Catherine II and my weekend.

The conclusion of this weekend is that Catherine II had very extravagant taste. Saturday morning, I woke up late and found my host sister (who still rarely talks to me) in the kitchen. So, for obvious reasons, I was caught off guard when she asked me if I had any plans for the day. I mumbled something about the possibilities of a museum or a ballet, thinking she was just trying to be polite. Instead, she said that she has a friend who is trying to practice her English, and that they had invited me and my friend Katherine to come with them on a day trip. Obviously, we jumped at the opportunity to leave the city for a little bit, so we got ready and waited for them to pick us up.

It turned out that it was Katya’s friend Masha’s husband (Anatoly), who needed to practice his English, but he was really embarrassed for most of the time, so we mostly ended up talking to Masha. Katya, even with her own friends, was quite silent. Driving in St. Petersburg is always scary, especially when there aren’t working seatbelts, but we made it to the town of Pushkin in a little under an hour. Pushkin is officially part of St. Petersburg, and it’s located southeast of the main city. It’s named Pushkin because the writer, Pushkin, was born there and spent a large portion of his life studying there.

But, the real tourist attraction in Pushkin is Catherine II’s summer palace. It’s located in a giant park, which is supposedly really beautiful in the summer, but was still enjoyable through the slush. The palace itself is immense and so ornate. The floors are all gorgeous wooden mosaics, so we had to wear silly blue plastic booties over our shoes so as not to scratch them. We took a tour in Russian through the part of the palace that is open for tourists (a small portion, that is still bigger than any normal person would ever need). The first room we went into was the gold-encrusted Great Hall. We went through multiple dining rooms, thematic color rooms, and eventually came to the famed Amber Room.

There has been a lot of controversy over this room. It was first believed to have been plundered by the Nazis, when all the gem mosaics were found missing, but later it was revealed that it was destroyed in a fire while under Red Army occupation. They were so worried about Stalin’s reaction to allowing a fire to reach the room, that they created the Nazi rumor. But, a few years ago, the room was reopened after years of renovation, largely sponsored by German funds. The room was incredible, and the only one that you aren’t allowed to take pictures in. So, sorry about that.

But, while we were there, we did run into a wedding! It’s a Russian tradition for the couple to go to various famous landmarks and take pictures there, and this couple chose to take pictures throughout the palace. It was kind of funny to see a bride and groom, groomsmen and bridesmaids all wearing blue booties. It’s good luck if you see these pictures being taken, and Katherine and I saw 3 this weekend – we’re hoping for a good week. I snuck some pictures of the bride and groom as well.

After the palace tour, we walked through the park some more, and saw the pagodas Catherine II had built because she wanted to bring a little bit of China to her estate. It’s actually incredible how much normal, everyday Russians know about their history. Masha, and especially Anatoly, were able to tell us so many stories about where we were. All in all, it was a great tour, nice to breath some fresh air, and very fun in general. They said that whenever we want to go somewhere else, they would love to take us to practice their English some more, so it looks like there will be more fun trips in the future!

Today, we went to the Hermitage with our group. Only 4 people showed up, which was a little awkward. I’m sure most of you know about the Hermitage, the giant art museum housed in an old palace. It’s actually 5 buildings that are connected, but the Winter Palace alone has 1057 rooms, so that’s just a preview to its size. Once again, the architecture was incredible, and as Catherine II lived here for a while, it was extravagant beyond belief. I’m not really into art museums at all, so while other people marvel at the Hermitage, I enjoyed looking at the building, and quickly glanced at some art. Truthfully, I don’t know how many times I’ll end up going back this semester, but at least I went once!

Ok, well tomorrow is the first day of classes! Wish me luck!