Holiday Inn St.Petersburg-Moskovsky Prospekt St. Petersburg

... city is generally much more English friendly. The first place we visited was the Arctic and Antarctic Museum which was very beautiful. The walls were filled with stunning paintings with pictures of the Russian explorers beneath them. There were very intricate models of boats from the little ones to nuclear powered ice breakers. There were also models of little people in little houses or animals with amazing backdrops, each telling a different story. One model lit up ...

... Often, I think people are just as scared of us as we are of them. While talking to some young Russian guys studying English. they told me that they are too nervous to approach foreigners in order to get some practice. When I asked why, they replied that "we" are scary, we might laugh at them and, in short, we're "the other" and it's impossible to talk to us.<br><br><br>"Although this land is not my own..."<br><br><br>Leaving Russia is going to be ...

... Before they'll even let you into the actually clinic you have to see a woman at the coat room and pay 5 rubles (about 15 cents) for disposable tapochki. Sometimes the Russian desire for cleanliness confuses me just because no matter how much they seem to clean things and ask you to remove your shoes things still seem dirty. Though the custom of putting on slippers makes sense especially for the winter months when your shoes are most likely wet and/or caked in mud ...

... full week and I really like all of my courses and professors. I'm taking Grammar and Conversation, Russian Civilization, Russian History, and Arts of St. Petersburg. I'm also kind of enrolled in the fourth class offered, Ethnic Studies. I just go and sit in there and do the reading and discuss it. CIEE (the company that I came through) doesn't allow anyone to officially sign up for all of them but I talked to the director and he said it was okay if I came ...

... is in a hurry to get out of the subway?) until we rode down and realized just how deep the stations are. No one but the really fit could walk up that distance. So, it suggests that their escalators must run consistently unlike the NYC subway's escalators with their frequent breakdowns. The NYC Transit Authority might want to consider a visit to St. Petersburg. Leaving the metro station we came out across the street from a market, a large hanger-like ...

... meeting room where our special tour was gathering. After a brief introduction from Tanya, the host's significant other, we went ashore and through Russian immigration. HAL had made a big deal about us making sure we went by the front office to get a copy of our passport to give to the Russian officials, and even went further to explain to everyone to have their passport open to the photo page, the copy unfolded and flat, the tour ticket and ...

... Even though we couldn't understand the language, we still really enjoyed the performance. I was seated by a large, older, Russian gentleman who was very serious and seemed to never smile. Once the lights went down and the music started, I could see him tapping his hand on his leg to the rhythm of the music, and his whole body shook when he laughed. By the end of the performance the whole audience was dancing and clapping to the music, and even the gentleman next to me was shaking ...

... von den Redn**n eine Chance, von d** Präsidentschaftswahl ganz zu schweigen. Nach zwei Stunden reden wird einstimmig eine Resolution v**abschiedet, die einen sofortigen Stopp d** Z**störung d** Denkmäl** ford**t. Zwei Minuten spät** ruft d** Mod**ator d** V**anstaltung die Teilnehm** auf, ihre Fahnen an die Bühne zu bringen und ordentlich abzugeben. Es gibt keine Zwischenfälle, es wird nicht geprügelt, die Menschen gehen friedlich nach Hause. Gebaut wird es weit**.

... maps and set off on foot. with our unshowered bodies and greasy hair, we found the Hermitage. Strangely, the Winter Palace eluded us during our entire stay. We attempted to find it several times but couldn't quite nail it down. Our guide books were unclear, the staff at local attractions rarely spoke english and signage was either in Cyrillic or non-existant. We used the famous subway system to get back to the hotel to retrive ...

... and paid about $10 to get there! Oh well you learn these things. Peterhof is known for its gardens, and more importantly it's fountains. Gold everywhere!! But absolutely beautiful! You pay 300 rubbles to get in, and that is just for the gardens, if you want to get into the house it is another charge (didn't do the house, spent a bit too much today). We spent a couple of hours exploring the gardens, there ...