Month-long date: Part 2

Second Stop: Россия, Санкт-Петербург

"I'm sitting here in our hostel in St. Petersburg--we took an overnight train that left Moscow at 0100 and arrived here at 0945. And I slept really well! It was actually really fun. I kept thinking about how much the boys would love to sleep on a train like that--there was just a long hallway and skinny beds on each side (no curtains or doors or anything, but I felt really secure). I woke up a few times and the sounds of so many people sleeping and breathing (some snoring) reminded me of the dwarfs on Snow White

"We've gone to the Hermitage, which was amazing, we actually went to see the Nutcracker, which was very delightful (fitting for the weather) for $3.00 each (we got standby tickets and saved a LOT of money and had pretty good seats! , we've toured St. Isaac's Cathedral, Kazanski Cathedral, and the Church of Christ the Savior on Spilled Blood. They were all very interesting to see--one of them is operating right now, so that was neat to see people inside. Last night, we went to "Feel Yourself Russian!" It's a Russian culture night with singers, dancers, musicians, and even a little "buffet" during intermission. That was really fun to see! The dancing was very entertaining and they had live music on stage with an accordian and some strings. I'm sure we were the only Americans there, and probably the only ones under 45 yrs. old. I love how music & dancing are universal.


Find Kristin...










p.s. We've seen a LOT more mullets--even female ones! (here's a mullet couple!)


classic Russian soul

"p.p.s.
Some food we've eaten...in case you're interested:
-Anton's borsch (really good)
-Sala (it's pig fat that's been hardened and over-salted; you normally eat it on bread...interesting)
-Khaladyets (I'm sounding these out in English--it's GROSS. It's meat (we had pig's head at Anton's house, Ben informed me afterward) with broth that has been frozen and added to gelatin...the texture is veeeerrry interesting.) Pig-head-meat-jell-o.
-Raw salmon with buckwheat (not bad)
-Cavier (eww)
-Breads, pastries, cakes--most of them good--some with meat or cabbage or cream inside
-Other soups--a pureed veggie soup (yum!), mushroom soup,
-Kalbasa (like summer sausage--yummy)
-Galabtsi--it's meat wrapped in cabbage
-Bleeny are like Russian pancakes--you can put any kind of meat or fruit/cream inside.
-For breakfast we usually buy a yogurt drink with fruit and bread. Yum!"
-They have a lot of yummy juices