Monday, September 30, 2013

Peterhof & Cinderella + Fall time

Peterhof palace and gardens---absolutely gorgeous. We went there on Saturday afternoon with Sveta. It took some metro time, a 30 minute bus ride, and 250 rubles--all worth the time and money. When I walked around the corner to the entrance, it took my breath away (something that seems to happen often these days.) I was surprised to learn that this huge property and palace was reserved for "holidays"...just a vacation home.

Check out these pics!

Walking in

More trees than anyone could count



Leaves are changing colors!


The water runs out to the gulf


Beautiful fountains--all naturally powered










Standing by the gulf of Finland

"I love St. Petersburg"





 
Here are some with my group!
 
 
 


 Cinderella
Where does "Cinderella" tie into all of this? The next day, on Sunday, we went to the Opera (I bet you can guess what production we saw.)


 

 
 
For only $12 we got to go to the "2nd best theater" in St Petersburg to see the Opera! The theater was so cool...beautifully decorated with gold detailing and chandeliers.
 
We went to a matinee show, so yes, we were outnumbered by children. But we got to dress up and enjoyed feeling so European at the Opera. It was also nice to know the storyline of Cinderella, as the whole production was in Russian, so we knew what was going on.
 
Well that was my weekend. :)
 

Fall time
The leaves are starting to change colors here. Scarfs, boots, and warm drinks are all the rage nowadays. (haha)

I've always loved Autumn. And being across the globe has made me realize those small things I miss from home in the Fall, like...

1. Our Autumn/Halloween decorations we put up in the house
2. Watching the leaves fall off our big tree and playing in the massive piles of leaves we gather
3. The crisp mornings
4. Pumpkin recipes and other yummy food (Mom, you're such a great cook)
5. Seeing the leaves change colors around town, with the red rock in the background
6. Halloween (they don't celebrate this in Russia) which, in our house, means of course watching "Hocus Pocus"
7. "Thriller"
8. My family!! (which I get all year round, but it happens to be Autumn right now, and I happen to live on the other side of the world at the moment, so...yeah)

Whew. Anyway.

Happy Monday for you all. Mine is just about to end. Right now I'm on my way to teach my Level 1 class, and afterwards will go have dinner with my host family. That's pretty much what my weekdays consist of: teaching, eating, and walking (I'm telling you this because a lot of my posts here consist of weekend activities and I want to reinforce the fact that I'm not always being a tourist, and that I do spend a lot of time preparing lessons and just doing everyday things. Haha)

Dasvedanya.

6 comments:

  1. What fun adventures...AGAIN!!! :) You girls look like you have so much fun together. It's good you have one another to be with and have as friends....four months there would be very long if you didn't have somewhat of a social life. I'm sure Wyatt would have loved to ride on that train on the grounds of Peterhof Palace.

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    1. Thanks Mommy dear! And yes I thought of Wyatt when I saw that train at Peterhof! I've also taken video of the metro to show him when I get home. :)

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  2. Dear Granddaughter, Your blogs are very interesting, keep it up. How do you communicate with your head teacher and the other girls? Do they have laptops to communicate with you? Where do you go to meet up with the other girls? Love Grandma Rogers

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    1. I'm glad you like my blog! I communicate with the other girls using a cell phone (paying for minutes and texts myself) and by walking over to the girls apartment. Three of us girls live with different host families and three other girls live in one apartment here, with our head teacher. I'm over at the head teachers apartment everyday. We plan lessons together, hang out together, eat lunch together, ect.!

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  3. ADDENDUM: Maegan, In the 3rd picture of the opera house, the person on the right seems to be an older person, is this Sveta? Love Grandma Rogers.

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    1. Haha nope that is just one of the girls in our group! She is 22, though, so a bit older than me. Sveta, our "tour guide" and Russian friend, is in her 40's.

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