Well thats it! I finally made it home and settled back in. The flight back was kind of crazy. After a 10 hour flight from Moscow to New York, I was told that my 7PM connection flight to DC had been cancelled. Considering that I am pretty new to traveling abroad, this was TERRIBLE news. Luckily, there was an employee who was kind enough to help direct me to the proper terminal and kiosk. Unfortunately, the next flight available was the next day at 7PM. This meant that I would probably have to stay in the airport for the evening because I did not have a cell phone and the wireless internet in JFK didn't work. I found some change and was able to call home and talk to my dad. He managed to  make some phone calls for me, finding a hotel and making a flight change to an earlier connection at 3:30PM. He obviously is some sort of miracle worker and having a bed made the time in New York significantly better.

The next day, the flight to DC went smoothly and I met my father at the airport and drove the rest of the way home.

In conclusion, this trip has been incredible. I've seen things that few people on the continent will ever be able to see. I've met people that I never would have otherwise. I've had my eyes opened to some profound cultural insights and differences. I also have caught the international travel bug. Hopefully, I will have the opportunity to see many other places, maybe in Russia again but maybe elsewhere on the globe. I hope you have enjoyed my blog. I have certainly enjoyed writing it and thank you for showing interest!

Nathan

On Tuesday, we took another trip to the Kremlin to see a few of the sights we didn't manage the first time. Our main goal was to make it into the Armory of the Kremlin which is an incredible collection of Tsarist weaponry, clothing and other items. Many of the things we viewed had incredible levels of craftsmanship and detail. The book bindings were especially incredible as it was very common to see golden books that were covered in precious stones. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take pictures inside of the building so I won't have any to show. One thing that was pretty surprising though was how many of the exhibitions were from other countries. Much of the art from the time of Peter the Great was foreign because of his huge interest in Europe and many German, French and English diplomats offered these expensive gifts to the Tsar. It was pretty incredible to see how ornate the weaponry was and I was amazed at the condition of the pieces. It was as if they had been completed only days ago and I assume this is because the collection has been very fluid and and pieces are rarely moved.

Yesterday, we took a trip to Georgian restaurant in the center of Moscow which was fantastic. I tried the Манты (Manti) which is similar to a meat filled dumpling. It was served with sour cream and it really was delicious.

Today we had our last day of class and later on we will be visiting the main МГУ campus which should be very cool. The main building is one of the Stalinist Seven Sisters which were a set of seven soviet government buildings that are all designed in a similar fashion.

Well, it has been a while since I posted here so this may wind up being pretty long...

Last Friday, we took a trip to Новодевнчий Монастырь (Novodevichy Convent) which is a former womens' monastery featuring a great deal of old Russian religious architecture. It had been built originally in the 16th century to commemorate the victory at Smolensk but was altered over the course of Russian history. During the Napoleonic War in the early 1800s, Napoleon claimed that he would not leave the city until this convent was destroyed. After the French army attempted to burn the structure, it was saved by nuns who extinguished the flames. On the other side of the walls is a famous cemetery where many famous Russians have been buried. For example, we were able to view the graves of Boris Yeltsin, the wife of Mikhail Gorbachev and Nikita Khrushchev (who happens to be the only Soviet premier not buried at the Kremlin). Very interesting stuff.

Since then, (in short) a lot of stuff has happened. It really has all been incredible and I apologize for not keeping up to date. Here is a short list of some of the things that we did over the week:

- Took a tour of St. Basil's Cathedral on the Red Square.
- Visited a Russian military museum where the wreckage from the infamous "U2 Incident" is stored.
- Viewed an incredible panorama at a museum dedicated to the Napoleonic Wars.
- Entered the walls of the Kremlin to see the many cathedrals, as well as both the Tsar Cannon and Tsar Bell.
- Walked through a park dedicated to each of the states of the former Soviet Union.

Finally, this past weekend was a hectic dash to see as much of St. Petersburg as is possible within two days. Even with the wind at your back, it is impossible to see outside of a few of the main tourist sights such as the Hermitage and Peterhoff. Undeterred, we tried our best and, in my opinion, did pretty well.

On Friday, we hopped on the overnight train from Moscow to St. Petersburg. The train departed at midnight and arrived at Moscow Station at 8:15 AM. Sleep was sporadic but certainly possible. Immediately after getting off of the train, we stopped at a coffee shop and left for our morning bus tour. The double decker bus made for some great photo opportunities around the downtown area and along the Neva River (which happens to be the 3rd largest river in Europe by volume of water). Afterwards, we walked the streets for a while, grabbed some lunch and then checked into our hotel. With only about an hour to rest, we left for the famous Hermitage Museum in the Tsarist Winter Palace. In terms of collection size, the Hermitage is second only to the Louvre. I was told that if I were to spend 30 seconds looking at each work of art, it would take me 7 years to view everything. Obviously, we fell pretty far short of the entire collection in our four hours. 

We returned to the hotel, took a nap and went back out to grab some dinner. Afterward, we headed to the Neva to see the bridge raising which is a rather large event on Saturday nights. The parks were crowded and the walls surrounding the river even more so. The after a number of fireworks displays, the bridge finally raised at 1:30 AM. Strangely enough, this was only 30 minutes after the sun set due to the "White Nights" St. Petersburg enjoys around the summer solstice which was only a few weeks ago. Sunrise was only a few hours later around 3:30 AM.

The next day, we started around 11 AM and went straight to the hydrofoil. This watercraft took us into the Gulf of Finland and to Peterhoff, which is the world renowned palace of Peter the Great. this was an incredible experience and made for some fantastic photos of golden statues and fountains. The estate is massive and took quite a while to transverse. We returned to the mainland for dinner and an evening canal tour by boat. Afterwards, we boarded the 10 PM overnight train, arriving in Moscow at 5:30 AM with just enough time to make it to class at 8 AM. As you can see, it has been a whirlwind weekend but certainly worth every exhausting minute.