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
Saturday, 30 October 2010
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
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.
Sunday, 10 October 2010
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!
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!
Thursday, 7 October 2010
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!
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
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!!
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!!
Thursday, 23 September 2010
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!!
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!!
Sunday, 19 September 2010
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!!
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!!
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