st. petersburg, russia

i figure it's about time i made a post about my trip to russia. i seriously didn't think anyone reads this anymore, that's probably why i lag when it comes to posting pictures and stuff. thanks jaclyn for making me do this!

anyhow, st. petersburg was an interesting experience, to say the least. it is the biggest country in the world. they do have magnificent buildings and what have you. peter the great had a dream to "europeanize" his country and he did a hell of a good job of it. i think he'd be happy with what is around now.

however, it's all a facade. sure, there are grand palaces and lavish buildings, but there are also people starving and sleeping on the streets... and racism. i think it was the first time ever that i've experienced something like it. for being in the biggest country in the world, you'd think that people would be the least bit more tolerant. it's a bit sad, really. it makes me feel so lucky to have come from a place like southern california. of all the locals i've encountered in st. petersburg, i'd say that 2% are asian. same percentage in middle eastern people. other than that, everyone was caucasian. i've never received so many stares in my whole life.. but hey, i'm not living there.


i was just really glad that for once, i'm not sleeping in a hostel. this was the view from my hotel room. and yes, the weather was pretty much like that everyday that we were there. overcast, chilly, wet, blah. the air was really crisp, though, which i thoroughly enjoyed. one thing i know i won't miss for sure is the prevalent smell of gasoline EVERYWHERE.

i took this trip with a group of about 40 other people. it was nice to be on a study tour where you actually had a guide who knew what he was talking about.

here's a sample of what russian food looks like. i don't think i've ever eaten so badly in my whole life. i was mostly expecting really meager meals. bread or something. the one free meal we got a day. no, russkies really enjoy their red meat and potatoes and CABBAGE and beets. i will be detoxing for the next three weeks.


beef stroganoff with potatoes. it looks like dog shit, but it was good.


the bronze horseman! joseph brodsky wrote an essay called "a guide to a renamed city" that paints a picture of leningrad (now st. petersburg) really well. this is a statue of peter the great that catherine the great dedicated to him. not only was it a heresy to raise a statue of any non-religious figure, thereby immortalizing them, but notice that the inscription is in latin! the russians have nothing to do with catholicism since they belonged to the orthodox church.


catherine the great's winter palace, which houses one of the largest museums ever, the hermitage. you know, with picasso, michelangelo, rembrandt, all those big names. an aside: one thing that i did not expect whatsoever were the colors of all the different buildings. everything was so colorful; pastels, mostly.


this is a picture of the world war II memorial; i forget what the exact name is. more than half a million people are buried here in mass graves from the 900 days in which germany held leningrad under siege: soldiers, civilians, and children, all in different plots.


not only did catherine have a winter palace, but a summer palace! this one is blue. and yes, that is real gold paint. it was seriously so much of a gold overload that my eyes started hurting.


the summer palace, because obviously only the winter palace wasn't enough.


the gardens were beyond beautiful.


i absolutely love how you can actually see the different colored leaves. indicative of the fall season!

pasha, our student tour guide, took us up on a russian (!) rooftop about seven stories high where it was about 2 degrees and we drank vodka and cognac.


view from the roof. see that gold dome/church thing? we climbed that, and got an amazing view of the city.


okay, forget that i look super haggard and disgusting and i could very well be photoshopped into this picture, but i just love the background. by the way this is taken from the top of the dome thing.


up on the roof again. i don't know why i look agro. i swear i was not.


this is the street on which dostoevsky's fictional character from crime and punishment, raskolnikov, lived. we retraced the 730 steps it took to get from his apartment to the pawnbroker's place, where he killed her and her sister. it took us closer to 900. i thought it was pretty neat that the author used real street names and places in his book(s).


yes, i saw a russian ballet! it was one of the most beautiful things i've ever seen. this one was called "the fountain of bakhchisarai" by alexander pushkin. it was my first ballet ever, too. and how awesome is it to experience where the dance was originated? i was literally in a box right on top of the orchestra pit. the music was beautiful, the costumes and backdrops were so elaborately well-done. as dorky as it sounds, i teared up when the music first came on.. because it was just that beautiful. /ghey


this building i think pretty much epitomizes russia. favorite building ever. it's weird how you'd be walking along the streets and there are cars trying to run you over and essentially, there are normal-looking apartment buildings. and then BAM! this thing pops up out of nowhere, amongst other fancy buildings. you can't see it, but it's covered in all mosaics. the church is called "our saviour on spilt blood," in honor of alexander II who was killed on this spot. i love my hat. i think it saved me that day; not only was it zero-degree weather, it was windy and raining. snowing/hailing at some points!


farewell din din. again, the food looks pretty disgusting, but it was decent. it was complete with free bottles of vodka (they love their vodka there) and red wine.


russian beer! it was only 40 roubles. that's less than $2USD. everything was super-cheap, but i found out that the minimum wage there is about 1000 roubles/month. that's roughly $40, eesh. we all can easily spend 1000 roubles in a day.


i had trouble getting it down, since i was so full from dinner already.


here's pasha, our adorable tour guide. i wanted to put him in a bottle and take him home with me. he's only 20 and he's incredibly knowledgeable and intelligent. this isn't the most flattering picture of him as he was already completely waystered out of his mind. it's cute hearing him talk; he obviously isn't fond of public speaking, so he stuttered, said "uh" way too many times to count, and chain-smoked the hell out of his cigarettes. speaking of cigarettes, they were only about $1.50!


angela (switzerland), and laura (team america).


begga (iceland) and i at the airport, in our super-awesome yet touristy as f hats.

oh yeah, one more thing that i have to note is that they have private cabs there. so essentially, if one wanted to make some extra cash for the night (say, for groceries or something), they can operate as a cabby for the night. crazy, huh? they're not licensed, and the cars aren't labeled. it could be anyone! my first experience in one of those was pretty creepy. though there were four of us, the driver did not know where he was going, and we evidently could not communicate. it was awesome. that is all.

okay, i think that's it for now. i realize that i should put up some pictures of the city i'm living in, haha. and maybe clear things up a bit with some facts, since i know at least one of you is interested. okay. until the next entry....

xoxox