Privyet Russiya!

Hellooooooo friends! Yes, we are indeed still alive! I've just not had much free time or internet until now :(  In the last 2 weeks, we've gallivanted through Russia, Austria, and arrived in Germany--but you'll have to be patient with me while I start at the beginning :) 

We flew from Raleigh, NC to JFK at 7ish on July 19th, had a few hour layover in NYC and then flew from there to Moscow from 4 pm eastern time until 8 am Moscow time...which was only 8 hours for us.  O.o We did the whole arrive-in-a-foreign-country-show-your-visas-song-and-dance there, then flew sometime later that morning (I've already forgotten!) to Saint Petersburg.  We got there in the early afternoon and took the bus to the city center where we took a metro to where we thought our hotel was.  I say, thought, because they had a bit of a mix up in booking us and despite the fact that on our bank statement (where we had to find it because Russian hotels don't often send you confirmation emails...) the address was listed as one thing, we actually had a reservation elsewhere.  That was actually fine by me, because the first hotel we showed up to was...not....that awesome looking....however, trekking back to the metro and then for a few blocks from the stop to our hotel in 90 degree heat (yes, Russia gets HOT for a few weeks in the summer!) while lugging a suitcase and being more than a little drugged up on pregnancy anti-nausea meds that induce slumber....that was....not that awesome.  However, we have discovered that there is something deep within me that keeps me from whining and getting upset when I'm dragging a suitcase around in the heat because it instinctively knows that it will only make things worse...which is nice, cause it means that at the time it felt bad, but not deal-breaking.  Anyways, we got to our hotel which was actually quite nice AND had AC (sort of a rarity in Russia since they only really need it for maybe a month out of the year) and we were able to shower off and take a nap to try and help us adjust to the jet lag.  We woke up after a few hours feeling MUCH MUCH MUCH better and decided it was time to go find food and see the city a little! 

After getting some McDonalds (in my defense, the morning sickness was rearing it's ugly head so I needed some comforting American food) we took off to the heart of the city, where we quickly came upon a statue of Jesse's patron saint (ok, really he's just one of his favorite Russian authors), Alexander Pushkin.  

Yes, there's a pigeon on his head.  Apparently it's a good vantage point. 

Next, we wandered out towards one of the canals (Petersburg has canals! Sweet huh?) and came across this SWEET cathedral.  Jesse (who lived in Petersburg for nearly a year when he served a mission for our church in Russia and therefore knows the city pretty well) took us a back way so that we just turned a corner and BAM! had this view, and it literally took my breath away.  I think I just exclaimed "holy crap!" cause it was so cool. 

It's just, you know, sitting there, in the middle of the street.  

yeah.  pretty crazy cool.  Anyways, right next to that cathedral is an AWESOME garden behind this big mansion (changed from the residence of some duke to a museum--go soviets! ;D) where we went next and rested our feet a little bit.  Just on the edge of the garden is another canal. 

Oh, and did I mention that I took this photo at 10 PM?!?!?! Saint Petersburg is so far north that the sun doesn't set until almost 10:30, and even when it does it stays pretty twilight-y all night.  Thank heavens for thick curtains so we could sleep!

Here we are in the gardens, trying not to look too jetlagged. 

(also, this might be one of the few pictures of us together on this trip--we're both too shy to ask someone to take a picture of us >.>)

So that was our first day! 

On sort of a tangent, one thing I thought was really cool in Petersburg was the Metro.  Random, huh? The system itself was built in 1955 (and I think some of the trains might have been too....) but the stations are really incredible, because the Soviets often built them to look like palaces for the people:

Some of the newer stations, like the one below, are in a different, more modern style--this station was the stop next to our hotel, and it was almost steampunk! It was pretty sweet.

Also, a completely random tangent:  in the metros in both Petersburg and Moscow, to show where the exit is, they have these little signs.  The little man cracks me up, cause he looks like he's running for his life! (although he may be intended to look that way, if he's running for the exit) I thought it was just a quirky Russian thing, but when we got to Vienna we saw them there too! Weird, huh?