Sunday, July 3, 2011

Heat wave

Good afternoon!

I'm pleased to report that I am (finally) feeling better! I still have a bit of a cough, but overall I think I can declare my sickness gone.

And it's a good thing too because time is passing at an unbelievable pace. When we first got here, 9 weeks felt like a lifetime to be away from home. But it has now been over 3 weeks since we got here, and I can barely believe it. Keeping busy certainly has that effect on time.

So, what have I been up to? Quite a bit, actually. Last weekend we went to visit the Hermitage on Saturday which was overwhelming to say the least. The Winter Palace is stunning. I think the thing that excited me most about the whole trip was just being in the palace and knowing how much history was there. Of course I didn't get to see everything, but the pieces that I did get to see were really interesting. I particularly liked the old furniture and decorations that were actually in the palace when the tsars resided there. And of course I liked all the paintings of the tsars, empresses, and other members of the royal family. I know them all by face now, which I don't know whether to be proud of or embarrassed by... (I've come to the awkward conclusion that I'm a Russian history junkie...more so, it seems, than anyone else on the program. I stick out, haha!) I'm planning to make another trip back to the Hermitage before the end of the program. I didn't take any pictures of the interior, so I'll do that during my second trip.

On Sunday, my tutor and I returned to the Peter and Paul Fortress, but this time we went into the cathedral and also the prison. This was unbelievably fun. I have grown a great appreciation for the Fortress - It's beautiful and so peaceful since it's right on the water. After we were done there, we walked around for some time and when to see Michael's Palace, built by Paul I. It's currently a branch of the Russian Museum. We didn't go inside, but we did walk in the courtyard and saw a small statue of Paul.

This Wednesday there was an excursion that I wasn't particularly drawn to, so I decided to skip it in order to go do something I had been desperately wanting to do : go through the Museum of Political History! The building where the museum is was once the mansion of the prima ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya, who was the mistress of Nicholas II before he married Alexandra. The mansion was also important in the revolution: Lenin had an office there and gave speeches off the balcony attached to his office. Everything was fascinating beyond fascinating and yes, I plan on going back.

Yesterday, I went with a friend to see the Cruiser Aurora. This ship was used during the Russo-Japanese War, and was also important in the October Revolution. Shots were fired from the ship that functioned as a signal for the Bolsheviks to force out the Provisional Government. It was so important to the Soviets that they SUNK it during World War II to protect it from damage. They obviously surfaced it at some point, because I saw it with my own two eyes! We weren't allowed to get on (we assumed as much from the chains and a Russian military man guarding the entrance). That was a little bit disappointing. Afterwards, we walked in the direction of Finland Station where there is a huge statue of Lenin. There were also a dozen of huge fountains that felt amazing in the blazing heat. After we got back from Finland Station, I learned that within the station you can see the train car on which Lenin returned to Russia from exile. I was annoyed that I didn't know about this, but I'll just have to make the trip back and see it!

Next weekend I'm going out sightseeing, the weekend after that I think we're planning on going to Peterhof which is so exciting! If you don't know what Peterhof is, google it immediately. You won't be sorry!

I must be going for now, homework and a meeting with my tutor await!

-Olive

 Michael's Palace

Courtyard of Michael's

 Statue of Paul I
Inside the Peter and Paul Cathedral

 Where the royal family used to stand in Peter and Paul Cathedral during funeral processions
Tomb of Nicholas I (These are just markers - the bodies are buried at these locations, but under the church)

Painting of Lenin giving a speech from the balcony

THE balcony!!!

Portrait of Nicholas II that used to hang in the Winter Palace. After the storming of the Winter Palace, men took bayonets to it and slashed it.


No comments:

Post a Comment