St. Petersburg!

After 9 and a half hours of airtime and crossing 9 time zones, I finally arrived in St. Petersburg. The first thing I saw when I looked out the windoe when we were about to land was snow covered beige buildings. I can only assume the lack of color is due to the communist phase of Russia and our head director quickly pointed out on the bus that this was not the nicest part of town. The area my dorm is in isn't the nicest part as well either though, there are several factories and departments that can be seen from the window. However atleast there are stores and the booming Netsky prospect is just a metro ride awaay. Here are some pictures from my trip so far.
Here is my dorm

It was pretty fun to watch the ducks get blown around on the partically frozen water

Fortress of St. Petersburg

There is a myth that Peter the Great saw a rabbit in eaxctly the same spot as the statue and decided to name the island rabbit island. People like to throw coins at the base of the statue and make a wish.

Fort from the inside

This section was used as a prision, Peter the Great even imprisioned his own son when he tried to over throw him

Statue of Peter the Great... I don't know why they made his head so small

Frozen Neva

Statue of Peter the great, you can barely even see me!

Amazing even in the freezing cold

An unmarried princess commissioned this monestary to be built so she could live there for her remaining years. However she died before it was completed

Here are just some of the beige buildings I was talking about

Ok well that's all for now, tomorrow we will be visiting The Hermitage which includes the Winter Palace, so more pictures and updates to come.


 

Arrival in London

Arrival in London

I saw lots of amazing things while I was in London. I had a lot of time to tour central London because I got there around 9:00 in the morning and couldn’t check in until 3:00pm. I especially liked Hyde Park because it was full of gorgeous flower displays and statues… not to mention it was free which an uncommon occurrence in London. Here are some of the pictures; sorry these ones of Hyde Park aren’t such good quality I took them on my Itouch.

 

This is a statue of Prince Albert that Queen Victoria resurrected in his honor

Here are some other pictures from London

Buckingham Palace

Westminster Abbey, I attended a service here and the choir was fantastic

 

Big Ben

It was very difficult to capture this Church in a photo, it was huge! And it was built in 36 years over 200 year ago.

Yes this is a statue of George Washington in Great Britain



Tower bridge

This Roman wall is about 1,800 years old, its the eldest monument in London

Ok well that's all for now, I am currently in St. Petersburg now and have gone on several expeditions. I'll post those pictures and stories a bit later. As one might have guessed this orientation week has been very busy and there has not been too much leisure time, but I will post again as soon as I am able.

Preparing to Leave For Russia: The Lists...

Failing to Prepare is preparing to fail- some dude ( My father says it all the time)

In order to prevent a hectic last minute frenzy of packing, I've decided to start compiling what I will bring for Russia. Now I'm sure this list may get tweaked a bit, but these lists are what I find to be the most useful and what I most frequently use in my daily life. The rule of thumb is to pack for one week if you are staying abroad for one semester.

Clothing

• Jeans (2-3 pairs)
• Beige Skirt (tights as well)
• Sweaters/Hoodies (2)
• T-shirts
• Long sleeve shirts (Make sure they are good for layering)
• Underwear (one week’s worth)
• Pajamas (2 pair)
• Warm slippers
• Socks (a week’s worth) (you should include a few pairs of wool socks if you’re going to colder climates)
• Swimsuit (Cant decide if I really should even bother...)
• One set of workout clothes
• Thermal underwear (silk preferably for colder climates or the adventurous sort)
• Coat/Jacket (water resistant with zip pockets and removable lining)
• One nice outfit (dress pants/skirt/dress) for special/formal occasions
• Decent walking shoes
• Boots
• Flip flops (especially for showering at hostels)
• Warm hat, gloves and scarf (for colder climates)

Toiletries

• Shampoo/Conditioner (SMALL Containers)
• Toothbrush/toothpaste
• Deodorant
• Disposable razors (and other shaving supplies)
• Brush/Comb (and hair ties)
• Tissues (highly recommended as many countries don’t keep toilet paper in stock in the bathrooms)
• Feminine Products (one month’s worth)
• Over-the-counter medicines (aspirin, anti-diarrhea, anti-nausea, etc.)
• Nail clippers and nail file
• Makeup
• (All these items need to fit in my toiletry bag)
• Jewelry container

Misc.

• Important documents (passport, visa, itinerary, plane tickets, etc.)
• $100 in local currency (make sure you have enough cash for a few days until you can find an ATM) [I recommend waiting to get this until you land in your host country, the exchange rate is almost always more favorable.]
• DVDs in light fold able case
• Small purse
• Small blanket
• Travel books for the region(s) you will visit
• Watch
• Sunglasses
• Laptop w/charger
• Camera w/cords and charger
• Adapters (changes the shape of the electrical plug) /converter (reduces or increases the current’s voltage)
• iPod, iPad & iTouch (especially for long plane/train rides)
• Playing Cards (good for long train rides and lighter than a pile of books)
• Journal (to write your memories in – writing really helps students deal with culture shock – some people suggest writing online, but generally you won’t be able to do that/might not have Internet access daily while you’re traveling so having something you can physically write in every day or night is a good idea)
• Thin lightweight towel (preferably microfiber so that it will dry fast when you’re traveling)
• Alarm clock (though a cell phone works well too)
• Enough prescription drugs for the length of your stay (You will need to check to make sure you can bring them into the country and that you have proper documentation, i.e. a doctor’s note)
• Backpack (for day trips and daily use) – You should use this as your carry-on so you’ll have less luggage.
• Small plastic bottles for toiletries for use in your carry-on or while traveling
• Refillable water bottle
• Pillow Pet *
• Small Umbrella
• Linens, bedsheets, and towels (Check with your program to see if these are provided, otherwise you may just want to buy them abroad because they tend to be heavy and take up a lot of room)

So why out of everything on that list was the pillow pet *ed? Because apparently pillows in Russia are as comfortable as lying on a log! The last thing I need is a bad back on my stay there. I'm going to do my best to try to not over pack. I always do for college and I don't use most of it. So for example, I'm only going to bring movies and DVDs I know I will use!

Preparing to Leave For Russia: The Coat

There are many things I will have to acquire before I leave for Russia, but one of the most important of those items has been bought today...a heavy winter coat! Here is a picture of it:

 

Granted it is not the best quality picture because I toke it with my Itouch, but you get the idea. I tried to research good quality coats for cold weather, but I found a surprisingly low amount of information. It seemed people were a lot more able to say what NOT to wear rather then what you SHOULD wear. However, I think I made a good choice, I wore it on a date with my boyfriend tonight and I felt very warm (it was in the low 20s tonight), so hopefully it will suffice.

I would also like to get a bag organizer that I can use on my carry on bag in order to fit as much stuff in as possible. I found a pretty nice one on eBay, but its a bit pricey so I'll probably only get one if I get a good deal for one, no need to waste money on that!

Well its getting late so I guess that's it for now.

Welcome!

Hello Viewer

Thank you for reading my blog! This is just a simple introductory segment to test this baby out, more posts to come soon please come back soon.

                                                                                Steph