The plan for today was Peter and Paul Fortress, Peter I's little house, a visit with Sveta (our neice, Sasha's, mama), and then Serpuhovskaya for dinner. however, last night we learned that we could buy Kristen's favorite dessert (Russian coconut macaroons, aka "Kokosoviye Pichenye" or "Picheniye Kokosanka") in a store not far from our apartment called "Dieta." So, we woke up earlier than usual to make a trip to Dieta in search of those cookies. Our search was successful and we returened home with a kilo of those cookies.

After dropping them off at home, we returned to the metro and went to the fortress, where we arrived shortly before noon. We decided to by a combined ticket, which is god for six sights in the fortress over the next 10 days, but we only saw two of them. We also got the audio tour, which was helpful, and bought a separate ticket for a tirp to the top of the belfry of the church. It turns out, you must make advanced reservations for an English tour of the belfry, so we were stuck with a Russian tour, which was over an hour of us understanding next to nothing of what was said. However, the whole point of taking the tour was for the bird's eye view at the top, so we got what we paid for.

Due to our late start at the fortress, we called Sveta to postpone our visit from 3pm to 5pm. We left the fortress shortly after 4pm and took the metro to Sveta's stop. We were told to take Marshutka 342 to the final stop and spent about 20 min looking for where the marshutkas stop. Eventually, thanks to the assistance of some kind gentlemen, we found the place, but spent another 10 minutes looking for number 342. It turned out the one we needed was 243, which we finally learned by calling Sveta three times.

The marshutka driver was very nice and took us directly to the building we needed - even though he had to go out of his way to do so. however, we couldn't find the door to the building (and even if we had, the apartment number we had for Sveta was incorrect) so, two more phone calls later, Sveta ended up coming outside to take us to her apartment.

We met her son, little Nikita, (4 months old) but Sashinka is away for the summer visiting Sveta's parents. Sveta said that next time if we give her more advanced notice, then she would bring Sanshinka home so we can meet.

During this visit, we spoke while enjoying tea and sweets. Nikita's father, Sash, came home and we chatted with him for awhile, but mostly he took care of Nikita in the other room. We spent about two hours there and then Sasha drove us to the metro to go to Serpuhovskaya for dinner. We asked Sasha about his musical preferences (he was listening to music in English int he car) and he mentioned, among others, DDT and Nautilus Pompilus. When Susan mentioned that Ivan introduced her to the latter group, he put in one of their CDs and we listened to it in the car. Although we didn't hear any songs that Susan recognized, it was pleasant music. When we arrived at the train station, he gave us the CD to keep, which was very nice, as Claire was especially in the market for some good Russian pop music.

We arrived at Serpuhovskaya around 8:45pm, where we had a quick dinner with Mama. Sasha was at a party related to the wedding tomorrow and Papa and Aleksey were at Vsevelozhsk trying ot fix the garage door. We stayed until 10:30pm and took the metro home. We did laundry and got ready for our upcoming trip to Finland where we will be "roughing it" - no indoor plumbing, etc.

Labels: Europe 2008, Russia, St. Petersburg

Today is the Hermitage. Of course, you can spend more than one day in this "Hermit's Dwelling" (aka "The Winter Palace"), but with our short trip, one day is all we can afford. Again, we got a late start due to the hate hour at which we retired last night, but we still had enough time to thoroughly exhaust ourselves before closing time.

On the way to the Hermitage, we were pleased to find a bank open (it's Sunday, after all) where we could exchange some moeny. We arrived at the Hermitage around 12:30pm, where we were met by a very long line for the Cashier. A museum employee was offering people to bypass the line, provide us with tickets, and an audio guide in English for 800 Roubles. After learning that the entrance fee was 350 and the audio guide (which we intended to purchase anyway) was 300, we determined that the extra 150 Roubles would be money well-spent, so we went for it. We felt like VIPs: not having to stand in line at the ticket booth or the coat check or security or the audioguide stand! He even gave Susan a 350 Rouble discount for her student ID card, although she was prepared to pay 800 Roubles.

After spending a few hours in the Hermitage, we all decided that it needs more benches for seating in each of the rooms. Apart from that, we had a great time, learned a lot, saw many beautifyl things, and the only regret was not being able to see the Treasure Rooms. Apparently, those rooms close before the rest of the museum (3pm instead of 5pm) and you have to buy separate tickets for them, which sell out quickly. So, add that to the list of what to see "next time."

We exhausted ourselves around 4pm and then visited the museum store where we bought more souvenirs and gifts. We were very hungry and tired, so we sat ourtise and ate our lunch for awhile. It was chilly, so we didn't stay outside for long. We walked back to our apartment and stopped at Teremok on the way, where we ordered bliniy with wild berries. It was warm and tasty.

Another interesting aspect about today, is that today is "Navy Day." There was a very festive atmosphere on the street and they closed Nevskiy Prospekt (the main street) to vehicular traffic, allowing people to walk freely in the street. Flags of Russia and the Russian Navy were flying (and being sold) everywhere along with sailor hats and other patriotic memorobilia. Also, there were battleships and submarines in the Neva River with ceremonies to commemorate the day.

Unfortunately, after the Hermitage we were too tired to participate in the festivities, but it was still fun to be out on the street with the other merry-makers. After we got home from the Hermitage, we relaxed for a few hours and then went to Serpuhovskaya for dinner. Aleksey was there, having spent the day with Nina's parents (her father served in the Navy for 3 years) and after taking Nina to the airport for her weekly trip to Moscow, where she works for Microsoft. After dinner, we were driven back to our apartment by Aleksey.

Labels: Europe 2008, Russia, St. Petersburg

Today we're going to Vsevolozhsk and the ballet. After getting home late last night, we decided to try to sleep in today. However, we were all up earlier than expected, so we decided to eat breakfast and exchange more money. However, by the time Aleksey arrived to take us to Vsevolozhsk, we still hadn't left, so we put off money changing for another day.

Aleksey picked us up and took us to the store again (for which we were all grateful) before taking us to his house (Vsevolozhsk). Considerable work has been done in remodeling the house and much is still under way. A garage has been built, the downstairs entry way and bathroom have been painted, tiled and refinished, and the floors upstairs are being refinished with beautiful hard wood. The ceilings and walls are refinished and the roof and siding is being redone. It will look so good when it is finally done, but for now is a little inconvenient. However, most of our time was spent outdoors with berry picking (raspberries and red currents) and barbecuing the shashlik (which are the Russian version of shishkababs). It was a very HOT day, which made the bbq a bit uncomfortably warm, but we were very glad to have the entire family (minus Ivan) present.

Zhenya was in charge of chopping wood and preparing the coals; Nina (with help from us girls) was in charge of preparing the shashlik; Sasha was in charge of cooking the shashlik; and Alexey, in classic "Big Brother" style, was the manager (aka "slave driver") telling everyone else what to do and himself doing nothing - although he maintains that such management is, indeed, hard work :)

Last year Susan's allergies went hay wire at Vsevolozhsk, so this year Aleksey was very thoughtful and hadn't recently cut the grass. As a result, Susan's allergies weren't too bothersome and, thankfully, this year has had mild mosquito activity so, although we were prepared for the worst, we didn't need to use the bug spray very often.

After shashlik, we retired to the kitchen where Claire introduced the Chebotariov clan to Root Beer Floats (although we used Pepsi instead of Root Beer). It was a big hit and it seems that Aleksey and Nina will search for some authentic Root Beer Floats during their upcoming stay in America.

In the evening, Aleksey and Nina drove us back to our apartment where we had 1 1/2 hrs to nap and freshen up for our evening at the ballet. At 7:30pm, we met Papa Viktor and walked to the Andreisky Theatre for a production of "Swan Lake" ("Lebidinoe Ozero"). We had fantastic seats with a box all to ourselves on the first balcony. It was a beautiful performance in beautiful surroundings as the theatre itself is fit for a king (literally, there's a box for the tsar).

After the ballet, we returned to Serpuhovskaya for dinner. Eventually, Sasha and Zhenya arrived and they drove us home at the end of the night. We said our goodbyes to Zhenya, as he leaves early tomorrow for 2 weeks studying abroad in England.

Labels: Europe 2008, Russia, St. Petersburg

Aleksey and Nina took us out for breakfast this morning. Susan woke up early and decided to do the laundry. She started it at 8am and we needed to leave at 9:30am, which wasn't nearly enough time. By 9am, the washing machine still hadn't completed the first cycle. We tried to hurry it along, but couldn't figure out how to open it to get our clothes out. Since the machine is in a common area, we couldn't just leave our clothes in there when we left. We kept twisting hte dial and trying to open the lid, but it wouldn't budge. Eventually we learned that it took a few minutes for the water to drain, so if we left it alone the lid would finally unlock. Once we got our clothes out, it was already after 9:30am, so we hurridly put them up on a line to dry and went down to where Aleksey and Nina were waiting for us.

They took us to Teremok for a traditional Russian breakfast of Bliniy (which are similar to crepes). Susan decided to get a wild berry and a strawberry bliniy, which were both quite tasty but very sweet. Afterwards, Aleksey and Nina dropped us off at the Hermitage, where we were to meet Mama and Papa at 11am in the Palace Square. Claire and Kristen were able to take some fantastic photos while we waited and at 11:10am we all walked to the Neva River to catch a hydrofoil to Peterhof. We had to take a bus to the departure port because the one we were at was closed. By the time we got there we missed the boat and had to wait until 1pm for the next one.

We finally got to Peterhof where we took more great photos, ate a picnic, and left at 6pm. We went to Serpuhovskaya for dinner and met the youngest brother, Sasha, who had just arrived for a quick break from the Army. He is VERY tall!! Shortly after we arrived, Sasha left to hang out with his friend (the reason he got this break from the Army is that his friend is getting married next week and Sasha is his best man). So, we had dinner and talked for a long time with Mama, Papa, and Zhenya. When we were done, Zhenya drove us home.

Labels: Europe 2008, Russia, St. Petersburg

We decided to sight-see alone today, which worked out quite well. We woke up at 10am, ate breakfast, and were ready for an English boat tour at 11am. It was a great tour with only us and two other girls on the boat - which was much better than the crowded boats we saw with Russian tours. After the tour, we stopped to have ice cream on the street (there are ice cream vendors EVERYWHERE). We walked to the Admiralty where we ate lunch outside in the park. Then, we went to St. Isaac's Cathedral. We decided not to pay the extra 50 Roubles to take photos from the colonnade and we were disappointed. There were beautiful views and we would have liked to have some photos. Then we went to Dom Knigi (the most famous Russian Bookstore) where Kristen bought some souvenirs before returning to our apartment to freshen up.

At 6pm we met Ivan's parents who took us to a concert at Suvorov's training facility for young soldiers. The facility has a gorgeous concert hall and the concert was a flute and organ duet. They played Mozart, Bach, and others including a variation on themes from the opera Carmen. For the encore, they played Flight of the Bumblebee! It was incredible. Again we went to Serpuhovskaya for dinner and were driven home by Alexey, who was on his way to the train station to pick up Nina, his wife. We ended up going to bed around midnight again.

Labels: Europe 2008, Russia, St. Petersburg

Our flight to St. Petersburg was very early, so we planned on sleeping until the last possible moment. Instead, we were up at 3:17am where a full breakfast was waiting for us (I shudder to think what time Aunt Vera got up to prepare such a feast, but was grateful for her thoughtfulness). The taxi came at 4am (public transportation doesn't run that early) and we were at the airport by 4:30am. However, registration (the Russian equivalent of checking in) didn't open until 5am, so we had 30 minutes to kill in the airport.

We had all worked very hard to pack as lightly as possible, since we're all paranoid about airlines losing checked bags, but Claire was required to check her carry on bag even though it was only a little bit more full than Susan's (and Susan didn't have to check her bag). However, once we were on the plane, we discovered that Susan's bag didn't fit in the overhead bin, so she was left with it uncomfortably protruding from beneath her seat. That helped Claire feel better about having her bag checked and we were glad that none of our bags got lost.

Susan and Kristen had seats together while Papa Viktor and Claire were across the aisle sitting next to a Russian photographer named Oleg, who, thankfully for Claire, spoke English. It was a short flight and they served us a nice breakfast of a sandwich (Susan's favorite) and juice.

Ivan's brother, Alexey, met us at the airport and drove us to Ivan's parents' house (Serpuhovskaya) where we were able to relax and eat lunch with Ivan's parents and Alexey (the younger brother, Zhenya, was there at the beginning, but he had to leave for work). After lunch, Alexey drove us around the city and took us to the grocery store (hurrah!) before helping us check into the apartment that we were renting. Susan and her parents had rented an apartment through the same company last summer and everything went great, but this summer there were quire a few headaches associated with the check-in. However, finally everything got figured out and we were able to relax for a few hours. Before Alexey left, he loaned us a phone to use during our stay, which helped us coordinate our trips with Ivan's parents.

At 5:30pm, we met up with Ivan's parents to stroll through the city. We decided to take a boat tour of the canals, but learned that we had missed the English version and the next one wouldn't be until 8pm, so we decided to try again tommorrow. Instead, we walked to the Summer Garden where it's beautiful and green with plenty of statues. We wanted to go to St. Isaac's Cathedral, but Papa wanted to go home and eat so we walked to the Bazaar near the Cathedral on Spilled Blood on our way to the metro to return to Serpuhovskaya, where we ate dinner and hung out until late. By then, the metro was closed, so Zhenya drove us home. However, we found that during check-in, they didn't give us a code to the front door, so we weren't able to get in. It was late, but we called her (with Alexey's help) and finally got in, got ready for bed, and went to sleep very late.

Labels: Europe 2008, Russia, St. Petersburg