I was lucky to receive a Fulbright-Hays grant through the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign during the summer of 2007.

This blog documents my incredible experience in Russia.

In order to gain the full experience, you need to read it backwards.  Scan all the way to the bottom of the blog and click on older posts.  Continue doing this until you find the official announcement post at the bottom.  Read the posts up from that point.

I encourage comments so please feel free to comment!  Thanks for reading my travel blog! 🙂

We are leaving Russia today.

I’m sad to leave this wonderful country and people.  I will never forget all the great memories and fantastic people that I’ve met on this journey.

To the teachers in my group:  You are all amazing educators and your schools are so blessed to have you.  I will miss you all. Hugs!

Karen my roommate:  You were the best roommate ever!  Thank you for your friendship and I hope we keep in touch!  Lots of hugs! 🙂

My host families:  You are what made this trip one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  Thank you for opening your homes and hearts to me.  I will never forget you! 

Ron:  You were an incredible tour guide and Russian expert.  Thanks for the memories!

Staff at the American Home in Vladimir:  You guys rock!  Thanks for the experience!

Lynda at the University of IL:  You are amazing!  Thank you for all the hard you did for this trip and workshop.  Hugs!

До свидания!

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier – Red Square in Moscow.

Gum Department Store in Moscow.

Me in front of Lenin’s Mausoleum.

We spent the day in Moscow.  Stood in line for a few hours to see Lenin’s Tomb.  People were trying to cut ahead of us.  We were typical Americans – NO ONE WOULD CUT IN FRONT OF US! 🙂  There was this elderly couple standing behind me and kept pushing me.  Something that some Russians don’t understand is personal space.  The men in my group said something to the couple to stop pushing me.  They continued to stick their bony elbows into my back – I thought I was going to lose it!

Finally!  We made it to the Tomb.  The military guards search you pretty well so no cameras allowed.  It was dark once you got inside.  The soldiers kept telling us to move.  You can’t even stop to look.  The traffic flows rather quick once you are inside of the mausoleum.

Lenin looked horrible!  He’s been preserved since his death in 1924.  Once you get outside, located behind the mausoleum, are the graves of other famous communists.  Joseph Stalin, Leonid Brezhnev, and Yuriy Andropov just to name a few.

Afterwards, we walked over the St. Basil’s Cathedral. It was still shocking that I was walking in Red Square!  All that history that has taken place here! It was built between 1555 and 1561 by Ivan the Terrible.  What a magnificent structure! It was larger than life . . . colorful just like in the photos.  I must have taken over 20 plus pictures of this grand structure!  We took a quick walking tour through the Cathedral.  Saw lots of old icons. Walked a lot of awkward stairs.

We then got back into the van and checked out the Hard Rock Cafe located in the Arbat section of Moscow.  Also did some shopping.  I was on the hunt for some gifts for my family and friends.

Afterwards, a group of us went back to the hotel.  We wanted to check out the open market called Izmailovsky Souvenir Market.  If you are looking for some good deals, this is the place!  I finished up my shopping for everyone here.

Went back to the hotel.  I needed to get ready for the Circus!  Most of the acts were incredible!  I did have a tough time watching the acts with the bear and the tigers.  The Russians are rough with their animals so if you are an animal lover, I wouldn’t recommend going to see a circus in Moscow.  Another note:  our tour guide paid double the ticket price for us since we were tourists!  Normally, the ticket price is $12.00.  She paid $23.00!

We travelled back to the hotel for our last dinner as a group.  Toasts were made – it’s sorta sad because we’ve been together for over a month and we’ve become this little family.  After tomorrow, our family will say good-bye.

Went back to the hotel lobby for a quick wrap-up meeting.  Ron had gifts for all of us – Soviet pins and flags.  A great gift!

I went back up to my hotel room and packed for the last time.  Karen and I chatted.  I’m going to miss her.  She’s been a wonderful roommate!

Off to bed – Spokoinoi nochi!

                       

We went to the Kremlin today.  What a sight to see those magnificent walls!  Incredible!

We saw the Tsar’s cannon and bell.  We saw the Annunciation Church – magnificent!  We also were able to witness a military ceremony.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t get close to the action – there were a ton of people.

We toured the Armoury.  A few of the exhibits consisted of the carriages of the royal family, coronation gowns, old armor dating back to the Middle Ages, and fancy china and silverware.  They also had a throne from Ivan the Terrible!

We ate lunch at SBarros -sorta a funny place to eat in Moscow!

We then took a bus trip of some sites in Moscow. We saw Moscow University.  We saw the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.  We visited the Great Patriotic War Museum (Russians refer World War II as the Great Patriotic War). One funny notation: one of the exhibits referred to the D-day forces as “Anglo-American expeditionary” forces.  I’d never heard that term used for the Allies before in this context! 🙂

A group of us wanted to go back to the downtown area so we were dropped off at the Kremlin to walk around.  A group of us had a nice dinner and took the Metro back to the hotel.

Sorta a long day of touring.  Our trip is almost over!  It’s so hard to believe that almost a month ago I arrived in this beautiful country!

The overnight train to Moscow.

The view from the hotel – overlooks Moscow.

The hotel complex in Moscow – note the Olympic colors on the building.

I survived the overnight train to Moscow (see photo above).  The same group of ladies shared the compartment – Kay, Karen, and Audrey.  I slept in the upper bunk again – this bunk was much smaller than the first bunk from the first train so I kept waking up.  My back was killing me so I took some pills to help with the pain.  I was very uncomfortable! 😦

Needless to say, I woke up irritable and crabby (sorry to my follow travelers). 😦  I slept in my clothes so I felt sorta icky.

We were picked up at the train station and brought to our hotel.  They allowed us to check in early so we were able to shower and clean up.  Ate some breakfast in the upstairs buffet.  Karen and I had a room on the 28th floor!  It overlooks the city of Moscow – breathtaking views (see photo above)!  Our hotel was built for the 1980 Olympics. Outside, the Olympic rings were etched into the sidewalk and one of the buildings in the complex had the Olympic colors displayed on the front of it (see photo above).

We had an appointment at the New Eurasian Center.  None of us knew what the place was about or why we were visiting them. We learned that they are a non-profit organization in the area of social-economics.  We met with the education department and the president of the center.  Basically, they are trying to make some positive changes in Russia in regards to the educational system.

We came back to the hotel for lunch.  I wasn’t up for doing much of anything so I went back up the room to rest.  After some much needed sleep, I re-arranged my suitcase and duffel bag so I could find my stuff.  I packed in such a hurry when we left the American Home that I couldn’t find some of the stuff.  A van from the American Home brought our stuff that we left in Vladimir.  I also was able to catch up in my journal. 

 Karen came back from her excursion – she went shopping in one of the markets near our hotel.  She bought some nice stuff.  We chatted for a while and then went to sleep.

Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad.

Me and the Peter the Great Bronze Horsemen Statue.

Karen and Kay in our compartment on the train to Moscow.

Our next stop was the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningradback in St. Petersburg (see photo above). The monument was built in 1975 so it has a very “Soviet” feel to it. The museum shows a very emotional documentary (No words spoken; just this heart-breaking music being played in the background) that visualizes the 900 day siege during WW II (Or the Great Patriotic War as the Russians call it).  It’s hard to imagine over 1 million people died during the seize.

We then traveled to St. Isaak’s Cathedral.  It’s the 4th largest cathedral in the world.  Today, it is a museum but the architecture is amazing!

We walked across the street to visit the famous Bronze Horsemen Statue of Peter the Great (see photo above).  The statue was ordered to be built by Catherine the Great.  It took 12 years to create the statue but it was completed in 1782.  A cool fact about the statue:  During the Second World War the statue was not taken down, but was protected with sand bags and a wooden shelter. In that way, the monument survived the 900-day siege of Leningrad virtually untouched.

Our next stop was the Nikolayevski Palace to see a Russian Folk concert.  The theme of the concert is “Feel Yourself Russian” and you certainly leave the theatre feeling Russian after watching the amazing performance of extremely talented dancers, singers, and musicians!  Wow is all I have to say!

We ate a quick dinner at Subway! I need to point out that this was the only “American” food place that I ate at while I was in Russia and I didn’t have a choice.  Our tour guide had pre-ordered the subs for us and made the decision to eat at Subway since it was quick and easy (we needed to get back to the train station quickly so we wouldn’t miss our train to Moscow).  I wasn’t that impressed with the sub I ate – I thought it was gross and it definitely didn’t taste like one of our subs in the United States.  They put ketchup on the subs and I hate ketshup!  Icky!

Our last stop of the evening was to go to the train station and board the overnight train to Moscow.  The temps dropped a bit so it got a tad bit chilly before we left St. Petersburg.  We boarded the overnight train at 10:30 pm to leave St. Petersburg at 11:00 pm.  We are supposed to arrive in Moscow at 7:00 am.  Once we boarded the train, the girls and I socialized a bit (see photo above).  We all started to get tired soon and we went to sleep.  I was on the top bunk again and this bunk was smaller than the first train.  I didn’t sleep well at all so I was VERY grumpy the next morning! 😦

The front of Catherine Palace.

Me inside Catherine Palace – The Great Hall.

The memorial outside of Alexander Palace.

Our day started with an excursion to Pushkin to see Catherine Palace (also known as Tzarskoje Selo).  The outside of the palace is pretty cool (see photo above).  Very large.  Very bright blue in color – almost like an Easter egg! 🙂  Once you get inside, there is a ton of gold.  Gold is everywhere!  Notice the picture of me in the Great Hall (see photo above).  The glare is from all the mirrors and gold in that hall.  The rooms are lavishly decorated – everything from marble to even a room with walls covered in amber!  Only 29 rooms (out of 57) right now are restored.  They are working on the other rooms.  During World War II, the Germans destroyed most of the Palace. The government is actually paying for the process of restoration of the palace which I thought was nice.  We also walked around the grounds.  The gardens are nice but not maintained so some of the shrubs are grown over.  The property is huge! 

Sorta a cool story about the Amber Room.  The wall vanished in the wake of World War II–an 11-foot-square hall walled with amber and other semiprecious stones and worth $142 million in today’s dollars. One of the only pieces to be found is a small mosaic of jasper and onyx. Fast forward to 2003.  A German company paid/donated the $3.5 million American dollars to restore the room in 2003.   

Ate lunch at the Palace.  We then traveled over to Alexander Palace.  This is the palace where Czar Nicholas II and his family were under house arrest until they were sent in exile to Tobolsk.  There was a newly built memorial for the family (see photo above).

Check back for Part II of my day! 🙂

The Alice in Wonderland Fountain at Peterhoff (that’s what I call it).

The fountains (the Grand Cascade) at Peterhoff.

The fountains at Peterhoff.

We left early in the morning on the bus for Peterhoff.  The palace is located on the Gulf of Finland.  The palace was built for Peter the Great and is so spectacular and grand!   We walked around the grounds and saw amazing fountains and landscaping.  The fountains were pretty but I prefer the fountains at Versailles.  One of the fountains looked like something from Alice in Wonderland – the fountain was black and white checkered board (see photo above).  We didn’t go inside the palace.

Our next stop was the Russian Museum.  We had a fabulous tour guide!  He kept everything short and sweet!  You want to see Russian art – this is THE place to go! 

We then went back to the hotel to eat dinner and get ready for the ballet.  Some of us would be seeing Swan Lake.  I’ve never been to the ballet so I really wanted to go.  I only paid $70.00 – I figured that if I saw a ballet in New York City, I’d probably pay a heck of a lot more than that price.  We went to the Mussorgsky (Maly) ballet theatre.  We had second row center seats for the performance – let’s just say that you could see EVERYTHING up close and personal!  I really enjoyed my first ballet and plan on attending more performances. 

After the ballet, we returned to our hotel.  A group of us went upstairs to the 8th floor restaurant/bar “Panorama” with wonderful panoramic views that overlooks St. Petersburg for some drinks.

The first photo was taken from the canal – the Church of the Savior on the Spilt Blood.  The second photo is of Smolny Convent and Cathedral.

Peter the Great’s tomb.

The first photo is Peter & Paul Fortress.  The second photo is me on the Canal trip.

It was a beautiful day in St. Petersburg today.  The sun was shining.  Not too warm.  Perfect!

Our first stop was Smolny Convent and Cathedral (see photo above).  The convent was founded by Czarina Elizabeth and the intent of the convent was for young noblewomen to be educated.

We made our way to Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral.  The fortress was built in 1703 by Peter the Great.  The prison here was used to torment and torture political prisoners (see photo above).  We also visited the Cathedral which houses the tombs of the Romanovs (from Peter the Great forward).  The Cathedral was absolutely beautiful – gold everywhere!  I actually saw Peter the Great’s tomb (see photo above).  Some of the remains of Czar Nicholas II and his family are also buried in a seperate room.  The remains were moved here in 1998.

We then boarded a boat to take a boat trip on the Neva River and the canals.  The incredible architecture of the bridges and buildings here are so amazing!  I had Tom take a picture of me (see photo above).  Again, we lucked out with the weather!  I acutally got a little bit of a sunburn! 🙂

Our boat dropped us off near the Hermitage.  The Hermitage collection was started in the 18th century as a private collection of Empress Catherine II.  The tour guide at the museum gave as a tour from the czars perspective so we viewed artwork and paintings of the Czars and visited the rooms of the Winter Palace. 

Afterwards, the group wanted to venture off on their own for the evening.  We were given 400 rubles (about $16.00) for dinner.  A few of us went to a beer tent to have a beer and eat some dinner.  I also did some shopping – found a really cool book store that sold books in English. 

A group of us met around 8:00 pm to take the Metro back to our hotel.  I have to admit we were being loud Americans as we took the escalator down to the Metro.  We waited for the next train and began to board it.  The next thing I knew I was being shoved (hard) into the train.  I felt someone go into my back pocket.  Mike, one of the teachers in my group, was the one who got his wallet stolen.  He ran off the train just as the doors were getting ready to close.  I think he thought he could catch whoever it was that stole his wallet.  Of course the police were NO help at all.  Karen, Kay, Stacy, and I were worried and sorta freaking out over what just happend.  E.B. kept reassuring us that Mike would be fine and he would find his way back to our hotel.  As soon as we got back to the hotel, we told Ron what had happened.  Meanwhile, Mike arrives to tell us that his wallet was stolen but not his passport.  He was VERY lucky because his passport was in his OTHER back pocket.  The organizers of the trip had been warning us to not keep any money or personal belongings in our back pockets.  I think Mike figured that folks would leave him alone – Mike is very TALL & BIG – imagine NFL player!  They stole his cash and all his credit cards.  The hotel allowed him to call his wife in Maine so she could cancel his credit cards.  Some of the American teachers ended up loaning Mike money for the rest of the trip.  I believe the total cash stolen was around $150.00.

It was a very scary experience!  Karen and I went back to our room a little shaken over the experience.

Добрый вечер (Good evening)

Eternal Flame at Peskarovskov’s Memorial cemetery.

Church of the Savior on the Spilt Blood.

Me on a bridge over one of the Canals in St. Petersburg.

After a long train ride and journey, we arrived in St. Petersburg. (Our train was delayed due to a train derailment outside of Moscow)  As we waited for our bus to pick us up and bring us to the our hotel, I observed my surroundings.  St. Petersburg looks VERY European!  The buildings have a “European feel” to them.  There are also a ton of canals throughout the city.   I noticed a Coca-Cola sign above a huge building in front of the train station.  People were speaking all sorts of languages – I heard Spanish, Italian, German, English, and of course Russian.

Our bus finally arrived and we were brought to our hotel. Karen (my roommate from the U of I) and I went upstairs to our room to shower and change (Karen was my roommate again – she’s wonderful!).  We slept in our clothes on the train and felt a little “dirty.”  We ate some lunch downstairs at the hotel buffet (the food was MUCH better at the hotel).

We then ventured on the bus again for a tour of St. Petersburg.  We went to Peskarovskov’s Memorial Cemetery (this is a cemetery of the victims from the 900 day seize on Leningrad during WW II).  Such a sad place – it reminded me a lot of the American Cemetery in Normandy.  Very quiet.  Very peaceful.  I took a few pictures of the statues, graves, and the eternal flame (see photo above).  Thousands and thousands of Leningrad citizens that starved and died are buried in mass graves at this cemetery.

Stopped at this ridiculous gift shop that was intended for our tour guide to get a commission on anything we bought in the shop.  All of the American teachers were annoyed with this stop.  And, the prices were in Euros – you could pay with rubles, Euros, or American money.  I found this a little odd since we were told that it was illegal for shop owners to take American money.

Our next stop:  the Church of the Savior of Spilt Blood (see photo above).  This is the spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated in March 1881.  He will later die in the Winter Palace from his wounds.  I had my picture taken outside of the church by the canal (see photo above). 

 There is an open market area across the street from the church so I shopped.  I found some matryoshka dolls of Bon Jovi as a gift for my sister – she LOVES Bon Jovi! 🙂  Ron tried on a few hats from the Soviet period.  He tried to barter with the guy but the price was too high.

We went back to the hotel for some dinner.  A group of Americans decided to go out for the evening but I was so exhausted that I stayed in and went to sleep.  It was tough to sleep – it was still light outside at midnight!  We missed White Nights but we still had a lot of sunlight and daylight.