On the April 29, I could finally begin to breathe again. Not only I was done with 4 out of 5 courses, but also my mom and sister came to visit me. They came with the bus from Riga, and I met them at their Airbnb. Fortunately, they were staying very central and kind of in a walking distance from the main attractions. They were so nice to rent a place, where there is a place for me as well, so I stayed with them the entire week.
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| The outfit on the first day |
In the first day, it was raining, so it was our museum day. Raphaelle recommended us to visit Yusupov palace, which belonged to one of the wealthiest families in Russia from 1830 to 1917. It is also the site where Rasputin's murder in 1916 took place. Even though until we reached the place my feet was completely wet, we did enjoy the beautiful palace, which had luxurious interiors, sculptures, and decorations with more than 40,000 works of art. We really enjoyed our time there.
Starting with the next day, the weather became much better. It was sunny and quite warm, so we tried to be outside as much as possible. The entire Sunday we spent at the Peter and Paul Fortress, which is the original citadel of St. Petersburg, founded by Peter the Great in 1703.
On 1st of May, we experienced the workers' parade on the Nevsky Prospect. It was interesting, but nothing over the top. I was surprised that there was not even that much police around, taking into account the recent terror attack in the metro station. After the parade was over, we went to a very special excursion. It was excursion over the rooftops of St. Petersburg. Actually, we only went up on the roof of one building, but then by walking around, we managed to be on top of three different roofs. It was kind of interesting, and even a bit scary, especially, because the guide said that this is not legal on paper what we are doing. They are not even a legitimate company. Hearing this did not make my feeling about the walk over to roofs any better. Thankfully, it all went smooth, and I can say that I did it. After this experience, we went on a boat ride. Unfortunately, we ended up on a tour which was in Russian language only so neither Madara or I could understand a thing. I actually, almost fell asleep. (Yes, my Russian has not improved at all, due to my absence in courses for the past three weeks).
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| On top of the "world" |
The following days were less exciting for me. I had to let the girls enjoy the city without me, as I had two exams coming up. One was on May 2 and the second one on May 4. And then there was an exam coming up on May 8, so most of the following days I had to spend at least half a day on studying. At least on May 2, in the evening I went to a ballet called Spartacus with Raphaelle. There we met one more guy from our University, who was so tired (hopefully not bored) that he fell asleep. Raphaelle and I enjoyed the show, unlike the performance that my mom, sister and I went on May 5. I invited the girls to the Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute”, which is supposed to be the world famous performance. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a total fiasco. For the first time in our lives, we decided to leave the show after the first break. Something so tasteless and cheap we have never seen before. It is, of course, shocking, that we had such an experience at the Mariinsky Theatre, but I guess there is the first time for everything.
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| 1st of May parade |
Back to the positive. On Wednesday, we went on a free walking tour around the St. Petersburg. It was a three long tour, where the guide is given tips at the end of it (we pay, what we feel he deserves). Honestly, he deserved a lot, because he was simply amazing. Such clear and compelling stories that seriously in combination with rest of our activities, made me fall in love with this city. I am shocked that I did not feel that way about it until just now. Anyways, I would love to take Jonas on this tour when he visits me in few days. I might even consider going on a night tour as well. That one costs money, but it could be worth it to float around in a boat and watch the beautiful scenery while bridges are opening one by one over the Neva river. We planned to go to see the bridges almost every night with my mom and sister, but we only did it on Friday. I actually was trying to find another excuse to stay in and keep sleeping, instead of going out in the cold at two o’clock in the morning, but I am happy that my mom did not give up on me. We missed the actual opening part because the scheduled times and the reality did not match (of course, it's Russia), but we still saw the opened bridges, and it was a stunning view.
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| Bridges opening |
On Saturday I joined the girls for a morning walk. We went to the Saint Isaac's Cathedral, where we went up on the roof again to see the view over the great city. It was quite an impressive building. It turns out it is the largest Orthodox basilica and the fourth largest cathedral in the world. St. Petersburg is certainly full of such impressive buildings, and I cannot wait for warmer weather when I can enjoy the city even more.
On the final day, we came to my ghetto, so the girls could leave their bags at my apartment and leave for some more sightseeing before their departure. The moment when I came home, I already began feeling sad. It is so crazy how fast I got used to the nice and clean surroundings and how devastating is the feeling to come back to the disgusting dorms. Thankfully, my mini depression left me rather fast. I think it is because of the gym and my fabulous birthday party (read about it in the next post).
Anyways, that is it for now. Now I am quite free and relaxed from all the responsibilities. I will be looking forward to my next and final guest – Jonas. I hope I will be able to show him another side of the city and make him appreciate it the same way as the rest of my visitors and I did.
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