Trying to Catch Up - Part Two

After visiting a couple of the churches we were finally able to enter the Armory. This place is fascinating. There is so much to look at and we just did not have enough time. I learned quite a bit about Russian eggs (the bejeweled ones) and how they were given as gifts at Easter to signify rebirth and normally had a surprise inside (i.e. a figurine, a picture, etc). I think the most interesting though, were the dresses and carriages. There were the wedding and coronation gowns of some of the tsarinas, and the carriages were unlike anything I have ever seen in real life. They truly look like Cinderella carriages.

When we were done at the Kremlin we went on what ended up being a wild goose chase for a Georgian restaurant and went to dinner at a place called "Il Patio". At that point we were just needing refuge from the terrible weather (more on that later). After dinner we went home and my dad and I got packed and ready to head to St. Petersburg early on Tuesday morning.

We woke up at 5 am on Tuesday so we could get ready and get to the train station by 6:30. The Sapsan train (the high speed train between Moscow and Petersburg) was pleasant and we had the pleasure of meeting and talking with a young, Russian woman and an older English gentleman. They were traveling on business together to Petersburg. The woman (I have no idea what her name is so I will reference her as "The Girl from Samara") was extremely interesting. We talked about everything from her job, her travels, growing up and of course, Jersey Shore. She also explained wedding traditions here, which is good because what my father told me was completely wrong (shocking!). It turns out that all the wedding parties we've seen on the street taking pictures and partying is not the actual reception/party itself, but just people wasting time between getting married and the reception. Russia seems to have a problem with time  and making it easy for people. The office where you can get married is open early in the morning from 8-12 and the restaurants for the reception won't open until 6.

After arriving to Petersburg around 10:30 we checked-in to the hotel and went out to explore. Our first stop was the Peter-Paul fortress where we went into the church there, which is where the Romanov family is buried. Most intersting for me was to see the last tsar and his family buried there. I must admit, the story of Anastasia has always fascinated me and everything that happened to the last tsar and his family.

We then stopped at a cafe for a snack and warming up (Petersburg didn't get the memo that it is only the end of Sept. and is NOT supposed to be winter yet) before heading to the Hermitage. We spent a couple of hours there walking around and checking out the building and the art itself. It is amazing to me the beauty and regality of the Hermitage. I mean, it was the winter palace, so it makes sense, but to see it in person is just truly awe-inspiring. The only disappointment I had with the Hermitage is that I did not see any cats. Oh well, c'est la vie. As my dad pointed out, they probably keep them in the sections of the Hermitage that we were not allowed to venture in to our are more by the service entrances.

When we got kicked out of the Hermitage (it was closing we didn't do anything to actually get kicked out) we went to The Literary Cafe, where Pushkin and Dostoevsky hung out, to grab a snack and drink. I must say, it was not what I was expecting, which isn't necessarily bad, I was just hoping for more stuff about Pushkin to be displayed more prominently.

After our snack we went back towards the Hermitage where we saw Swan Lake at the Hermitage Theater. It was the first time I have seen Swan Lake, or the ballet in general, and it was interesting. I was so exhausted (the ballet started at 8 and I had been up since 5 am and had only gotten a couple hours of sleep the night before) that I slept through most of the first act...I will say though it got better because I was able to stay awake for most of the second and ALL of the third! The music was fantastic and the dancing was pretty good too. Again, I am no expert in ballet, but I just felt that the energy of the dancers was OKAY.  I also was not a fan of the clapping like it was the end of the ballet at the end of every act, or at certain times after a dance for the dancer to go upstage and wait for applause. Maybe this is common for ballet, but just thinking about going to a musicla or play and I can't imagine that happening. It was very much like "Oh! Look at me and how great I am!" to which I felt "meh, you're good but are you really THAT good?" Anyways, I digress and overall enjoyed my experience to the ballet.

This brings us to today! After sleeping in and getting ready, we trekked to the Pushkin museum, where we were informed that the museum is closed today, apparently for technical problems. This is something else I have noticed, places are closed for no reason or on random days.

Google is making this post very difficult to see near the bottom of the page, so I will sign off from Cofee Xaus!