This past weekend, we traveled to Saint Petersburg, which, naturally, was terribly exciting for me. St. Petersburg has been a dream destination of mine ever since falling in love with the movie, “Anastasia”, when I was four years old. I realize this may be upsetting for a history professor to read, but it’s impossible to fight the allure of “Once Upon A December”. The animation may be poorly done, the film may be devastatingly historically inaccurate, the plot line may feel hastily drawn together at times… but it’s a truly delightful film experience for children and adults alike!
It’s challenging to fit three days of St. Petersburg into a single blog post. Not only because there are so many magnificent thoughts to share, but also because I was tired and everything kind of blurs together in my memory. So, here are just a few highlights, and I’ll follow up with more shortly:
We boarded the train, and began our seven-hour journey, at around 11 PM. Patrick and I found our seats in an open compartment next to an older Russian couple. For some reason, I felt self-conscious after sitting down and forgot the normal way people are supposed to move their hands. So I sat with my back rigidly straight, pressed my hands tightly together, and stared straight ahead as the strangers around me arranged their beds, talking animatedly and settling in for the night. I realized that I didn’t know where to put my bag, or where Patrick would find room for his suitcase. The couple seemed to notice that we had not moved, and likened us to scared puppies, because they gestured for Patrick to shove his bag under one of their seats. I then snapped out of my confused-hand-placement stupor and greeted them, asking them how they were. We had a lovely conversation in which I explained where I was studying and what I was studying, how long I had lived in Moscow, how long I had studied Russian, and what I was most excited to see in St. Petersburg. They told me they were visiting friends in St. Petersburg for the weekend, and that the most important thing for me to do in the city was to look and look and look and take everything in, and then go back again because three days was not nearly enough time. They also complimented my pronunciation, which was really very kind, because I’m sure I was speaking very slowly and stumbling over my words. The ticket lady stopped by again and quickly asked to see our tickets, so quickly, in fact, that she was difficult to understand. Before I could say anything, my new acquaintances leaned over and said that I had only been in Russia for one month and couldn’t understand everything yet. It was very kind of them; they were very kind. I wanted to say goodbye once the train arrived, but they had already gone by the time I returned from the bathroom early the next morning. Maybe they were my Petersburg guardian angels.
1. Эрмитаж.
Catherine the Great began the State Hermitage Museum collection in 1764, after purchasing 225 paintings from a Berlin merchant. After that, Catherine became, what I like to call, an “art shopaholic”. She bought a LOT of art, you guys, and she bought it in bulk - kind of like buying groceries in Costco. (Why buy one box of cereal when you could buy fifty boxes for the same price?!) Anyways, Catherine had too much art to fit into her fabulous palace, which is super understandable considering there were only about 1,000 rooms. So, she went ahead and added on a couple more buildings, and WA-LA! We have the Hermitage Museum. Fun fact: The Winter Palace was built specifically for Empress Elizabeth, but she died before it was completed and never lived in it. Don’t feel too bad for her though, because another fun fact is that Elizabeth owned 15,000 dresses by the time of her death, so I think she was doing just fine. One more fun fact is that I own three dresses in Moscow. Elizabeth owned 14,097 more dresses than me. Another fun fact is that I suddenly feel woefully under-dressed. These facts are gradually becoming less fun.
2. Мариинский Театр
I had dinner with a corps de ballet dancer, named Marina, of the Mariinsky Ballet on Friday night! Another fabulous dancer-friend of mine gave me Marina’s contact information after she learned I would be studying in Russia this year. We have been corresponding via Facebook since August. I’m so lucky, and surprised, that Marina was as excited to meet me, as I was to meet her! I tried to explain to her how much I admire her for being a Mariinsky dancer, and she just said something along the lines of, “My mom put me in ballet school and I wasn’t happy about it at first, but now I’m here and I’m glad.” She took me to a cozy café and we both ordered tea. Afterwards, despite my objections, she insisted on paying for me because I was her guest in the city. We are planning to Skype soon so I can help her practice English!
~The Mariinsky Ballet was founded in 1783, is currently in its 233rd season, and has trained the likes of Mikhail Baryshnikov (ahem - my favorite dancer in the whole world), Anna Pavlova, Rudolf Nureyev, AND, arguably (or not), the most groundbreaking and dynamic choreographer of the 20th century, George Balanchine. I’m not crying… You’re crying.~
3. <<Камень, ножницы, бумага!>>
Irina brought along her seven-year-old daughter and she taught me how to play “rock, paper, scissors” in Russian. Well, she didn’t so much teach me how to play, as she taught me how to sing the little song that is sung before you play the game. I memorized the whole song and I’m pretty proud of myself. It goes something like, “rock, paper, scissors, pencil, water bottle, lemonade.. something else.. a word I don’t know…another thing, etc”) I finally found my “in” with the seven and under crowd - AKA the cool kids! She also held my hand sometimes and we played tag and danced down hallways together.