Further Stuffs.

Hey guys--it's pretty weird in some ways being home(ish) again... the worst thing so far is that I am cruelly forced to understand every word spoken by every person having a cell phone conversation near me, no matter how annoying they are. Also I miss the sense of accomplishment you get from even the smallest conversational successes when in Russia. The best thing about being back, of course, is seeing people (like my Mama!) that I've been a continent away from for upwards of a month, and remembering all about it to tell them. And knowing all the songs. :)

Okay, I promised to finish up the funtimey summary for our post-Moscow days, so here goes, in brief:

Novgorod
The Train - My first sleeper train ever! The first train ever for some of us, so all in all a pretty exciting experience. The toilet facilities were fairly sketchy, but it was pretty sweet travelling through the Russian night-time on your very own fold-down leather bunk, no matter how teeny and awkward the cabins were. Also, hilarity ensued when some of the boys were saddled with harboring a confused stowaway in their luggage rack... funtimes.

The Church of Marc-Did-Not-Make-Up-the-Legend (to his great chagrin) - Novgorod is pretty darn icy in the wintertime. Running on ice is not a particularly effective means of transportation, nor a wisely-chosen leisure activity. Nonetheless, the female contingent of our class did our best to fulfill a local Novgorodian superstition, that girls wishing to find a good husband should run around a certain small (thank the Lord) stone church, three full circuits, and in doing so increase their divine luck for this event. There was much falling, and debilitating laughter of the parts of both the girls being idiots and the boys watching us being idiots. I believe video footage is available. Also, it should be made known that Tess won the race. So she gets the best husband, by champion's rights.

The Kremlin (the prequel) - In essence, the former Kremlin is much like the larger, current one--high red wall, lovely gates, a number of very historical things inside. Exceptions include: The Bell. Which is very important to people of the city, though it serves no ringing functions and never has (actually, I believe there was a non-ringing bell by the gardens in the Moscow Kremlin as well... people were just less excited about it). The Church. Which there is only one of here, rather than seven in the new Kremlin. There was a baptism service going on while we were there, which was neat. The Moat. I swear this fortress had a moat, and if anyone happens to know that it was never filled with water and has always just been a ditch, please do not tell me because I will be very very sad. The Moscow Kremlin does not have a moat.

Also, the hotel was nice. They had delicious pancakes and jam.

St. Petersburg
Peter and Paul Fortress - I have way too many cloudy-light panorama pictures from this day. It was irresistable, coming across the bridge on the way there, and then the view from the wall of the opposite river bank, with the Hermitage and Winter Palace over on the right side (our first glimpse of it). The fortress was great; the wall itself is super cool, and then all the buildings inside have been converted into small museums of various things--we toured the house where the Decemberists were held for interrogation and sentencing, and there's even a space museum in an old propulsion laboratory within the compound. They have a really cute satellite called "Proton" in there... among a lot of other cool thing like, y'know, landing capsules and rocket boosters and Cosmonaut suits and things. But I took a picture of the Proton.

The Hermitage - This is the most humongous museum ever. Well, probably not, but we spent over three hours there, and I only made it through the first floor and a couple of rooms on the second floor. (So, <3 Egypt<3, Rome, Mesopotamia-in-brief, and European Arms & Armor, plus distracted glances at Italian and Dutch art while I ran around with my map trying to get up to the Byzantine Empire on the third floor.) Abbee and Tess didn't even make it through French Art... holy man.

The Church of the Savious on the Spilled Blood - If this church was any less beautiful, I would probably not ever talk about it (or its little market), out of pure spite for its having such a long and awkward name. However, it is probably one of the most gorgeous interior decorating projects I have ever paid seven dollars to see. (Which is not too many, but whatever.) The ENTIRE SURFACE of the interior wall is done in what looked like probably half-inch ceramic tiles, enormous murals of the life of Christ covering everything-even the pillars. The floor is mostly covered in carpet for protection, but you can view certain roped-off sections of it, made from fitted pieces of Italian marble, which form all kinds of geometric designs, flowers, and whatnot. The most amazing part is that it fell mostly into disuse shortly after its construction, and then during Soviet times was used as a warehouse, so what you can see now is all total reconstruction. It looks just like brand-new. Incredible.

And one final note, on Airlines - Lufthansa = ... I don't even know. It's like a hotel in the air. Only you don't have to pay for food. Or movies. Also, Germans appear to be completely incapable of being either early or late. 9:00am departature means 9:00am departure, and that's just the way it is. Either you can get your job done on time for takeoff... or you do it faster.
And United/the Chicago airport = bleagh. Lufthansa should give them some moist towlettes with which to clean up their respective acts.