Went to Mother Russia and survived! The crazy thing is that if you think about it, I guess this is the furthest East I have ever gone, so some small accomplishment for me. It wasn't exactly half-way across the world, only a 10 hour time zone difference from home, but that is still pretty damn far!
Russia was very interesting, and honestly explained so much about Lithuania to me. There were a lot of things, habits and characteristics that Russians and Russia had that I could see reflected in Lithuania. I don't want to say that they are purely "Soviet" things, but I think that is were the connection comes from. It was a classically beautiful city and you could feel the deep-rooted history breathing everywhere you went. It is almost eerie to think about how many huge things that have happened in this city that I strolled around, but I guess that can be said for a lot of the places I have gone in this world.
One of the strangest things were the white nights. Before I was freaking out in Lithuania because the sun was going down at 11 pm and then rising at 4 am. That was really nothing like what Russia would deal us, now I am happy with Lithuania because it seems more "normal" to me! In St. Petersburg the sun never really went down, it was always this kind of strange twilight happening. And I thought this would make it so hard for me to sleep; but never fear, I was able to power through that and I always slept great! It was just strange that I could read a book at 4 in the morning if I wanted to and I never had to turn on a light. So strange. I think it would be harder the other way around though, when it is always night. I would never like that one.
We did a lot of really cool things in St. Petersburg. Went to the Hermitage of course, but like the Louvre, Pompidou, and the British Museum...it was too big and not enough context. We kind of walked around for a few hours and they decided to come back another day (we never did). We also went to the Russian Political Museum and Carolin mentioned something very true and funny about museums in Russia and Lithuania. She said that in Lithuania they think that one room with no context is enough, while in Russia they think 60 rooms with no context is a good museum. The Political museum was interesting, but it was really exhausting. But to be fair, there is a lot of history to be covered in St. Petersburg.
I think by far one of my favorite things that we did was the white night bike tour of the city. I seriously love anything to do with bikes and cities, maybe I should make a bike tour through Europe one day then, because I think it is an amazing idea. It was such a good way to see the city. And our tour guide, Dmitri, was fantastic! It took us to all these special places that I really think other tourists would never know about. They were usually sites of huge historical or cultural significance. They were never anything special until you knew their story. And it was a gorgeous way to see the city, we ended with seeing one of the bridges open at the end of the tour. I would HIGHLY recommend this tour to anyone who might be going to St. Petersburg on a white night. It was by far the most informative and interesting ways to see the city. I support this so much, here's the link even (do it!):
http://www.peterswalk.com/nightbike.html
I really enjoyed traveling with my dear friend and roommate, Carolin. And I ended up being so thankful for her because she speaks way better Russian than I do and understands better too. And she in general knows more about Russian culture. I think I would have totally been shocked without her there with me. We fought sometimes, but I think people fight no matter what when they spend every second of everyday together. I really will remember this trip with her for a lifetime. It was so good! And she is pretty good at a map, I do have to admit... (don't tell her that, her head will get huge).
And I have to say, I thought it was so funny that everyone from home told me "to be careful" when I told them I was going to Russia. Honestly, in my eyes, I think Siauliai is more dangerous than Russia because in Russia I was in a huge city full of other foreigners while in Siauliai I am one of 40 or so foreigners. But it is always surprising to that this suspicion towards Russia is still there. And I was getting really worried that I would run into a ton of problems when I came to Russia for being an American (not a lot came up by the way, if something bad happened it happened to all foreigners...watch out for registration fees ok?). I know the history, I know the Cold War, but what I cannot understand is why all societies put borders between themselves. It seems like a waste of time on things that don't really matter to people. Shouldn't we all be free to move around the world? Why do politics have to divide us? But I guess that is more theoretical question to be discussed elsewhere than on this blog.
So! Enjoy some photos and until next time!
Russia was very interesting, and honestly explained so much about Lithuania to me. There were a lot of things, habits and characteristics that Russians and Russia had that I could see reflected in Lithuania. I don't want to say that they are purely "Soviet" things, but I think that is were the connection comes from. It was a classically beautiful city and you could feel the deep-rooted history breathing everywhere you went. It is almost eerie to think about how many huge things that have happened in this city that I strolled around, but I guess that can be said for a lot of the places I have gone in this world.
One of the strangest things were the white nights. Before I was freaking out in Lithuania because the sun was going down at 11 pm and then rising at 4 am. That was really nothing like what Russia would deal us, now I am happy with Lithuania because it seems more "normal" to me! In St. Petersburg the sun never really went down, it was always this kind of strange twilight happening. And I thought this would make it so hard for me to sleep; but never fear, I was able to power through that and I always slept great! It was just strange that I could read a book at 4 in the morning if I wanted to and I never had to turn on a light. So strange. I think it would be harder the other way around though, when it is always night. I would never like that one.
We did a lot of really cool things in St. Petersburg. Went to the Hermitage of course, but like the Louvre, Pompidou, and the British Museum...it was too big and not enough context. We kind of walked around for a few hours and they decided to come back another day (we never did). We also went to the Russian Political Museum and Carolin mentioned something very true and funny about museums in Russia and Lithuania. She said that in Lithuania they think that one room with no context is enough, while in Russia they think 60 rooms with no context is a good museum. The Political museum was interesting, but it was really exhausting. But to be fair, there is a lot of history to be covered in St. Petersburg.
I think by far one of my favorite things that we did was the white night bike tour of the city. I seriously love anything to do with bikes and cities, maybe I should make a bike tour through Europe one day then, because I think it is an amazing idea. It was such a good way to see the city. And our tour guide, Dmitri, was fantastic! It took us to all these special places that I really think other tourists would never know about. They were usually sites of huge historical or cultural significance. They were never anything special until you knew their story. And it was a gorgeous way to see the city, we ended with seeing one of the bridges open at the end of the tour. I would HIGHLY recommend this tour to anyone who might be going to St. Petersburg on a white night. It was by far the most informative and interesting ways to see the city. I support this so much, here's the link even (do it!):
http://www.peterswalk.com/nightbike.html
I really enjoyed traveling with my dear friend and roommate, Carolin. And I ended up being so thankful for her because she speaks way better Russian than I do and understands better too. And she in general knows more about Russian culture. I think I would have totally been shocked without her there with me. We fought sometimes, but I think people fight no matter what when they spend every second of everyday together. I really will remember this trip with her for a lifetime. It was so good! And she is pretty good at a map, I do have to admit... (don't tell her that, her head will get huge).
And I have to say, I thought it was so funny that everyone from home told me "to be careful" when I told them I was going to Russia. Honestly, in my eyes, I think Siauliai is more dangerous than Russia because in Russia I was in a huge city full of other foreigners while in Siauliai I am one of 40 or so foreigners. But it is always surprising to that this suspicion towards Russia is still there. And I was getting really worried that I would run into a ton of problems when I came to Russia for being an American (not a lot came up by the way, if something bad happened it happened to all foreigners...watch out for registration fees ok?). I know the history, I know the Cold War, but what I cannot understand is why all societies put borders between themselves. It seems like a waste of time on things that don't really matter to people. Shouldn't we all be free to move around the world? Why do politics have to divide us? But I guess that is more theoretical question to be discussed elsewhere than on this blog.
So! Enjoy some photos and until next time!
It was an 11 hour bus ride to get there from Riga!
On Nevsky Prospekt, the main road of St. Petersburg.
Unfortunately, I have to admit that we ate more American food than I ever thought we would. But even eating at Subway was a huge challenge for us!
The Hermitage! This place is HUGE.
Carolin eating MAIS (can't say corn or she will punch you)
The Church on Spilled Blood, absolutely gorgeous place.
St. Issac's Cathedral
Yup, ate there too....
And there :( Don't judge us...
A soon to be department store. This was a big factory in the Soviet times and was across the street from one of our hostels!
Inside the Church on Spilled Blood, breathtaking.
The Symbol of St. Petersburg. Peter the Great is squishing a snake, which we found to symbolize many, many things.
The metro, which we found out is one of the deepest in the world. We sure felt that this was true!
Inside the St. Peter and Paul's Cathedral. This is where at least 48 members of the Romanov family was buried. Do you see the small coffins? Quite sad...
Our very very very cool bikes that we took on our bike tour (by the way it is 10:30 pm when I took this picture). I rode the orange one and I LOVED it. I want one.
Catherine the Great established this school, it was one of the first that women could attend.
The bridge rising! It was probably around 1:30 in the morning, can you see that it still wasn't completely dark yet?
A day trip to Peterhof! We went by hydrofoil and spent a few hours here, it had amazing gardens! Very comparable to Versailles.
And then pictures from our boat tour, which could not compare to the bike tour, but I got nice pictures! Seriously, do the bike tour!
The Cruiser Aurora, this was supposedly to have started the Bolshevik Revolution by shooting off the first fire of the revolt.
Finally some Soviet/Russian food! Unfortunately, I already forgot what this was called, but we ate it in the Soviet Cafe. This place was a blast from the past and so cool!
The Singer factory building (now a very cool bookstore and cafe, I had grapefruit sorbet there).
A final view of this beautiful city!
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Did I mention you should do the Peter's Walk White Night Bike Tour? Maybe I will just say it one more time... DO IT!
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