On Sunday, we woke up around 9:30am and went downstairs to the cafe for breakfast. There were blini, meats, cheeses, kefir (gross), veggies, etc. There was even broccolli, which is my favorite vegetable but not eaten often here. After eating, we took the metro to Admiraltiskaya and walked towards the ship that would bring us to Peterhoff. It was strange walking around Admiraltiskaya since everything seemed to be as I left it.... which seems obvious.... but for some reason, was striking.
Eventually, we reached the dock, and after killing 20 minutes with ice cream (how could anyone say no to ice cream?), boarded the boat. Earlier in the trip, Balaban had mentioned to me that Americans are always easy to spot in Russia because they wear sandles/flip flops, and carry a bottle of water around with them. Lo and behold, while standing in line to buy tickets, I spotted such a girl who looked to be American. She was speaking in English to her friend, so I turned to her and asked if she was American. She was, and apparently goes to Lafayette College. Apparently their school recieved some grant to come, so she were able to visit Petersburg with a class. It was a brief interaction, but it made me happy.
The first half of the day, we walked around the estate and throughout the gardens of Peterhoff. Eventually, the girls started to get hungry, and we decided to go to a cafe for lunch. We didn't know where the nearest one was located, so we needed to ask for directions. There were policemen nearby but no one in the family wanted to ask the police! They kept suggesting that someone elseeeee go up to them, etc. It was interesting to see how Russians react to their police. They were joking around, but you could tell that there were elements of intimidation and fear. Police officers seem to have a very strange roll in this country. I noticed that in St. Petersburg, too.
Eventually Balaban went up to them and asked about a cafe, while everyone else waited farther away. We made our way to the cafe, ate lunch, and then traipsed back to the grand palace, where our tour began. Because we had 30 minutes to spare, I started playing a game on my phone and soon, both the girls were watching. They showed me their games too. It was a nice chunk of time for the three of us to hang out.
Once the clock struck 3:30, we entered the palace. I had only been inside once before, so I was happy to have the chance to see it again. I still think Catherine's palace is more beautiful (both its interior and its estate), but Peterhoff is lovely too. There were rooms of gold, crown rooms, portrait rooms, bedroom, Asian rooms (that threw me off), and so on. The tour was entirely in Russian (duh), but it was good practice to have such an excursion again with more formal language. And even better, since we were wearing headphones, I could simply take out the device if my ears were tired.
Afterwards, we ran to the boat to catch the last ride back. We arrived back in Petersburg safe, sound, and tired. Olga and Balaban wanted to see Isaac's Cathedral, so we walked around the area for a bit. I didn't feel like being tour guide even though I passed the cathedral and area every day on my way to school. There were a few new cafes on the street, and a Produkty. I remember Mike said that stores open and close all the time.... and in only the few months that have passed, it was obvious that he was right. We decided to try a new cafe for dinner, which was very St. Petersburg-y and hip. I ordered borcht :)))))))))) YUM. During dinner, someone found a post on VKontakte (Russian Facebook) that said, in Russian, "Learn English or you will stay in Russia forever." That was interesting to me -- that people want to come to America... People are intrigued by American culture (I will talk more about this in the next post) and they want to know more. They don't want to stay in Russia. Interesting comments.
Anyways, at 9pm, there was supposed to be a concert at Palace Square by the Hermitage. We had some time to kill, and Katya/Dasha really wanted to go to this haunted house/maze thing. Guess who else was dragged into it? Those who know me know that I hate roller coasters, scary movies, haunted houses, etc, but because I didn't want to turn down their offer (I'm not in a position to say no to friendship), I obliged and went with them. The maze was scary but not awful -- our screams definitely made the whole thing that much more scary. To be honest, it probably would have been kind of lame with anyone else. But it was fun laughing and grabbing on to each other and screaming in Russian with the two girls.
At 9:30, we made our way to the Square. There were not as many people present as there were for the 250th year Hermitage celebration, but there were definitely more than during the Xmax Celebration. It was amazing to see the Winter Palace lit up, and to hear and watch live musical and dance performances. I was happy the Balabans got to see the spectacle, since it really shows off how collective/beautiful the city and its people are. It was also light outside until 11:00pm and even then, there was still a glow of sunshine.
We trekked back to the hotel soon after it ended, happy to be greeted by warm beds and showers.
Weeeeee fun day Sundays.
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