Russia was AMAZING! I was very nervous about how this port would turn out (either very overwhelming or very underwhelming), but I had such a wonderful time. Pulling in was very interesting! It started off being surrounded by very industrial areas, and then slowly, as we started getting closer to the city, you began to glimpse the tops of churches. The transition between industry and culture was so cool to experience. We docked around 8am (next to a submarine, which I found ironic) and you could see the Winter Palace just down the river! For the first day, I had booked a walking tour and Hermitage Museum visit. Unlike Windsor Castle, the Winter Palace now only serves as a museum, and does not function as living quarters for anyone anymore. Instead, it is filled to the brim with breathtaking works of art and artifacts ranging from the Antiquities to the 20th century. Every aspect of these rooms was ornate- even down to the door handles. Before I went to Italy, I didn’t understand the appeal of museums. By the time I left, however, my opinion of them was totally flipped. Now, I can take hours walking through a museum, completely enthralled by what I’m looking at. I can even recognize names of artists! We saw works by major artists such as Van Dyke, Rembrandt, and Da Vinci. After we left the Hermitage, we did a ten-minute “walking tour” from the museum, by Pushkin’s apartment, to the Church on Spilled Blood and Kazan Cathedral. Once everyone was back on the ship, a few friends and I decided we wanted to go out, but that we wanted to stay on our side of the bridge (the bridges in St. Petersburg go up at 1:30am, so if you miss it you’re stuck until morning). When we found a bar to go to, we came across two problems: no one spoke English, and they didn’t take credit cards (I hadn’t gotten out any rubles yet at that point). It was an issue, but it was also an opportunity to see just how nice and helpful Russians really can be. One of the servers physically walked me to the ATM that was down the street since he couldn’t explain to me where it was. When we got there, it was closed, so we started walking until he found some locals he could ask about a different bank. We finally were able to go to that one, and he walked us back. It was something he absolutely didn’t have to do, especially since he was working. When we walked back into the restaurant, we saw the rest of the group trying to communicate with the owner about what we wanted to drink and how much. He was bringing over different bottles trying to figure it out, and there was someone there who spoke a little English trying to aid us as well. Through his help and lots of hand motions and trial and errors, we were finally able to figure everything out. Even though I couldn’t try the Russian vodka (it was made with wheat), we truly enjoyed our time there. Not only because it was great company, but we were also so thrilled to see how hospitable the Russians in the bar were.
The second day was very much an adventure. The first order of business was to find a ticket agent because I had decided to take a spontaneous trip to Moscow the following day with a few of my friends. We searched everywhere, but could not find one of an agent!! Finally, after lots of asking around and playing charades with various shop owners, we were able to find a train station. Unfortunately, not a single employee knew English and almost none of them were willing to work with me to help me find out what I wanted. Finally, as I was in line at the last window, I noticed that the couple in front of me were speaking Italian and using an Italian-Russian dictionary to communicate what they wanted to the ticket agent. I pulled the woman aside and asked if she could help me when they were done. After two hours, we finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel! I used Italian to speak to the couple who then helped me translate what I wanted into Russian, all the while playing Pictionary with the woman at the counter to figure out where in the train I would be sleeping. It was such a production, but I have had few other moments in my life where I have felt such an immense feeling of accomplishment. I was able to overcome an INCREDIBLE language barrier, using skills I have picked up in the past few years, and the help of very patient people, to get me where I needed to go. It was going to make my trip to Moscow even more memorable than it was already going to be! Our next stop was Kuznechny Market. Dani knew the stop we needed to get off at, but not quite exactly where it was. After running into my roommates, we followed their directions to the market and it was incredible! All the stands gave you free samples of whatever they were selling, whether it was fruit, vegetables, nuts, or cheese, and it was all so delicious. Dani, Kait (who we ran into there) and I really loved a particular kind of melon and were able to haggle the stand owner down to a price were we would all pay about a dollar each. I found a type of cheese I really loved and paid about a dollar for a big chunk of it. We got our lunch! Thinking about it even now is making my mouth water! Markets are one of my favorite parts in exploring other countries. You get to talk to locals and try different food for so cheap. It’s the perfect glimpse into a part of their everyday lives and their culture that many other people look over. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around. We went back to the Church of Spilled Blood, went souvenir shopping at the market across the street (I haggled a beautiful music box down from 1800 to only 600 rubles!) and got cheesecake at a restaurant Dani had discovered the day before. It was one of the best cheesecakes I had ever had! We headed back for dinner on the ship and to rest before I headed back out to catch the train with my friends. The group ended up being Byron, Erin, three girls Kayla (an ADPi!), Sara and Megan, and me. The train got to the platform around 11 and we headed to our cabins. Byron and Erin had bunks together, and two of the girls did as well. I was very worried about the ride because I was by myself. It ended up being nothing to worry about though! Apparently, the only tickets available for the ride there were in second class, so I got a private car with two other Russian women (another relief…I was so happy not to be with men!). They tried so hard to communicate with me, but I was finally able to explain that I was an American student visiting for a few days and really knew nothing of language. They were so nice, and made sure I knew when we were leaving and getting in, and that the box of food on the table was my dinner/breakfast! It was actually a very comfortable bed, even though I didn't have any room to sit up. As the train began to pull away from the station, that feeling of accomplishment I had earlier just began to grow, and despite the a cold and some serious blisters, I absolutely could not wait to explore Moscow the next day.
The train pulled in just after 6 the next morning. The Moscow train station was a ways out of the city, so we figured out how to get to the Kremlin and headed that way. We were all hungry, but nothing was open that early, so we ended up at a McDonald’s. While we were there, we met a new Russian friend! Nikita, who was presumably finishing his crazy night of drinking with some drunk breakfast food, came over and introduced himself to us so he could practice his English. He was such a sweetheart! He wanted to know all about each of us- where we were from, what we’re doing in Russia, and all about Semester at Sea. We talked with him for a solid hour; it was so great chatting with a local! Upon leaving our new friend, we just wandered around the Kremlin area until everything opened at 10. It was all so beautiful! While we were waiting, we made our way to the Red Square. As we approached the square, I swore I heard the Game of Thrones theme song and was terribly confused. That was closed off as well, but one of the surrounding churches, Kazan Church, was open. We took a look inside and there was a service going on! It was very moving, even though we had no idea what was going on. A small, old, Russian woman tried pulling us aside and explaining what was going on and what we had to do, but I don’t think she realized that we didn’t speak Russian. It was so cute and so nice of her to try and communicate to us though! After watching in for a few minutes, we made our way back outside. As soon as we opened the door, the serene atmosphere of the church was abruptly interrupted by the theme song to Pirates of the Caribbean. It was such a strange combination of tradition and pop culture, and we needed to figure out what was happening. It wasn’t hard to do, however, because as soon as we stepped out of the church, we saw what was going on. From the front steps, you could see all of the Red Square. They were setting up for a festival that would be going on the next day to honor a national holiday in Russia (their own Victory day, I believe). The music was coming from the rehearsal of one of the acts- synchronized horse trotting! It was one of the strangest and most intriguing things I had ever seen. There were about twenty horses and riders trotting along with some of the major action TV/film theme songs! There was Mission Impossible, James Bond, Game of Thrones (which explained the music from earlier), Pirates of the Caribbean, and more. They even pulled out swords at one point. I have never seen anything like it, and can’t imagine that I ever will again. Everything finally opened at 10, and we made our way inside the Red Square. We went to St. Basil’s first. I was so happy to have my ISIC card from SU Abroad, because it got me discounted rates at every place we went to that day! It was so cool inside and very unlike any other church I’ve been in before. It was a maze through many different rooms and chapels. It serves now as a museum, so there were many artifacts from it’s history and paintings that were created for it. At one point, I ran into an Italian tour group and was even able to hop on to get a guided tour of it. The best part of the tour was the show that they had organized. Inside the main chapel, the tour guide had gotten a group of four men to sing one of the typical Russian church songs. Their voices and the echoes they made in the chapel gave me goosebumps. It was one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard, even though I had no idea what they were singing about. We then made our way back outside the square to get in line for entrance to Lenin’s Mausoleum. Against his wishes, Stalin had his body embalmed after his death in 1924, so he has been preserved in the same state that he died in almost 90 years ago. You aren’t allowed to bring anything in at all, and are not permitted to speak in order to pay the deepest respect to him. There are guards at every turn and it kept incredibly dark. It was the creepiest atmosphere I had ever been in. You wander through a labyrinth of passages until you get to where he is on display. Then BAM! There he is. Lenin, in all his glory. It was the coolest and freakiest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. I couldn’t believe I was seeing him in person (sort of). After lunch, we headed over to the Kremlin itself to tour the churches. On our way, we passed two brides making their way over! I have never seen as many weddings as I did in Russia…apparently they all get married during this time of year because it’s so miserable during the rest of it (which actually makes total sense)! We made our way inside the walls of the Kremlin, and I was in awe. While it is still very significant politically, it used to also be the religious center of Russia- such an important part of Russian history! Inside, there was a main parliament building, surrounded by Napoleonic cannons that were captured from the French when they lost the war. Just around the corner was the plaza that hosts the cathedrals. The walls of the churches, the stone of the plaza, and the walls surrounding it were all white. It made me feel very peaceful. We went in most of the cathedrals, and they were absolutely beautiful. Byron had printed out a Lonely Planet guide packet before we left, so he was able to tell us the history and significance of each place, which fascinated me. No matter how many churches I go into in whatever country I’m in, I will never get sick of them. They’re always part of my favorite things about each new place! We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the Kremlin and learning about the different histories of each section. We spent the rest of the day wandering, getting dinner and Internet. I was able to FaceTime with Julia and mom! It was great to see their faces. It was eventually time to make our way back to the train station. This time around I was in 3rd class, which is open. Somehow, I felt much safer and was more comfortable this time around! I absolutely passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow and didn’t wake up until it was time to get off the train.
The last day we spent close to the ship. Dani and I were too tired to do much of anything else, so we spent the morning getting Wi-Fi and planning future adventures.
I definitely experienced some problems in Russia with language barriers, but I can truly say I enjoyed my time there. I’m so incredibly glad I went to Moscow, because I know I would have absolutely regretted not going. St. Petersburg was so much fun and absolutely beautiful and Moscow was just amazing. I really loved my time there, though I was also happy to move on to the next port: Hamburg!
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