Labor Day weekend

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  St. Petersburg, Russia
Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Anecdote #5: City-wide spring cleaning. Spring cleaning is a concept that they take very seriously here. As soon as the snow and rain stopped in mid-April there were workers in all the parks and green spaces raking and laying out new soil. As the month progressed I noticed more and more little repairs being done around the city: new plants, fresh coats of paint on fences and planters, street cleaning (as I mentioned before). A lot of the buildings get their facades sprayed down with power washer type machines which is sometimes a nuisance when you're trying to walk along the sidewalk in front of these buildings. I appreciate,though, that they are all clean. There is even a day on April 25 where citizens volunteer and clean up the city. (It translates to something like "Community day" but is a little more reminiscent of communist days when read in Russian.) All in all, it is exciting to see everything getting cleaned up and spring is clearly arriving here.

The start of the week was normal but Friday was Labor day here and we had off. On Friday Giovanna and I wandered around town and over to Peter and Paul Fortress. There were tons of people around! Because of the three day weekend and nice weather a lot of people came from out of town to be in St. Petersburg for the weekend. There were so many Russian tourists that Giovanna and I didn't feel self-conscious snapping pictures wherever we went. After walking along the Neva for a bit we ended up at Peter and Paul Fortress. Peter and Paul Fortress isn't my particular favorite place in St. Petersburg. There is a small cathedral where many of the previous Czars and Czarinas are buried and a dungeon. However, some of the views are very nice from the roof of the fortress and it was a nice place to amble in the warm weather.

Sunday Giovanna, her French roommate Caroline, and I went to Gatchina which was one of the places I went last time I was in Russia. It was interesting to re-visit this small town where I had some very strong memories. There is a "natural" park (as one of my professors put it) surrounding an old palace which used to belong to Count Orlov, one of Czarina Elizabeth's lovers. We walked around the park for a bit and then toured the palace. (We got in for free and got a free tour with our student IDs!) One thing I love about Gatchina is that it is not, yet, a huge tourist place. Mostly Russian tourists go there. There are so many palaces surrounding St. Petersburg and Gatchina Palace is probably the least impressive of them. Only about 1/3 of it has been renovated and a larger part of it remains unmaintained and somewhat in ruins from damage done during WWII. What is most appealing to me is that it seems like a real look into a palace, more so than an overly renovated palace. It feels like in a way that you're the first person to discover it after it has been left there for so many years.

This week is full of work and is actually my first full week of classes. Because of holidays and other things I've not had a full week of classes yet but finally I'll get a full week. Next week we have Monday off because it is Victory Day when Germany surrendered to the USSR during WWII. It is a huge holiday here and I'm looking forward to catching a glimpse of the festivities.

Hope all is well at home!

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Peter and Paul Fortress	Gatchina Park	Me at Gatchina Palace	Beach near Peter and Paul Fortress
Spring here!

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