tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57683262223219825362024-03-05T22:22:52.751-08:00A Journey Through St. PetersburgWelcome to my blog! In here I'll be writing about my experience in the city of St. Petersburg where I am staying from 25th to the 22nd of August to learn the Russian language.Dannyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869763693757129145noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768326222321982536.post-24540915211225263732009-08-25T08:36:00.001-07:002009-08-25T08:39:37.307-07:00только в России<div style="text-align: center;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA9kK9GVslMGBhV0s9p57MFCkVL5r8JLM8-i_BCT8cbvu4zzN5sdhB6Mz50Ze_7t9uOSe6PLFRSe7aZcx6KUSUoOYzsxumzhKUS-opGJqiS3fyTL1-RL5RT4JIPST1u-Uyab-NNHdoX4A/s320/Picture+1.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373925952162108386" /></div><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">My room mate Jeroen read in a book on St. Petersburg a sentence that went something like…you might not see something special every day in St. Petersburg but you will always be astonished about something!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Even though I think there are plenty of special things to see in the city, the latter part of that sentence is definitely true. Every time one of us comes back from the city centre, there’s always a funny story to tell!! “Danny, guess what happened to me today?!”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">An example? Yesterday, Nikos and Anna went by the bookstore to return a book that they took by mistake. No books can be returned according to the bookstore’s policy, but for foreigners they can make an exception…</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">They had to follow one of the employees up the stairs until they got into a small office where they were asked to fill in 3 forms including passport details!! Half an hour later, a reluctant employee would give them the money back!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p>Something of continuous amazement for all of us is also the parking skills, or to be more exact…what Russians consider a parking spot. Even though there are designated areas for car parking throughout the city, it seems like Russians will park their vehicle wherever there’s an empty space! Whether that is in the middle of the road, on the pavement right in front the entrance of a building or on a path leading to a park…it’s all good!</o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">We’ve also witnessed in astonishment how Russians call the attention of employees when they’re in need of something. They would just yell: Devushkaa!! without any hesitation from the one end of the establishment to the other!! To which once Jeroen actually saw an employee standing up for herself replying “Shtoo!!?” (means: what?!)</span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Dannyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869763693757129145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768326222321982536.post-25438066312963756082009-08-19T15:08:00.001-07:002009-08-19T20:52:04.776-07:00The battle against the ‘verbs of motion’One of the first things I was introduced to when starting my Russian course were the verbs of motion, now…whenever I hear these words together it seems like some allergy strike creating like an imaginative tree in my brain asking the following questions: “Are you going by transport? Yes/No? Do you go there regularly or just by sheer fluke? Yes/No? Is the destination an open or a closed place?!”<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfGvTDdBrAwkgUmFLrvb9ofTQEMzjJJD1WLbL1h15pN05nU5Nl5bpKnqF_1aGceUT3Xyhx5fzVQFBBaTffGel-HGds7ESPnxOcnlx7G8Jpz59pMpRrasOna1VlBrwfAN38PL75uZOjwI/s320/CIMG0620.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371800690806600594" /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Anna & Nikos having a little after drink at our place discussing our frustrations bout Russian grammer!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Aaarrggg…and ofcourse the Russian language just wants to joke around a bit by adding a couple of exceptions! This has been my battle the past weeks but I think I finally am able to distinguish the different situations!! Though I’ve probably reached the border level of patience of my teacher multiple times but today I heard the ‘click’!!! Hallelujah! Lol</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Am so satisfied with the professionalism of my course that I just sometimes smile in class thinking…wow! Throughout my little student life this has been the biggest purchase I’ve ever done and am just so happy I did it! Just a couple more days left but am definitely leaving with an overfilled bag of memories!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPjK6KAJ3peO_m4RUJ9k4RWaJrIhpSRLWUQRj9uH8oekxN4C_RtHpPVGkC_0aEC3FOlDTSYn64zvsZxKh8L0ahm79xydNP3SbI1uZFWqIxIY4Cs2jvt88J7OgfOnumy2zqiuLDa5JVV7k/s320/CIMG0618.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371800694593562690" /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Nastiya, a special thanks has to be directed to her for being so helpful and knowledgeable about everything in St. Petersburg! </p> <!--EndFragment-->Dannyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869763693757129145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768326222321982536.post-89766810556516167182009-08-19T14:24:00.000-07:002009-08-19T21:16:53.423-07:00Дом Demы<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Our stay in Moscow had been short and am sure that we missed some places of interest but what made my stay memorable was definitely spending the night at Dimitri. Dimitri is a friend of Nastiya (my practical teacher) who said we would be more than welcome to spend the night at his place and set a time and place to meet up.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">After a little while of lingering around our meeting place he came waiving at us and we set foot for his place. He lives a bit on the outskirts of Moscow (like 30 minutes from the city center) where the suburbs didn’t look much different from the ones in St. Petersburg. As we arrived at his place we were greeted by his girlfriend Julia and without further ado Dimitry left and we wondered around the apartment for a bit. The apartment had an amazing view of the city with buildings stretching out as far as we could see (according to the latest census, Moscow has over 10,5 million inhabitants!!).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvrxobb_AxZIHWN4rxIBEysnTZawiSLFZUj-2WcCpeqT8g36C_cRIj5K2y_oCU1O-5VWB1r7zuZICtdESzBtOC1j_wkmcfp9EkMu-7CxJ6H8CeHMc-kbBcMsmIuQ1K_jSkj6D0k4Iwk8/s320/CIMG0744.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371797723003962034" /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Julia was so kind to prepare a meal for us and we sat together at the kitchen table whilst properly introducing ourselves. I quickly fetched my little Russian-English dictionary, as we were bombed with new words! After our meal, the table was filled with home-made zakuski from their dachas and other friends started joining the kitchen table. Quickly me and Jeroen also got our notebooks out as they were teaching us slang!! The evening was filled with laughter and after a couple beers they started playing songs of Viktor Tsoii on their guitar (apparently a Russian ‘revolutionary’ rock star).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIQ8dG2bMQv5C78MCv_Xw1V_xZWFTEL-POhfMsNJTyId9OyfM_bFga1c80Q6ggH_aHwA0cTq0oxDyJ8X4MSxIe6DZ-FIp3xzbdIWNWf5gALodBNsfbZq4HX4BePWmd0drw3JXcoMPloqg/s320/CIMG0738.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371798765254519330" /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh26neXDTtvsccEPBgCYvFPgcfzCzPvCdoWewRsc_M2QS3BDIYvQJkbsGc5-tcyjdYk2XiJOV2W30DsqixEsnXRFTQ-oJkCtILubgKjSNN1XJGoT5NGDj472XAUuOqIl8kuicpgELrQi0g/s320/CIMG0742.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371797718208360434" /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkhd5jTN8qhlW4rkmkxDtVBtDi8TOmK-A45Fgz1SdnG1OCI9W4l9UJIKIwxPyuJTkGpdLL64vdUjTHdgLhtqa1ACf0tuolSaIjDf4kxZ4oCzoVKfb0wAPXpONgwkmn0BUqTOhM-n9zL8/s320/CIMG0731.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371797712462041570" /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">They loved that we did our best in explaining ourselves in their language and they would answer all the questions we would have, though the dominating answer must have been ‘because’! Whatever may seem odd to us, appeared even illogical to Russians and so they would just shrug their shoulders and say yeah…that’s just the way it is!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It was a great evening and I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such hospitality…the morning after they all wanted to go with us and show the city center (the strangest thing one of the guys told me must have been…’I only go to the city center like once a year!!!’ and his friends would call him to meet up, but when mentioning his location they would all be asking why?!??!)</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">We both told them we wanted to see the Lenin mausoleum after hearing rumours that that they’re planning on removing it within a month. We stood in line for about 45 minutes and gave all our bags to Dimi, whom already saw it 8 times, and were screened for everything. No phones, no bags, no cameras…no nothing, nothing was allowed as we went in and when you’re in you’re not allowed to stand still! Honestly, I was soooo nervous when entering the mausoleum as cold-blooded soldiers were standing on each corner! After several dark hallways we arrived at the center of the building where Lenin was located,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>soundless we walked around his tomb with strict soldiers observing our every move…the air felt strange somehow and watching him lying there felt like witnessing history!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Afterwards we walked around the city and as time flew by we had to say our good-bye’s at the train station...till this day I think it is incredible the way we somehow connected and became such friends, hugging eachother at the station and promising to write eachother frequently!! Moreover…as the train was leaving the station, one of the guy</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">s followed whilst waiving! Priceless memory and I hope to see them again soon!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicvQQuPSqul8sXDXf3WlSwvM6PPFsgyacaHp5gLDw-_dDs2CmW3__MmRNYNHa-TpiVf7c_p4ce4aLXIKL8ia1jPS2FoUzpZ7RgVSxmDN4UHwfW3t15Bco710wKu93X66QMY6u6CAeMBIc/s320/CIMG0759.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371797731471569170" /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">I think I can now speak with more certainty that even though Russians may look mean at first, deep down they are softies that love to see you smile!!</p> <!--EndFragment-->Dannyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869763693757129145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768326222321982536.post-8649882921047339352009-08-17T12:25:00.000-07:002009-08-17T12:53:05.491-07:00speed tour of Moscow<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">As we walked outside of the station it felt as if we witnessed the start up of a giant market place filled already with people rushing through as well as drunken ones randomly standing on corners, lots of cars and small food stands. The</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> weather wasn’t</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia, -webkit-fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> really in our favour and it would rain from time to time for about 10 minutes that day.</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We strolled around the Kremlin in the beginning and then consulted our little guide for other things we could see.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">First off we went to see the </span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">tretyakovskaya gallery which is located in</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> what seems to be a church from the outside (slightly embarrassing as I asked a local souvenir shop</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> opposite the museum where I could find it! She laughed and made me turn around –bot!)</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHn9vwnwh597bLPnUkQrxsRSUCtgm2qr2rim4g7oeOG9BduJYXhl6qw0xLfx8JN14_9vz0zr0urCq3VKDpxCKchgsHKR3sDPWWPWzlUhfHVhWEzX8X2IzKff8ORld7Yy_NUQt2uBqyqEw/s320/CIMG0675.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371017105729564738" /></span></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The gallery is immense and houses one of the finest paintings of Russian artists, unfortunately we were under time-pressure and couldn’t see everything at a slow pace but I personally am starting to become admirer of Ayvazovskiy and his way of painting nature. It is truly beautiful! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Afterwards we went to the Pushkin museum, here he lived for a couple of years and it holds a big collection of original works and his personal possessions. It was very interesting although unfortunately not many things were described in English but it was definitely worth a visit!</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ4ZKa_qIkZIa5U8YmT6dRr2c6kSuijtzCocs1cFaTTINF6p6RY7wOXGK4Tskl0ymINAmT9foMlZnMVLwyaYTzXBU2Vs4_vamxuaOQflWoyMYnQP-I0SwEmX6bWHUnnexCrM50yWeXHls/s320/CIMG0711.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371017109116892962" /> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiljrLScWLc4O7D0fyGowEyTRokuc9OlZP4WobCFvy8E5C2TU5ZwhhO6zhkNtpUN_wPXSR9ISA7gH6h7qDgtxGpNOOelCp2ilEwWaNGb9GrOCFwu8ytulLTctHVDfFzt5kBGA7vPCLj8mY/s320/CIMG0695.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371017117111884834" /></span></span></span></o:p></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Close by is also the Tolstoy museum which we visited. The museum really explains the different facets of his life, influences and correspondence letters he held with many (famous) people from around the world. It also showed the special relationship he had with Ilya Repin who painted him and his family numerous times of which a couple were on display, something that I didn’t know.</span></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">After our little culture overdose, we sat down in a park nearby wondering what we could do next…to our surprise we actually found this difficult but eventually decided to go to a park called VDNH which was formerly used to exhibit the achievements of the national economy. Our first impressions were of excitement as we saw the monument of Russian’s space endeavour during the period of the cold war, but against my expectations it soon declined from there.</span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZTrccYr2qPmo0UYTglnpI2SKX32nSqiLSXRBTMRPmEcPIMZnirFwJK7Bul_B1rj2f7tcgpbhGcNneJ5znVIxTErU6Zkn4nEaAVL3WPPmasTqPd7nG7KS2Tffj1tBOFfW99JcHqwnRTA8/s320/CIMG0713.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371017119740145522" /></span></span></o:p></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It is a tremendous park which takes you at least 2 hours to walk through with immense soviet buildings and landmarks decorated with communist emblems which nowadays have lost its purpose and without a specific direction they’ve let the market run its course. Restaurants, commercial shops, supermarkets, 3D theatre, ferris wheels and even a track for kart racing now function next/in these buildings along with statues of the hard working comrades during the communist era and Lenin. A typical little tourist train drives jauntily through the boulevards and American music can be heard through the loudspeakers spread out through the park. It was a strange sight, which we quickly decided to leave in order to meet Dimitri or Demi or Mitya (Russian names always appear to have like 3 different names for some</span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">reason!! haha Alexander </span></span></span></span><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">à</span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> Sasha or Shura)</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwp32jEWN7LPNFlxufLSqqYglv61ZBfaRW68_sybQMT8AlrjAJLMrbbQ1PUYf5BAU9GT8t-giLbhakjUj1g-R9wCG7t6z7kRP06r5hzf7YSylRKq46HAUL-DeAZNvMJXfHos1qZpik0c/s320/CIMG0722.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371018172562322242" /> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy8_r4g-pZI9lEmzaupztDV_riO04rMhDUu69pjcP6fbQs-Ba-LLp51ZrDbSUaFlBFoi2H2fiM2_XNtlAT1yYJCx2Osel3N6Y5YX6B9AJyq4Gtnlovh0JztnQ6DwJ6anUynba3mQoigw4/s320/CIMG0725.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371017125655511618" /></span></span></span></span></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Dannyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869763693757129145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768326222321982536.post-75180702109185935212009-08-17T12:09:00.000-07:002009-08-17T14:12:58.553-07:00Russian in Moscow!<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">Before my arrival to St. Petersburg, I couldn’t help but ponder with the thought of taking the train from there to Moscow. Moscow, one of the biggest cosmopolitans of the world and where the Russian government resides within its immense stone walls next to the infamous Red square.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">Fortunately, my room mate Jeroen had a real ‘russian attitude’ saying why not? (in Russian: Pachemu-nijet?) I’ve come this far!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And so off we went!! <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">The adventure already began when purchasing our train ticket at the local train ticket branch. We faced around 15 offices, each of them having some sort of ‘organized’ queue. Organized is between brackets as it would be perfectly normal for Russians to tell the person in front that he/she will be back soon and just show up 45 min later! Yes…we stayed in line for nearly two hours!! Watching the people before us answering all sorts of questions, we quickly scrabbled what we wanted on a piece of paper, which we handed over to the cashier after greeting her!! Nonetheless, the cashier still had lots of questions and almost immediately the entire line of people behind us, were helping in translating and getting what we wanted! It was so nice to see them help us, each of them had a minimal English vocabulary but together they made us understand what the cashier was asking us!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 144px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja86IiHXv1Sp2LU6Og-0cf4gRvsvgmu6rGotBD-YiNoa4ANsL3qi7xN_4x4U2Mqdqf9kB6EqYwvCBnD5WqTHgM0QPpxk_saXULWj55DbDbmg3fPA-wOXzMb4XQtdgiiG0EAW2UFF033BI/s320/Picture+2.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371014121226855426" /><img src="http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif" alt="Align Right" border="0" class="gl_align_right" /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">The end result! after two and half hours of waiting/translating and sign language...</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">As soon as Jeroen told his practical teacher Nastiya about our little adventure, she mentioned that we could stay at a friend of hers in Moscow, which immediately solved the accommodation issue!! At first we were quite nervous to spend the night there and imagining all sorts of ‘what if’ ‘s but it turned out to be an unforgettable experience! (more about that later!)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB"><o:p><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhau6KhFK_qj0J5uESYt2HjHtZ1Z3v-sNKjSWU-2dPxutVIlciiQYQVM07JwuNrzr_GqPzMiO23IYwMUTf4XnThycUptOuKsADPnG4iwpZyv77ooWUzfM8SfnxOp60CIXHe48_6puDB7CU/s320/CIMG0629.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371014124222258306" /></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">On Friday evening we boarded the night train to Moscow and went into a small coupe (2x2,5 m) with 4 beds and met our room mates. Unlike the stereotypical stories of Russians getting drunk on the train and joking around, our roommates seemed from a southern province and were quiet throughout the entire evening. As soon as the train departed, a lady came by with a little basket mostly filled with light and strong alcoholic beverages that she promoted to us with a smile. We kindly refused, as we both knew that we would have a long day the next day but our next dorm neighbours must have been celebrating something as their voices became louder by the hour! Hahaha</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">We woke up early the next day with a blurry and undecipherable voice of the train driver followed with some Russian pop music, the hallway was decorated with empty beer bottles and cigarettes buds remaining of the previous night. We got off and instantly set foot towards the Red Square and made pictures still half asleep, which can be seen below!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB"><o:p><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYsaOd3ydRUtTjWK_daEE-wXmffUZD7hXH9yMfunOHPSxNxkmZNGws-PGKgLAwRdBpMor79dNhgK5CL6JhcvPUNkrmxJJrCd-lr2hRrkHwD1eIRrfndlY0GJ7781dCTSyWSH2CFlRibdE/s320/CIMG0660.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371014134466081202" /> <img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUocWxE4lvTJzFASW1-ciVkudEnCKijqG3MC8o-ZlkTA8gAx1HDg-B5CfHA2LMKY70t0Xf9EF01nl4T0ZNQHKwL8Nesa6m5vxC4E6yK_rGN6LxbCdReNhNQ4ovimso-mmtHben9vsNSx4/s320/CIMG0657.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371014126430163634" /></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Dannyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869763693757129145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768326222321982536.post-33218170859025355662009-08-17T11:53:00.000-07:002009-08-17T14:11:28.864-07:00Art-to-go and закуски, please!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We asked our excursion teacher to take us someplace where the average tourist doesn’t normally go to unless they have some insider information! And so Nastiya took us for a walk and we walked inside a residential area near the centre and got see some nice street art including a little park that seemed like</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> a</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> tribute to Gaudi!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikF85IQugh33QMzU7xw9q-yzBrIoiW3mPuOVGj5A37pXn6ERfkIJ3ltYbowxMYmViiE1Nw_dZQwd5st2PcfRcovSxwSRuHsnGLwRFxBcQxFP0lMeWflfP7xnHU38CUFLBwQYVrJzLnEjc/s320/CIMG0588.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371008690016977938" /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiofBQw_j4fsG6jxhIiPatrkj5QLfKIkAdK1XdSlWt3HNRJLmO5NMjo1qrnqsICRPsI5h3JfnX2fPDrneaCRvVOfqa-gmi6XC8ma98UPk9b2dkjQFZzWv09bvGjpUrmolJbmfNw10sJXOE/s320/CIMG0587.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371008685757057682" /></span></span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Street art with the love bus!!</span></span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I also wanted to taste some more typical Russian food and so Floris and me used our practical class and asked our practical teacher to take us somewhere where we could taste the typical Russian pie. Unfortunately, the waiter let us know that half the menu was not available anymore...”only vegetable or cherry pie!”, this might seem strange to some of you but after having spent nearly 3 weeks in St. Petersburg barely anything surprises me anymore (today I found out that toilet paper is sold per roll in the supermarket!!).</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJTU-kd6Vm6j55eEifolcn-dGka9zdMcXJwqGJsdE1r0586J3_S508kBlBSwXTnk8fqg1hg4WwH6NnmbR1NRTT8t1E8hInJz2nJwM9YzrnesCtcreH06Wmr5iKMKmXAFjL7v6EiCycQEs/s320/CIMG0599.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371008697936137938" /></span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In any case we tried them both and they were quite tasty but not really extraordinary, should try it at some other places soon! As we walked towards Nevskii prospekt I was suddenly in shock as I thought I was witnessing a robbery of Repin paintings from the Russian Museum on the street!! But I soon found out that they were hanging up copies on the walls of buildings, below you can find a picture of it!</span></span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span></span></span><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifSwSeoCnb_Y-XFY0FQkVD-yxis33G-JE5Ht1le2CjP2pdiIudMj8QBNT2w8IBA_gEddjhTZUraioXMd8bLIYxuv2gmiUBH1Q-WL5YvYQdjqWOwuj-v27gTqmIK44yiY_FOJ9m5J4S4yM/s320/CIMG0603.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371008708983543986" /></span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">That same evening, my housemate Suzanna had proposed to prepare us some traditional belini’s with caviar and salmon!! We all helped a bit in the preparation and it turned out delicious and so filling!!!<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, fantasy;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNl2qXwTHxxgB_H6diaRr-iiZGIYwgc9M0sWWFFw6rBzcTc6mwZOYhzxmJMOBj4DtUQbAok9kYH9l7PY963w2kIJ_gvsFGllxDN7cphJv7lhNZEW3SV_wDhfowrazWSYykwDiLX6ZPAig/s320/CIMG0612.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371010780164071906" /> </span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, fantasy;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWAWvw47wJHcsWUiVEwUFRbnmyGfcp2rpPCHh2bvpNGyQwqsPvmP-y4fURo_GdwGUMe-shz8IdrtaUhfnZXk_9DN3Ji5cYwqHtYpif5kQpqrSc0BeS9OurtjbXUWQL2469rQoM93IEkrc/s320/CIMG0616.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371010788640290274" /></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, -webkit-fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Suzanna the head chef with her newly bought book on traditional russian cuisine</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Dannyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869763693757129145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768326222321982536.post-47445105057912702292009-08-10T13:06:00.000-07:002009-08-11T07:11:52.191-07:00Peculiarities of daily life in St. Petersburg<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">One of the great benefits of my Russian course in St. Petersburg must be the fact that we’re living in a true residential area of the city. Not in the city centre, not next to fancy boutiques or restaurants but in a neighbourhood where the average well-off Russian labourer comes home to, buys his dinner, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">This allows me, as well as all the other students, to witness first hand how Russians lead their lives in this city, instead of the typical touristic circus in the city centre. During my stay I saw so many amusing peculiarities that I decided to write them down, so here they are:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-mso-ansi-language:EN-GBfont-family:Symbol;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">In case you want to blend in with the Russians, here are two ground rules: Men -> do not style your hair with any gel or any of that sort. Women -> only wear shoes with at least 8-10 cm heels, the true Russian women even wear it when they go on the beach (yes…I’ve seen it)</span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-mso-ansi-language:EN-GBfont-family:Symbol;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">If only by observing the amount of sushi bars located in this city, I think it is realistic to assume that the average Russian must eat sushi at least once a week! Mc Donald’s doesn’t stand a</span></p><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjllNJe-r1T-w7YyLqCjv25g2SR4ieYHX_yFKmUbODhqUHlI-WVFKCngnj8sdbWzU_satvhc8ugXwBz0CUIX1Vkhm62u_jPtlKmZr1UW9PIgFMXSFsqbOl4DnncTZ-8_xs5iJz0mqPmcYQ/s320/CIMG0528.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368429834807351570" />chance against them!<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-mso-ansi-language:EN-GBfont-family:Symbol;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">“The Rock garage”. For years, Russian people have assembled (illegally) their own garage for their vehicles in front of their apartment. Moreover, men would use it as an excuse to escape from their apartment by claiming their car needs some upkeep…while in actual fact, they would invite their buddies for beers and rock music, consequently it has been dubbed the Rock garage!</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-mso-ansi-language:EN-GBfont-family:Symbol;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">When you go with friends to a restaurant and one of you already gets his meal…do not wait until the others get served!! No it is not impolite…the average kitchen here does not understand "having a cosy meal together", instead they send out everything as soon as it is ready. Do not be surprised if you think you order three courses and a side dish, that it suddenly arrives all at the same time! Welcome to Russia!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-mso-ansi-language:EN-GBfont-family:Symbol;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">If you’re misunderstood by Russians, instead of explaining it in English…try the French or German language. I’ve been told multiple times that more people in St. Petersburg speak these language than English!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-mso-ansi-language:EN-GBfont-family:Symbol;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">At any local shop, be it at the groceries, the liquor shop or any shop that issues receipts for that matter...Russian employees love to tear your receipt in half before they give it to you! I’ve been told that traditionally there used to be a cashier separate from the department you would buy your products from, so you would pay first and then collect your purchase at the corresponding department. Even though this system has been abolished for a couple of years, the tradition continues…</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-mso-ansi-language:EN-GBfont-family:Symbol;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">Russian women and picture taking. Once Russian women get sight of a photo camera it seems like a natural reflex for them to pose as if they were modeling for some erotic magazine, no matter whether the background is an ancient statue or some trees in a public park!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 295px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwl2UY4rQ4LI5ZuFiOhmRlCH3UIfzQeTUPTmNCw3syvFKUeukLsAIwwTbuSnxxvTSHfpmk1hWRpi90dCsGCP7we3SMgv9WEITQS9sr2pDXFrbn1b-8TxryfDXW_w_UNBWLvw8FDLP355o/s320/Picture+1.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368430265845363234" /><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-mso-ansi-language:EN-GBfont-family:Symbol;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB">Instead of declaring your love through a letter, flowers or sending a gift…Russian women really fall for you when you spray graffiti with sweet words on the pavement in front of their building (just in case they forget)! </span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Dannyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869763693757129145noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768326222321982536.post-49345991551547754142009-08-09T10:18:00.000-07:002009-08-10T15:15:36.366-07:00the St. Petersburg museum<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I read a quote the other day that said:</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"The city of Peter is a museum, open from 8:00 AM till 17:00 PM"</span></span></i></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i><br /></i></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">and that is so true! Once I arrived here, there were so many sights and museums that you just</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">don't know where to begin! Fortunately I am staying here for another two weeks so I can still try to visit most of them or visit them another time!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJKiG3NMG5FX0wop1W5SFS9z83rMXc5CKQfy7SQG04ZjTSaAWO-9xx3_mIumiRrJESr7PgL5McV8vlFdkMpQSG0ugwHG_myxOEyEF7NPyrMKwDvFT8eKjuJ8wDsmzPh1Ikk8-PBUqxLr8/s320/CIMG0339.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368022986729210658" /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The first art museum I visited was ofcourse the Hermitage museum, having heard so much about it I had to go and see it for myself. After my morning russian class, I quickly hopped on to the metro but found myself queuing for like 40 minutes until I finally got in!!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I admit that I haven't been to many art museums but inside</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">is just amazing...the Hermitage museum is so big that even with a map of the building you're likely to get lost, it's a serious labyrinth!!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It was advised in my guidebook that I plan my route to art I want to see before I get in, which is what I did so I rushed myself through the numerous crowd and guided tours. I don't think I saw even 1/20th of this enormous museum, so I'll definitely go and visit it more often!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieq1_6XTDLOPgakFvt_XTRlL8-Xw-KHakNzLJLmMbfs2dZl7vMLhRCNSY_7Nc7WY0xrttbF-y6iGVRchYDPodpHlQv8zGnqu7fKzYCHFPZiWDOonIC5qwYAZTjoVhnWAiyM_Bk4EmWf4o/s320/CIMG0368.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368023514864673170" /><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlbWwpifkQDukBiqHjKOExc9U-obKLIVK5P49uOepT9YR71q5eHYfs3aH6IjQvQN8Xl21PVqOblLohSgyl8n9NdrgX-0m6tqZzmk45FtK3bZknmhjKY4eAIfFQblOHRiKF_A_hl_Y-ORg/s320/CIMG0357.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368023510986002498" /><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMgTPG2qxA5O1qdrEurcQvm8O84JX2lNf4lS0ooQz-F_olnZpCsJY7Hb3sGFOVESA0n5Vr144m5K82mstakVHQxloqpowbQyN58cXZ2erpARmtQ7gH6tf5x5UFMxj-Vy842BwGM4o7_dY/s320/CIMG0343.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368023506610106690" /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwNGjWdT7HI6W3rrCHYCC9mHnINzjiQ5XEKZRe6ItKS22dI_OtYSXSQvYEZsMyAI-nLN2QnGx5jYcn_zfcbOBumNk1_2QqeRZYZZEMUR5s5VXI5WEkNRT8ZZi5foehYqtuAmGjIgUEC7U/s320/CIMG0555.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368024518576923682" /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Last friday Alexandra proposed us to visit the Russian Museum whilst practicing the language that we've been studying over the past two weeks. This museum is a little</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> smaller than the Hermitage museum and contains only</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> russian art...hence the name ;) This museum is also definitely a must-see when in St. Petersburg, as one can observe how russian art developed over the centuries from religious to pictures of nobility, to the average people and nature.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">On another note, that day was also Gerrit's last day. I learned a whole lot being in a class with him...I won't forget the day we were desperately looking to buy an umbrella as it suddenly started to rain! First looking up the word for umbrella in russian and then asking people where we could buy it...we were happy that they all understood what we were asking for but none of us would understand the answer!! hahaha but nevertheless we would answer "Ahaa...</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">хорошо, спасибо!"</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKpl26iHse0MljdE3aVy-eBNbyiW1fRaTpovxnb48LINqwtkuIR2cYFrD3Mms-KJpy8ZUyOfcqLR-FpxcGsX-B8wHnMzKugaNGrQP9IL_mInmDjd9DIkBwFJR6H4avv1eyyJCLUFQpXHQ/s320/CIMG0559.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368025139068410146" /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Ilya Repin, October 17, 1905</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrHjMbkRy4t0t0vgrGMb-ieAktOuO5z8DlI5MmuVcjsL9UICif6tKrPQarRPr7UTOJiyQykvSbZfaP5nOfq_FgIdgH1ycT12z-FQegM7EaIddswuKQgwYUfylzLYoz0JMv4RMpGXTYi0Y/s320/CIMG0548.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368025134705898546" /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Ivan Aivazovsky, A moonlit night</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div></div></div>Dannyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869763693757129145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768326222321982536.post-63222535829835578712009-08-09T07:46:00.000-07:002009-08-09T10:16:25.063-07:00это Большой ноч вчера<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipe5qv8BDgyBXbLeoZiHWtkRKeMcSChPkwRa8PUslIZPOTsOyqMBZBPpVhliDQQC-dqoXxA4y2Ee_THZjZJtR11hFFdUhlQ7j5gOtg-DnWXHN83BuCCSQvLmbVCPgFsaztR3A8V4KdmRU/s1600-h/CIMG0568.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipe5qv8BDgyBXbLeoZiHWtkRKeMcSChPkwRa8PUslIZPOTsOyqMBZBPpVhliDQQC-dqoXxA4y2Ee_THZjZJtR11hFFdUhlQ7j5gOtg-DnWXHN83BuCCSQvLmbVCPgFsaztR3A8V4KdmRU/s320/CIMG0568.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368004059187092418" /></a><br />Two weeks of my russian course have passed and I was fortunate enough to initiate my little adventure with some really friendly people. Unfortunately, this weekend was the last of three of them and so we went out to the city centre to celebrate the evening. Bart, the course coordinator, also came by for a beer and afterwards we headed to a club called "Revolution" and had ourselves a great night until the wee hours! :P<div><br /></div><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibnwBnsfCf784XpqQYoAYd0XLC0nRBagbN7NffAC2o_Yy4N0hUNxBIB7m9oQTG34Sp7y4nCWmwp8Ce4LnIFAPfA5vr93Z0ouBgeahYSXAO15lIjbkn-kjFHzCbzEKGkWZ7U_9roX5NRq4/s320/IMG_9018.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368012676062067186" /></div><div>Hans (in picture above having a good time): Never afraid to walk up to the prettiest lady in the bar, me and Jeroen are still wondering how you do it!! haha And ofcourse our accustomed tasty lunch will be missed!<div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikagxbx2ETJDC0i_nDx2wLAh4b57Wx6iyft8NdI46911TjcqPFiAdPtcYSfd6Ox0quVQ_BfEMtPtVBjcs9I35mNhpaxnJ4eK1iq6Jw9W-vZOD5pNvvM2SdZFczZ1HxrhmVyEINAIYMZN4/s320/IMG_9339.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368012687808001410" /></div><div>Krzysztof: Always in for a laugh, this guy made sure we had a great time out in St. Petersburg! From arranging the taxi's (which requires quite some russian assertiveness) to getting a table in a club, it was a real joy to meet him!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnBC48lsG-ZbHidk8r-QWX2k6VIsJWEel8OwT8x8WUaoS5qNvEbItKvHmB-qmjTg_U4oCAX37doetS-mnJQPf0cLJcVE-ht7Yt3obCr6gv9ivlLoq-eyvy-vKCCybW3l7xZWITewLehk0/s320/IMG_9000.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368011332608540706" /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Dannyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869763693757129145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768326222321982536.post-49354151689123110892009-08-09T06:44:00.000-07:002009-08-09T23:47:48.085-07:00Venice of the North<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Apologies for taking so long to update you on my stay, time is really flying by in this city...so many things to do and see!! A couple of days ago, we followed a recommendation of our teacher to go and see the </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">bridges open and so we went to the closest ones which connect our island (Vasilevskiy Island</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">) to Nevskiy Prospekt. As mentioned before, Peter the Great envisioned St. Petersburg to be</span></span></div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP8aAe65vjf4J7wxko6PlFzPXpYKiVyAVj9Q2rXzfps1RRp3CfbEBcPkI7DlM-fd9VubS_7T7RtBINKR5kPnYYH6v8yNfn4LtYrON4iQ5YVD92oDWeQHUrB6HhqXSimGDYWZ7JRN2Kfok/s320/CIMG0524.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367970019490255074" /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> similar to Venice and Amsterdam and currently has over 340 bridges. The bridges crossing the</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> Neva river open during the midnight hours in</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> order to let ships pass in and out of the Baltic Sea (</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">which by the way you really need to take</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> into account when going out in the city centre - you either make it a short evening or you go the whole nine yards...there's no in between!!)</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">As we were waiting at a local bar for the bridges to open, the lights of the city started to blaze in the dusking sky. It was an incredible view of the city that not even my camera could grasp entirely! </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Here are some of the pictures I took of that evening</span></span></span></div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0g3bDJLUJRxsL-0j5qDD-VG1UMVjwFTLOlC0K3b-ebZqd-RP0Y3gYroR5xVk2p7mAqyNrxdasKcw6ZZGIPBlO9U13So26wMoBBHgQWP7vvYIhBd9txwKIsZilotskW97QQfKweY7TPgM/s320/CIMG0459.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367972556498005730" /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB59hD0S1LlilIrYY63UreD43e380zFTIFxl2jagOl2TX1CeyMQfEo_DfJwSz6iRCWXLNwfAF6nKbY1ZXpn5HwHYkPMN-9kDrEw55C-PzwbGtEI2MMfU6IjcW4vJByKRT81BmTA8PeVnM/s320/CIMG0447.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367970005184112018" /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> Peter & Paul fortress and Nevskiy Prospekt by night</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div>Dannyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869763693757129145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768326222321982536.post-70040869929017272512009-08-03T08:02:00.000-07:002009-08-05T21:19:07.008-07:00Петерго́ф (Petergof)<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7f1ke0iTpkUgAlRXIAzCX9KmSsCLVla0fXgwvPSIEJtrQpsFalJKE-lJUfpRD7kmZ3bFCTU8rugbyb9gYnMkrjD_bXQciXJPExmuBJdkngOZAnL4H9ek2j4_qKxUSayvaG8LklBDfDR4/s1600-h/CIMG0278.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7f1ke0iTpkUgAlRXIAzCX9KmSsCLVla0fXgwvPSIEJtrQpsFalJKE-lJUfpRD7kmZ3bFCTU8rugbyb9gYnMkrjD_bXQciXJPExmuBJdkngOZAnL4H9ek2j4_qKxUSayvaG8LklBDfDR4/s320/CIMG0278.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365758877972466226" /></a><br />On Sunday we didn't have any plans whatsoever and so we were told to go and visit Peterhof which is like a must-see when you're in St. Petersburg.<div>We woke up nice and early and instead of taking the metro we decided to take a shuttle-boat which was slightly more expensive but is worth it for the views!</div><div>Peterhof was constructed slightly after the Peter & Paul fortress and was</div><div> sort of like a triumphal palace which Peter the Great also ordered to construct and consists out of a lot</div><div> of fountains, garden villa's, statues, bathing houses...you know, what you normally expect when you go to a summer house! I can only imagine how he would have addressed his</div><div> architects..."How would you like the fountain to be designed, your Majesty?" - "Achh...just make it big and be sure to use all the gold you need!!" Ironically enough, one of the main fountains was</div><div> nowhere to be found after the second world war and was eventually tracked down in Germany! Below you'll can see some of the pictures I took</div><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqEU3gGiuEsA4hzEFZ4SCtcc2w6pZ-qC9HSqfWFIOdZYglOF4V5u-tfo2oSzH0MOHU_OYyvOkoJTArS9fj4wJaFji4Ry8SSdiOUZYUtHICdPKj59timHT56ad4v_7S8jPtmQyrhuKi2Lw/s320/CIMG0290.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365759505652088450" /> The main fountain called "The Mezheumny Fountain" which means...a bit of this, a bit of that!<br /><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj73Zr2Px9ZkHP_TKy3IMRKY-yTFgiirjI-e6OrqPduo4AlcIfhzv2I4u1ihoUqznLj_QK_Cq-oS2qwdPo2OWhRySbmiFd-34oYvzWztMQ2akUJSgI-W8xtsVNH5q3pTDNqxV374UyvdIU/s320/CIMG0295.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365759508744690738" /><div style="text-align: center;">me mingling a bit with some russians</div><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwBP-4-5SL52Nli97ypnJkfWJlLXI6BR-tHrGoG4SxVIScUuSwq0x-8_Q4bSfbEdIDA4U9bJJ-32mW0ezKgDMFvjGG_ma6F92WiGSOpOg3aVgB_Bg_MAy3jBLsxIrALWhUykAsE-crF4I/s320/CIMG0282.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365759500567514242" /><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip7lpCuS1GiCA_vZpwJqG69l3eCKsjYf4_DZtjydWUyg_4BxbxUcW1MRoplC9B5rrseTtHz4leu_CHTs1467h8qItplx8W-APYfMsvmzNabh1tsQfRfL-YDlJ97NSVMaAaWLsQVJ_tJ-M/s320/CIMG0310.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365759512385066018" /><div style="text-align: center;">This little villa (shown in picture above) is where Peter the Great would invite his guests to go fishing, of course that activity requires a house for itself.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjplzefb11HPsNUja_YAOVL5hZ1uh8ShYPOGTfRYHKfg0okCLpU7RVwfOGVYj7aEahWBaQZWcXqm1NPr2quAQ57opHnrkuOzEkpuTFmGqMMMHUFjOOVKjCZpdulvJzmJu15eiK_EtwxOYI/s320/CIMG0336.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365761106786503650" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">After having strolled around for a couple of hours we headed back to St. Petersburg and went to a restaurant where we all had our first try of the local russian drink Kbac. A drink which is fermented from rye bread...not incredibly appealing once you hear what it is made of but actually tastes not too bad!!</div></div>Dannyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869763693757129145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768326222321982536.post-7865892126409988392009-08-03T06:57:00.000-07:002009-08-03T08:01:39.512-07:00Russian heritage<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRJvCyTxl7l3zgrrpeh5XnV8eJya-LKRxlu2P147IM1nWm2vd6UwV8i5sGs4h_XS_DwqmltfRhDqqslcSgeH84ofExKY8KvD-oy0qRvgKAE4hfQG516JbkNziATFlbohnR7MW31PmuE_w/s1600-h/CIMG0208.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRJvCyTxl7l3zgrrpeh5XnV8eJya-LKRxlu2P147IM1nWm2vd6UwV8i5sGs4h_XS_DwqmltfRhDqqslcSgeH84ofExKY8KvD-oy0qRvgKAE4hfQG516JbkNziATFlbohnR7MW31PmuE_w/s320/CIMG0208.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365750814688271090" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />Last weekend were the first two days of our course where we had some spare time to really discover the city we live in. We met up with Nastya on Saturday who took us to the Leningrad memorial which commemorates the 900 day blockade of the city during the second world war. Honestly I was quite speechless upon entering this museum and am very thankful to Nastya who knew so much about the subject and explained us what everything meant. The bitter history that this city endured during that period is so paralyzing that at the entrance of the museum, the words "</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Oh Stones (referring to the wall of the museum), you must be as strong as the people (were back then)!</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">" are engraved.In the museum, one can find out the poor circumstances that the people of St. Petersburg lived through and how they kept encouraging themselves to keep on fighting. Below you'll find some more pictures I took of the memorial.</span></span><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz6JZuJjC-rksYgfT-n65VprmCiz4miqxRA0DMwakHCgIoO4soBsiQH3O8PL-mU2wn0X04t4v9DFvIzwECR9Z2DJMjL7UkTLdrlbNmMc23Lw0eLd5Atv1FVH-dBekrt9Mo3kPF1CLGRoQ/s320/CIMG0226.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365751138122328786" /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNv7xdd7-sJjNeyxBZz83Af3earSGAu3N_uqyUXP1lUpqdnZ8NfIlmAl242GUpfh9E217qhsHbbTIZ0zYw_UDhFnsmSh421v3ysoF0x5Z9R_NNKR3DnhIueT-THnRrM-Ygfieei9hDejU/s320/CIMG0218.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365751133452233282" /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7WX02r0nLc5mthvaFKWMlRKY2e3Ia8_CDnmuv6-ltOF97KJk2LjlBMDa6myrKPv0Qac5-WDw7xWp1gvjPGFwkTRk9eTwWmrd9z4zs3INfsskZ9tl6ru2HoG_HnjAMJFVbUa1_D_phc2Q/s320/CIMG0210.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365751132071758402" /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">After our little visit to the monument, some of us decided to go to the Peter & Paul fortress</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> which is located in the center of St. Petersburg on a little</span></span></div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFyo4ZqpGhVoyGalIkiIoFh7fIZUMMqiXCTbg0gllVCU1NR2rqHCKktp8nuR7G2J-gPTBVfbi5ZXtoHSwz22zrp2c9RaaFeYhyP_PyuvBNM-5yXpQzIJGheKN1Zt2W_Z2ErH42goi3jUw/s320/CIMG0244.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365750389110919730" /><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> island. It is also commonly known as the "Russian Bastille" as many revolutionaries were incarcerated here but it is also like the historic heart of the city of St. Petersburg. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">On the island, Peter the Great ordered to build the Peter & Paul cathedral which was supposed to convey a message like 'we're a force to be reckoned with' to the world...below you can find some pictures i took</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2bKSgahtEn9bHo9pwzz7dCRh_XIXVWukHhaSWWOml1-yuXzU8YGmt4wb24TSJOHxvWNcGxdS6ihpgR59D9RrV6_GzUJTLjdNR21HtO-fwnjDaxMLNSaUARcS9OparwtGjmsZUYlWb7-c/s320/CIMG0330.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365748262170643170" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">View of the fortress from the Neva river</span></span></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTgRrQGwKTBzdON7M3RkigOf6gnfxPW4Y4OZAN8wuxwktorDXW26AbLxyyrrrNM2uGCqQhvBJLNyiCwYjcx6Yw1K-CqLNCser1p_gH00Emh3ooQIROgobdC1tBmV1f0wr1qk0KCscV4oI/s320/CIMG0241.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365748261122451202" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">the Peter & Paul cathedral</span></span></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfSoD6fvh8lBW8YHtWyKz97DJwZpZbq7IMeCMnTntEszEYeX3N3HJhiPho0ytTRMZG3Hf43DO9nIWiJcRr9Cj9YkHjYjc_BBz89C8Slop7jd6yzeM7GErwtMe81Ud9YXmF2Njjyu5mVYw/s320/CIMG0259.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365748264216387874" /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Quite funny was that as we walked passed the boat we suddenly noticed a substantial amount of black tinted cars parking in front of it, bodyguards and everything! hahaha felt like we just ran into a James Bond scene! I was ready but my course-mates chickened out! ;)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Dannyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869763693757129145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768326222321982536.post-740415644521884632009-07-30T13:54:00.000-07:002009-07-31T05:25:12.095-07:00Submerging into the Russian Culture<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">During our first few days we got to meet Harry, a student from New York whom already stayed in St. Petersburg for 2 weeks and was due to leave two days after we arrived. He knew a great deal about the city and told us some insights and basic phrases which would prove useful for later on.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The last day me and Jeroen, my room mate, went out to for a 'few drinks' to mark his last day in the city and decided to go to a bar in the neighbourhood. We had a real enjoyable evening</span></span></div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_YPPQQ8MIjvFONRypyDJRphgn1jFDPeC7mfi14u1_qKTTFtPocUSVAls8tpqY27VMLJZRNGIF-4H3JdiktlWYZfRtjFS0upcvqXQuDzp4v_pL9PuIlRhNUV6IjTDwUWxVLO8DWXj07E/s320/CIMG0209.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364598749207140898" /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> and ended up meeting a russian couple in the bar! Me and Jeroen practiced the little russian that we knew which was greatly received as the guy kept ordering us vodka shots...and as time went by we ended up talking for around 2-3 hours about life of the average Russian! It was a priceless encounter and we managed to speak the language most of the time (ofcourse making use of a lot of gestures but still!!!).</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Nevertheless I paid a dear price as I woke up the next day which was not really appreciated by Alexandra...(haha found this postcard the other day at a bookstore!)</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Aaanyways...today we all went to </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Bolshoy Dramaticheskii Theater to see "the black swan" which resulted into a truly Russian experience! It was my first time to go and see a ballet but against the odds I actually enjoyed it a lot!</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal; white-space: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzXe7L920TYf5bukOP5IiKjcAdnr3hUOOVECawIs1roUmrQnCGeUA4uXBTMCi07QLAJqncpDzeHb8fo-IA1Fiz4wqJOTOSpri3JcmkUpH68IuRbHw6fnpDgwl8YypO3Z4c6XH1FkKo0DY/s320/CIMG0198.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364366198811225346" /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal; white-space: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Me in the middle with Gerrit, my class mate and Jeroen my room mate!</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; white-space: pre-wrap; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal; white-space: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kpMi85VmHgBuNw5inK-x60Ve3wXvIxcY-0V8ley6G9S4H6WzRaUqmWxdKSpZJITLGPlpMoLQIHWH864iEoG-ixzAA1pgcKlzbStG4YYTRC0x0Vknop6H12mFd7PKr9jqKF1xCdHX3KE/s320/CIMG0197.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364366828167152690" /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0C7mGcs8sLstlu409EWiQZ9XZ25ASS6nQPoH9FroFbz2lV5PRHXRaXDU8CmxX75jQ355Y7gZF5_UQq143IbLOlpkhhmCMTYIx1_2GJvRX70ciCk-YtR4XQcwxM476sQFWq0moMfEmc5c/s320/CIMG0195.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364367273319378722" /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Hans & Suzanne and a picture of inside the theater </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">(unfortunately no pictures could be made during the play!! Kak gal!!)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This saturday we're all scheduled for an excursion so I'll keep you posted...! Will quickly jump into bed now as I have class in the morning...</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Спокойной ночи!</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, -webkit-fantasy;"><br /></span></div>Dannyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869763693757129145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768326222321982536.post-90512665556067715802009-07-29T12:21:00.000-07:002009-08-03T10:26:22.214-07:00First impression!<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Finally I've found some spare time to write my first post about my little Russian adventure!! </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">So far, St. Petersburg has been treating me great...it is such a peculiar yet beautiful city!! Upon my arrival, I was greeted by a tremendous statue of Lenin at a square not far from the airport which I watched in awe as we quickly drove through the boulevards.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">As we got closer to the suburbs of St. Petersburg, the buildings started to look all very similar and can easily be compared to the banlieues in France which appeared to be constructed during the soviet years.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Once I arrived I was welcomed by Bart, the course coordinator, Hans, Gerrit & Jeroen whom also participate in the course. After a small introduction we quickly decided to walk around the neighbourhood and get ourselves something to eat.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In total we are like 8 students with nationalities varying from Dutch, Polish, Belgian and US and we all bonded quite well right away as we sat down for a few Baltika piva's (Russian beer) that same evening. Most of the students are here for primarily business purposes although some have also a special interest in Russian literature.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The following day we were scheduled for an excursion and met up with Nastya at the city</span></span></div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3mg75VH6m2yiIAWuA4jFKgUjN-ZhHZpQtyPGSYOx3XNCVeDJtcpNNmuaxuGTsYKfSPMaygqFVSNWAtmWOsp1q-Q2wWGl_RnmXJ7KKJjRd3E3FDw68N8F3rIKh0RjEjgA13JJQmexat-Y/s320/CIMG0169.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363977279349592322" /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> centre. As it turns out, St. Petersburg celebrated a sort of veterans day which attracted a incredible amount of locals.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> An air of proudness and joy filled the faces of most Russians as they were waving their national flag through the streets and raised their glasses as early as midday!!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Quite amusing to watch some of them already completely intoxicated and noisy at around 2-3 o'clock in the park whilst Nastya was showing us some of the sights and telling us about the history of the city!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In any case, the weather was incredibly in our favour which allowed me to take some great pictures as can be seen below.</span></span></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnC8aH1VnE_H8HFukMUhd6OQ3MTcCUGNvcioDvjgrOKtLG_Gp8QD9fm-rfeCCaejIe4uwCCwYQIMGW4X8H5AuH1za_9UUv6cOyGAlvM4-FSQj3UyFMETiQO_t7ArwRRl9uHvI56M5g_E0/s320/CIMG0175.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363979819477206338" /><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd-OiU36G40ZA4s6pEhDHyiyA4LurgwkYYQcYmZqfGXHuHMZTwoF_EqaZZHvDn7XKerEacAp2kXoO042Gowl70a61tLMuayvbyYsUue_lKIgAPPeIN_6Lq64FLUQ4DrPzUsizc303RfN8/s320/CIMG0172.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363979811796398082" /><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The picture above shows a colossal monument of Peter the Great which is located in Nevskiy Prospekt. During his reign, the Russians conquered the 'city' from the Swedish in 1703 and quickly let it develop by foreign architects. It is said that due to his obsession of Holland, he wanted it to be designed similar to the city of Amsterdam with its canals. </span></span></i><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi3AhTTVHu0JsrbDbMzLZN3Vg1t-m6NwdGv_xCvv21ZMJn714lsbRNtJCsffzPelnzRaSlYI43Vz1gmWWULWRO_1bdVON4NyEE7vkXxoYuzhoaQNaviXBDrlaqolz1nOfhVJZJId8ALIk/s320/CIMG0170.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363979809156868930" /><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Above can be observed the St. Isaac's Cathedral which went through multiple phases of construction and was ultimately designed by Auguste de Montferrand who also designed the </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Alexander's Column in front of the Hermitage museum. Quite amazing how clean and good everything is maintained!</span></span></i></span></div><div> </div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKwnZ8l78FHdVl1sVomr7zQggIaaGon3U7H9rrz_XWday8I9fm1WwH9IVwxXFssGkL7vna4bsilfpH5Ok5dzS2W1rXobOGiT-RAyuYm0SJBjSQTh5eg3z8I_rOyWf-wn7OFun7yrwiiyM/s320/CIMG0157.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363979804169793458" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The tour became slightly more interesting as we decided to take a little rest at a bar. After a nice coffee and conversation, Nastya asked one of the participants to ask for the </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">сч</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: normal; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">ë</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">т (which means bill but is pronounced as 'shot'). The student was slightly confused and went, when he came back he looked at all of us in doubt and said...'soo..we're going to start already?' and the waitress came back with 6 vodka shots!! A funny mistake which won't happen again...or perhaps? lol</span></span></i></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The following day I was scheduled for a 3 hour class with Alexandra together with my classmate Gerrit. The class turned out to be quite a wake-up call as the level of conversation was high and I noticed a lack in vocabulary...i think I got like 4 A4's filled with notes on grammer and vocab front and back! nevertheless I am learning a great deal and the teacher is really helpful and sharp so I am certain I'll come out of this with quite some improvement!</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Tomorrow I'll be going together with my other class mates to the Bolshoy Dramaticheskii Theater as we decided to go and watch a ballet which supposedly St. Petersburg is renown for so I'll tell you all about it as well as my first stopka vodki experience! :P </span></span></span></div>Dannyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869763693757129145noreply@blogger.com0