Russia
Well, we are here.
We spent the whole day yesterday walking around the Fontanka island (the central part of the city, where we are staying) and taking photos. We have bright sunshine, and it's very warm - fantastic. Everything in the city seems to be on a huge scale. Massive buildings (so big it's hard to take a photo that gets any detail but that the whole building fits in to), wide roads (where the drivers weave between traffic giving no indication) and the huge river Neva and its bridges. When we got here on Saturday night and began to walk around (at around 10.30 pm, when the sun is setting - it's properly dark by about 1am) there were runners finishing a marathon on the Nevskii Prospekt, and a large group of inebriated soldiers marching up and down in the Palace Square (outside the Winter Palace/Hermitage).
I've already taken a few good photos, but cannot yet find a way to upload them. It may have to wait until I return.
Each situtation of interaction leaves no option but to learn a bit more Russian. In at the deep end indeed, but there is already a lot of progress in the first 48 hours. I have yet to be tempted to really indulge in the dangerously cheap beer (perhaps over the weekend) but we have already had a nice mixture of food - the good, the bad and the ugly. So much to do, so little time, but we are having a lot of fun. Today we discovered that our student cards from the unviersity give us free access to the Hermitage (it normally costs around 20 pounds) so we may be spending a while there. I have yet to venture to the National Library of Russia for an interrogation about why I want to use it - apparently they speak little or no English.
The internet cafe timer is about to run out, so adios for now!
We spent the whole day yesterday walking around the Fontanka island (the central part of the city, where we are staying) and taking photos. We have bright sunshine, and it's very warm - fantastic. Everything in the city seems to be on a huge scale. Massive buildings (so big it's hard to take a photo that gets any detail but that the whole building fits in to), wide roads (where the drivers weave between traffic giving no indication) and the huge river Neva and its bridges. When we got here on Saturday night and began to walk around (at around 10.30 pm, when the sun is setting - it's properly dark by about 1am) there were runners finishing a marathon on the Nevskii Prospekt, and a large group of inebriated soldiers marching up and down in the Palace Square (outside the Winter Palace/Hermitage).
I've already taken a few good photos, but cannot yet find a way to upload them. It may have to wait until I return.
Each situtation of interaction leaves no option but to learn a bit more Russian. In at the deep end indeed, but there is already a lot of progress in the first 48 hours. I have yet to be tempted to really indulge in the dangerously cheap beer (perhaps over the weekend) but we have already had a nice mixture of food - the good, the bad and the ugly. So much to do, so little time, but we are having a lot of fun. Today we discovered that our student cards from the unviersity give us free access to the Hermitage (it normally costs around 20 pounds) so we may be spending a while there. I have yet to venture to the National Library of Russia for an interrogation about why I want to use it - apparently they speak little or no English.
The internet cafe timer is about to run out, so adios for now!
posted by UK plc at 2:51 PM
2 Comments:
Yay, you made it!!! Good times.
How cheap is the beer? And what have you eaten so far? I need details and pictures, thanks. :)
Hi Si,
Great to hear from you. Sounds fun! looking forward to some pictures keep snapping
11 days to go til I finish. hurrah x
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