’s body. This apparent unwillingness to let you get too good of a look, along with Lenin’s waxy appearance (which the authorities insist is due to the chemicals used to embalm him) has led to rumours that the body is actually a waxwork. But, real or fake, Dead Lenin (as we respectfully nicknamed him) is an eerie sight to behold.

The rest of the day was spent sampling the delights of Moscow’s churches and department stores – the churches because we felt the need for some culture, as if we weren’t getting enough of it in St. Petersburg, and the department stores because it was so damned cold!! We also paid an extortionate sum (well, extortionate for Russia, where I’ve become accustomed to whacking out the student card and getting in безплатно) to get into the Kremlin twice. First we went into the Armoury, where I was wowed by the carriages, crowns, thrones (including a double throne for the two child kings who ruled at the same time, with a space behind for a tutor), and ambassadorial gifts, but Dad was disappointed by the lack of Faberge eggs and Andrew was downright bored! The second entrance ticket was for the Cathedral Square, and I’m sorry to say that my weekend in Novgorod has spoiled me! The cathedrals and churches were beautiful, with their onion domes and mosaic interiors, but I have to admit that they were just as beautiful in Novgorod, perhaps more so because the beauty was so unexpected.

However, Red Square as a whole is beautiful, with the red brick city walls surrounding the Kremlin set against the bright colours of St. Basil’s onion domes and the glittering Harrods-esque beauty of ГУМ. However, whoever thought that the city walls would be improved by adding glowing red stars (yes, they do light up at night) to the tops of the towers was very, very wrong. Tacky is the only word!

As for the department stores, we spent inordinate amounts of time in ГУМ (pronounced ‘goom’ if you’re Russian, and ‘gum’ if you’re my mother reading out of the guidebook), which is beautiful, inside and out. Much like Gostiny Dvor in St. Petersburg, it’s more like an exclusive shopping mall than a single store, encapsulating a confusing network of escalators, steps and balconies under a glass ceiling which lights up at night to resemble a sky full of stars. We also visited ЦУМ ('tsoom'), which was set up by Scottish entrepreneurs in 1857, so it’s a real department store with departments rather than separate shops. There we marvelled at the fur hats (most with the tails still attached – why???) and nearly fainted at the prices. But those of you who’ve been pestering me since I arrived to buy an ‘authentic’ Russian hat, the waiting is over!! It’s white rabbit fur (at least we think it’s real fur, it certainly stinks enough when it gets wet) and is of the traditional design, without the Soviet-style badges – for tourists and members of the military only – and at only 945 roubles (£20) I thought it quite bargainous!!

In the evening, we went on a mini tour of the metro, although the crowds of commuters kept us from straying too far. We did however make it to Mayakovskaya, which boasts beautiful mosaic panels in the ceiling by Deneika, depicting 'A Day in the Land of the Soviets', and Ploschad' Revolutsii, Stalin's favoutite station, full of bronze statues of the creators of the new socialist order, whose noses students rub for luck - I think we need one in Durham!! And then it was time to use the metro for a more practical purpose, to head back to Leningrad Station. The Russians are nice and helpful in naming their stations, for instance where do you think most trains from Finland Station in St. Petersburg might be headed? If you guessed Moscow, you'd be wrong - it's Finland, folks!! There's also a Moscow Station, a Baltic Station, and a Lagoda station, with trains serving the north and east of Russia (in the direction of Lake Lagoda). And so, Leningrad Station has trains to Leningrad (ie. St Petersburg). Simples!!

Second class, we discovered, is definitely more comfortable than third class, not least because we could choose whether we wanted the light to be on or off!! The journey could have been improved by not having to share our compartment with a noisy French tour party but, tired out by our long day, we didn't exactly struggle to sleep!!

An Apology and A Link

I am aware that I've been awful at updating this recently, I was snowed under with work, and then I was ill, and then my parents were here, so all in all updates haven't been happening! But they're leaving tomorrow so I do promise an update either tomorrow night or Monday, with details of my trip to Moscow!!

Anyway, the main purpose of this entry was to let you know that I've had an article published by The Bubble, Durham's new on-line magazine, about my trip to the Mariinsky a couple of weeks back. Obviously it's unpaid, but it's still very exciting!! So if you'd like to have a peruse of that, here's the link:

http://www.thebubble.org.uk/drama/a-beginner-s-guide-to-russian-ballet

Commenting

You'll notice the lack of alliteration in the post title, this is because this is not an entry per se. (You may get one tomorrow though, as I'm going to see a mummified woolly mammoth in the Museum of Zoology!) This is just a quick note to say that, as some people have mentioned that they've tried to comment but it hasn't worked, I've just been fiddling with the settings. Turns out, I had it set so that only followers could comment!! I've now changed it, so anyone should be able to leave me a comment if they so desire. Is this a hint? I leave that for you to decide.

Freebies, Frescos and Frivolity - An Adventure in Novgorod

After five weeks of big city life, what we needed was a break. So Rachel and I decided to get out of the city for the weekend. We had read in the guidebook that the small town of Veliky Novgorod, the seat of the kingdom of Ancient Rus, was only four hours away by bus, so on Saturday morning we set off. With no accommodation or bus tickets booked, we were taking a gamble (Vera certainly thought so!) but it paid off!!

The bus journey was relatively easy, although I did have an encounter with an arch-enemy - the wasp! This taught me that my mother had lied to me as a child when she told me that wasps "only hurt you if you hurt them". While this may be true of some wasps, this particular wasp was pure evil and attacked me viciously without any provocation, and I was pleased when the woman opposite exacted revenge with her Hello magazine. (Yes, it does exist in Russia too!) Farewell wasp, you will be mourned by.....absolutely no-one!!

We couldn't believe our luck when the bus arrived in Novgorod precisely four hours later. What's this? We used public transport and actually arrived on time at our intended destination?! But perhaps we allowed ourselves to feel smug a little too soon, as the next task (after purchasing return tickets) was to find somewhere to sleep. And this didn't look very likely at first - the first hostel on the map appeared not to exist, the second was full. Slightly panicky, we trudged on, and it was third time lucky - the Hotel Akron had a free room, and despite me having made the colossal error of forgetting my migration card , they were prepared to let us stay there. Result!!

Once the shock and relief at not being homeless had worn off, we were ready to explore the town. In the rather rushed (i.e. non-existent) planning of our trip, we had failed to read very much about Novgorod, and thus we were unprepared for how beautiful it would be. Set on the Volkhov River, with the magnificent red-brick Kremlin on one bank and dozens of onion-domed churches on the other, it is stunning. And all of this was made better by the fact that autumn has well and truly arrived (although it's a flying visit, as snow is forecast for next week) and the leaves seemed to turn golden and drop to the ground even as we looked at them. Rachel described it as being like France in the autumn, and I thought that it looked like I imagine New England to be like, but whatever your simile, it was pretty!

One thing that we did discover about Novgorod is that it's best not to eat there! In the restaurant which we chose for dinner (Хорошие люди or 'Good People') we encountered that Russian textbook classic - nothing on the menu being available!! Even better, the alternative which they brought us was salmon, which was what Rachel had ordered (and been denied) in the first place!! For dessert, we moved on to a little cafe opposite our hotel, where we opted for the one thing we could decipher from the menu 'Strawberry Dessert'. This was the little-known delicacy, whipped cream with strawberry sauce. An entire sundae dish full of whipped cream with strawberry sauce! I also wanted a beer, and after much motioning towards the beers on the shelf, managed to procure one, although not the one which I was pointing to. The joys of eating out in Novgorod! It did cost about a fiver altogether though so we had money left over to try some supermarket beer - Siberian Corona and Mojito beer. I will let you imagine how these particular delicacies tasted....

The next day we decided to play the little-known game of "Let's see how many attractions we can get into for free." It had started out as a game of "Let's see if we can find the church that Vera recommended", but when we found it and discovered that we could get in for free with our student cards, a new game was born. Altogether we managed to get into the Cathedral of Our Lady on the Sign (which had amazing seventeenth-century frescos), the Church of the Transfiguration of Our Saviour (which had slightly less intact, but still amazing, fourteenth-century frescos), the Bell Tower of St. Sophia, another tower of indeterminate name and similarly indeterminate number of steps, a photo exhibition and the Museum of Novgorod - not bad for a morning's work! And then it was time to grab a bite to eat (once again not getting what I ordered), buy a few souvenirs, and catch the bus back to St. Petersburg!

Bridges, Blini and (Not Going To) Bed - The End of the First Month

Vera chirpily informed me at dinner on Monday night that I have now been in Russia a month - is she counting down the days until I leave or does she just have a scarily good memory? Either way, I didn't know until she told me - it's gone incredibly fast!! Still, it seems to have had a positive effect on my Russian so far, in oral class on Tuesday, Nadia asked if I'd done my oral homework "without ANY help?" (because clearly I need it...) and then went on to tell me that I've really improved since arriving here! I might forgive her for turning up at the flat last night and frightening the life out of me then, honestly, sometimes living with a teacher really isn't cool....

The presentations that I was so concerned about last week went surprisingly well: nobody heckled , they sat silently when asked if they had any questions (which may not be the most positive of reactions but it suited me), and then were enthusiastic when instructed to mingle by the teachers afterwards. In fact, we even made some friends!! The other girls and I were standing by, watching the boys get mobbed by a hoard of adoring Russian girls (Alex in particular seems to have a bit of a fan club!) when two smiling girls (both called Kate) introduced themselves. When we told them that we had no friends in St. Petersburg yet, they exchanged a glance, said "You can be our friends if you like?" and proceeded to take us on an impromptu sightseeing tour with their friend Mary (well, we walked past the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood on our way to Теремок!). Their English puts my Russian to shame, despite their protests to the contrary, and they're very patient with my attempts to communicate in Russian! Since the presentation, we've met up twice more, and the first time they showed us one of ПГУПС's best kept secrets, the canteen, serving tea for 3 roubles a cup - that would be about 8p!! Today, I told Kate about Durham (with much reference to Harry Potter!) and then was invited to choir practice - those of you who've heard me sing will be thankful to learn that I was only observing!! The teacher was absolutely terrifying but the singing was wonderful, even if I couldn't understand most of the words!!

Saturday was, without a doubt, the longest day I have spent here, again thanks to the presentations and the people we met afterwards. Three first-year students (who were only seventeen) took us on a sightseeing tour in the afternoon, and while it started with the best intentions at the Kazansky Sabor (Kazan Cathedral), it quickly descended into childishness. After all, when given a choice between the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood and the zoo, who wouldn't choose the zoo? And if the route to the zoo happened to pass a waxwork museum, who would be able to resist going inside? Certainly not us, and as the two attractions cost less than a fiver altogether, who can blame us? The waxwork museum was, admittedly, limited to two rooms, but it featured an impressive array of models (mostly unrecognisable and all faintly creepy). Some of our personal favourites were Captain Jack Sparrow, Freddie Kruger, Hitler, the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland (who bore more than a passing resemblance to a drag queen), some very strange looking dinosaurs and Harry Potter (who looked more like a girl than a boy, perhaps the sculptors were gender-confused?). The unrivalled favourite at the zoo were the polar bears (because who doesn't love them?), although the stray cat which I got to stroke came in at a close second for me!! Afterwards we introduced Rachel to the delights of raw fish at a nearby sushi bar (the Russians love sushi, and you can't walk down the street without passing a sushi bar) and drank the best fruit tea I have ever tasted - it smelt exactly like melting strawberry jelly cubes!

On the way home, I stopped in at Gostiny Dvor (think Harrods, only more Russian...) to impulse-buy a coat. In my defence, I did have a purpose for the coat, Tom's friend Masha (also from choir) had invited us to watch the bridges opening that night and I was slightly concerned that I might freeze to death in the process... The sales assistant couldn't have been more patronising if she tried (looking me up and down and then saying "It is very beautiful....with trousers or long skirt!!" *cue pointed glance at my miniskirt*) but the coat was beautiful, so I bought it anyway, having to sign the credit card slip for the first time in years! 

Our night watching the bridges open was certainly interesting, Masha took us to see some of the city's most famous sights in the dark, culminating in us throwing 10 kopeck pieces at a statue of a cat at 1am - apparantly it brings good luck!! We were having so much fun with that that we missed the actual opening of the bridges, but we did see most of them while they were open as we walked several kilometres along the Neva between 2am and 4am - and they look incredible all lit up!! However, the next two hours walking back into town weren't quite so incredible, exhaustion-induced hysteria set in and we our attempts at conversation became increasingly banal - when I saw a poster for Elton John in concert I turned to Rachel and announced "I LIKE Elton John! Do you think it's REAL Elton John?" (We have since purchased tickets for said concert, so I hope it is real Elton John). Our night ended with cold chips and pizza in an all-night bar until the metro opened, and then somewhat warmer drinks in a nearby Кофе Хаус until we felt that it was safe to actually use the metro. So a good experience, but not necessarily one I'll be repeating!

Strange Breakfasts and Sovetskoe Champagne - Passing the Three Week Mark

This weekend was less eventful that the previous two - we're finally bored of imperial palaces and parks, so we decided to stay in the city. I'd read on the internet about a 'Day of Europe' which meant that embassies were opening up all over the city and giving away free stuff. Unfortunately when we went to have a look the only things they were giving away were brochures - in Russian - advertising their various countries. But it was a lovely sunny day and we got to wander around the city in the sunshine - making the most of it while it's still here!! Then in the evening Rachel and I indulged in an Italian meal (our second meal out in as many days - several of us went for a Chinese on Friday night which meant venturing into *gasp* the suburbs). We briefly debated whether 500 rouble (about £10) 'champagne' would be drinkable, before deciding to bite the bullet and go for it. And whether it's two years of Castle 'champagne' receptions or whether I just have really bad taste, I thought it was pretty good!! Afterwards we went to the Кофе Хаус for dessert and cocktails - all of the big coffee shops on and around Nevsky Prospekt are open 24 hours so this may become a regular occurance. So even if the day disappointed slightly, the evening certainly didn't!

On Sunday I had another interesting conversation with Vera. As I was getting my breakfast I realised that the milk was off - not soon enough as I'd already poured it all over my cornflakes. After asking me if I still wanted breakfast (no, of course not, the fact that there's no milk has completely killed my appetite) she told me to put kefir (sort of plain drinking yoghurt) on my cornflakes, and went to throw the first bowl away. After a few minutes she returned, laughing. "I threw the cornflakes down the toilet and now they are floating!" (If you don't find this funny, try saying it in a Russian accent. Trust me, it works every time.) This took my mind off the fact that kefir on cornflakes is possibly the worst combination of foods I have ever eaten. I was very grateful when Vera went out later to buy more milk...

I have also completed a couple of personal challenges in the past few days. On Sunday, I went somewhere entirely on my own. It was the Museum of Political History, and although it was only two stops away on the metro and I ended up misreading the signs and going round it backwards, it was very satisfying to do something by myself (and even more satisfying to be able to report it to the teachers in my lessons this week). I enjoyed the museum too, there was an amazing array of random things which people had kept purely because they thought that commemorating events is important - for instance, a bullet from the assassination of a politician in the 1800s. As anyone who's seen my bedroom will know, I never throw anything away, so this definitely appealed to me! Entrance is free to anyone with a Russian student card, so I'll definitely be going back - maybe next time I'll make it from Lenin to Gorbachev in the right order!! But my biggest achievement was today, after far too many experiences of leaving the supermarket trying to balance my purchases on my stack of textbooks, today I actually managed to ask for and receive a plastic bag! Result!

In other news, I have succumbed to evil Russian freshers' flu (others may call it a cold but I prefer to be melodramatic). This is not great news, especially I have to do a presentation on my home town in front of dozens of unsuspecting Russian students tomorrow!! Those lucky, lucky students!!

Canals and Calories - A Day of Extravagance

As we've now seen a large amount of the city from the streets (many of these streets perhaps not being the ones which we intended to walk down, but even so...) we decided to gain a new perspective today - St. Petersburg from the water. One of St. Petersburg's nicknames is 'The Venice of the North', and so it's rather unsurprising that it has a lot of canals. Our watery adventure started on one of these (the Grybodaev), where it's difficult to move without tripping over someone trying to sell you a boat trip. Sure enough, we found one, and although the commentary was, once again, all in Russian, we spent a very enjoyable hour floating around the city, seeing some of the famous sights such as the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood, Winter Palace and the Peter and Paul Fortress.  Excellent picture opportunities, when someone else's head isn't in the way, that is!!

After that, we were all a little chilly (all the more reason to do the boat trip now before it gets really cold) so we went to the nearest Кофе Хайс to eat....ice-cream. Perfectly sensible decision of course! I did feel the need for a hot drink though, so I opted for what the menu described as a 'chocolate fondue'. I should not, therefore, have been surprised to be presented with what was essentially a glass of melted chocolate (the two pieces of banana and half a strawberry drowning in it were their concession to the fondue). A straw was provided, but for what purpose I'm not entirely sure, because I certainly wasn't going to be able to suck my drink up through it! 189 roubles thoroughly well spent I'd say - now to spend the rest of the trip budgeting to pay for today!!

Palaces, Parks and Преподавать - Week 2

For the non-Russian speakers among you, the last word of the title is pronounced 'prepodavat', and it means 'to teach', which is how I spent the first hour and a half of Tuesday morning. I can't say that I was especially delighted to be getting up at 7.30 to teach English to a class of unknown Russian students, but despite their English being, in Vera's words "very bad, like your Russian", they were lovely, and really willing to learn. They weren't that impressed with my description of my town though, when I tried to tell them about Reading Fest, they said that "it's not interesting for us, we only like R'n'B". So much for being down with the kids...

I've had quite a few Russian lessons now, and I'm definitely improving, if very gradually... For one thing, Vera only has to repeat herself once to get me to understand her, not seven times!! There are some nightmares though, I came out of a lesson on Monday, which had focused entirely on listening (never my best skill in any language) nearly in tears and convinced that the teacher was out to get me. Actually, she was really lovely, and in our lesson on Thursday went out of her way to help me with listening!! We're getting lots of homework too, if one thing's improving, it's my knowledge of the Cyrillic alphabet from the number of times I've flicked through the dictionary!!

Marianna (one of the Russian lecturers) came to check up on us on Friday, and became possibly the millionth person to be concerned as to how I was getting on with Vera. Apparently she tried to teach one of her previous house-guests to speak better English! Mind you, given my experience earlier this week, I'm not entirely surprised.
         "So, if there are four brothers, this one will be elder, yes?"
         "Well, probably eldest...."
         "Elder!"*scribbles it down*"And this one will be middle?"
         "No, if you have four, there isn't really a middle..."
         "Middle!"
OK Vera, have it your way, you usually do... Seriously, if they all know that the woman's crazy, why do they let her take students? Tonight, when I got home, Vera wanted to know what I'd told Marianna, and when I said I was happy here she seemed very surprised. Maybe she's never not been complained about before... Still, she's been being really nice to me ever since, so clearly going with the crazy pays off!

We've done a couple more day trips this week, to Peterhof on Wednesday and Pushkin on Saturday (two more Ps, in keeping with the theme). Peterhof was something we really had to do in September, because they'll be switching the fountains off soon, and we definitely didn't want to miss them. The first view of the palace from the hydrofoil dock, with the Grand Cascade and  Marine Canal in front of you, is definitely one of the most breathtaking I've seen here (and after two weeks in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, that's saying something!). The palace has over 150 fountains, and 4 cascades, and apart from the Grand Cascade, our favourite had to be a fountain featuring a dog chasing some duck in an endless circle, complete with sound effects and water jets spouting from their mouths! The autumn colour was just coming to the trees (while some remained stubbornly green) and fallen leaves were everywhere. Autumn is short in St. Petersburg, and we're told it will soon be grey and gloomy, so we're enjoying the beauty while it lasts. We took a wander in the park, contemplated paddling in the Baltic (and then decided against it due to mud), and ate pizza in a "preventive" restaurant (quite what how the restaurant should really be described we'll never know). Then (and this is a first!) we managed to catch a bus back to St. Petrsburg with barely a hitch!

After that stroke of good luck, something was bound to go wrong on Saturday, and so it did. We were sat happily in our marshutka (not matrushka as I told Vera and was nearly laughed out of the kitchen - that's a Russian doll, folks!) driving into Pushkin, when we realised that we hadn't the faintest idea where we were meant to be getting off. Ah, there it was, that stop that was now a good kilometre behind us. But no worries, it was a nice day, we'd just get off with this lady. Or not, as the bus was already driving away! By the time we managed to get off the bus, a sign gleefully informed us that we were 2,6 kilometres away from the palaces - and this was definitely a case of 2,6 kilometres plus or minus 66% (apologies non-DUSAGGers for the blatant in-joke!). But, after walking round what felt like (and indeed, probably was) the whole of Pushkin, we arrived at the Catherine Palace, better known as Tsarskoe Selo. As the palace was closed between 2 and 4pm we took the opportunity to briefly collapse, enjoy our packed lunches, and then wander around the lake (nearly tripping over the omnipresent newlyweds - wedding photos are definitely a bigger deal in Russia than in England!). Inside the palace (which is beautiful, blue on the outside and lots and lots of gold on the inside), we were treated to a guided tour entirely in Russian - until Tom found a Spanish tour guide behind us and helpfully offered to translate! My favourite room was the Amber Room, which featured a sign stating that it had been restoring with help from some German fuel company, which did a lot for German-Russian relations. What it failed to mention was that German-Russian relations were in need of some restoration work themselves, after the Nazis ransacked the room and made off with the priceless paintings and amber frames within!! Perhaps the fuel company weren't so selfless after all....

We've seen an awful lot of palaces and parks now, so we're looking for something a bit different for next weekend. Who knows where we'll end up -  knowing us, probably not where we intended to go!!

Trains and Theme Parks - A Weekend Of Day Trips

So I've now survived a week in St. Petersburg, and I definitely feel like I've settled in. Vera is still insane, but I'm no longer scared by her, I'm just learning to go with it. Her favourite word at the moment is "Why?". Why didn't you buy tickets to the Marinsky Theatre? (Because we couldn't get seats together). Why isn't your key on the hook? (Because I forgot and left it in my bag). Why did you go to Oranienbaum? (Well, it wasn't exactly a conscious decision - more on that later...)

But, despite her rather forthright manner we're getting on well. We watch TV together after dinner - a Russian show called 'Let's get married'. It's a bit like Blind Date but (you've guessed it) they get married at the end! Apparently it's perfectly OK to be obsessed with this but not with soaps - only people with no job watch soaps! Mind you, having seen the last ten minutes of a Russian one, in which the main storyline seemed to be an escaped python, I might be inclined to agree.....

I'm also being fed well, with lots of Russian textbook classics, such as kotleti (sort of like meatballs), piroshki (little pies) and blini (pancakes with a variety of fillings from chocolate to meat and smetana, the sour cream that is a staple here). In fact, sometimes I'm fed a little too well! Last night I arrived home to be asked "Do you eat melon?". Yes, I do indeed eat melon, and it's agreed that I will have some after dinner. When the plates are cleared away, Vera gestures to half a melon. I cut myself a slice. Once I've finished, she gestures again. I eat another. She fixes me with a stern gaze. "I vant you to feeneesh it!!" Now I know how Bruce Bogtrotter felt in Matilda - I will not be eating melon again for a very very long time!!

Yesterday, Rachel, Tom and I decided to get out of the city and, in Rachel's guidebook, we found a park called Gatchina 40 kilometres out of the city. After a mild mix-up with stations, we ended up at Baltiskaya, from which the Lonely Planet reliably informed us, we could get a train to Gatchina. Any train to Oranienbaum should do and there was one in the station - excellent! It was only when we'd been on the train half an hour that we realised we were going in entirely the wrong direction - stupid Lonely Planet!! Luckily, Oranienbaum is also home to a nice park with lots of palaces nestled within the greenery and only a 70 rouble entrance fee (that would be about £1.50!!). However, you pull into the station to a view of industrial towns along the Gulf of Finland and a large market. "At least we're not in Siberia." Rachel said, but for a moment we weren't sure. But a very good day was had by all, despite the best efforts of rain and trains to ruin it!!

Today we decided to get the metro out to one of the further-away islands on Petrograd side to see this early music festival which Rachel had read about. We arrived on a different island and the first thing we saw was a mini theme park - it was trying to be Disneyland (it had even stolen the font) but it was definitely not like Disneyland!! Health and safety did not appear to exist - one of the rides looked like those kiddie chairoplanes and indeed the chairs were similarly secure, and attached to the ride with similar lengths of chain, but it was a good 50m off the ground!! Tom and I risked one of the rollercoasters, and we were slightly concerned that we were going to die, but it was good fun and the relief at not being dead only added to the excitement. We also managed to find the festival, which was a bit random. There were just groups of people playing music and dancing dotted all over Yelagin Park, which is also full of gorgeous buildings - they're everywhere in St Petersburg! But the best bit was when, walking along a path, we came across a military brass band. They were playing a waltz and there were lots of old people dancing! Then, as we watch, they started playing the Birdie Song, and all the oldies were dancing to that instead! Made our day!!

Anyway, I'm going to stop writing now, as you're probably all asleep at your computers! Will try to update again soon!

Suitcases, Sim Cards, and Shower Curtains

Well, I've arrived safely in St. Petersburg now, despite being unsure if I'd get into the country due to the inordinate amount of time Russian passport control spent looking at my passport (I think it has too many interesting stamps!). I was met at the airport by Vera, who seemed very concerned by the fact that I had two large suitcases rather than one small one. I'm living here for nearly four months, give me a break!!

The first evening was not exactly fabulous, I was exhausted and couldn't make sense of most of the fast Russian which Vera insisted on babbling at me. But Sunday was much better, although it started with a lesson on opening the door. There are four different doors and five different locks with four different keys, two of which are identical!! Probability of me getting locked out = high!!

Vera took me around the nearby streets on Sunday and showed me various sights, ranging from the cultural (Dom Knigi and the Church of our Lady of Kazan) to the practical (free toilets in McDonalds) to the bizarre (a cat in a haberdasher's). In the Church of our Lady of Kazan, I saw a Russian Orthodox wedding, where the bride and groom were wearing crowns (which is apparently typical) and the bride was in green (which isn't). But my favourite place was Dom Knigi, the House of Books, it was literally full of books in all sorts of languages, and apparently you can take a book and just sit and read, so I think I'll be spending a lot of time there!! On the way back we stopped in the supermarket so that Vera could buy me cornflakes, she was horrified that I had only eaten bread and jam for breakfast that morning!

Today I went to the university for the first time and got my timetable. I have Wednesdays off and very few morning lectures, but I have a horrible day on Tuesday - 9am start and 5 hours of lectures (pity the poor arts student). After meeting lots and lots of Russian lecturers and being shuttled between many different rooms to sign various documents, Rachel, Tom and I went for some 'English time'. We had блыни (pancakes) in a little cafe that Vera recommended - only 100 roubles (like £2) for that and a pot of tea!! Then Rachel helped Tom and I buy Russian sim cards, I haven't quite worked out how much anything costs but still....

Bit of a disaster this evening, I fell over in the shower and brought the shower curtain down with me!! I was really freaked out, but Vera was really nice, I just have to pay to replace it. And then I helped her uninstall some things from her computer as penance!!

Have my first lessons tomorrow, so we'll see how those go...

T-11 hours!!

And so the countdown begins. In 11 hours I will (fingers crossed) be arriving in St. Petersburg, in 9 hours I will be on the plane, and in 5 hours I will be leaving home! Perhaps I should be in bed.......

I've already had my first panic, when I thought I'd lost my new credit card, but that's all sorted - my brother unearthed it down the side of the bed! So bags are packed, visa organised, roubles ordered (to be picked up at the airport tomorrow), hopefully everything will run smoothly in the morning!! I'm a bit nervous about arriving in Russia, as four months is quite a long time to be away from home, and I've only been learning Russian for a year. Luckily my landlady, Vera, speaks perfect English, but hopefully we'll be able to get by in Russian, after all, that's the point!!

I'll try to keep this regularly updated while I'm in Russia, Vera has wifi so it shouldn't be too difficult!! Next entry will probably be tomorrow or Sunday once I'm settled in....