I disembarked my ship on Thursday, August 29th, 2013. When I got off the ship, I noticed that Professor Dmitry Strovksy was standing where you go through immigration, and asked to take a picture with him because I enjoyed his presentations during his stay on my ship. We then talked about Russia as a country. I asked if he was excited to host the Olympic Games here early next year, and he said that he is not. Russia spends around 60% of the income of the country to prepare Sochi for the Games. He said that Russia needs a lot of improvement, and all of the taxpayers money is going to something that will be done with within the next year. Russia does not accommodate people with disabilities. Professor Strovsky would rather see his money go towards improvements and accommodations rather than Olympic development. I found this very interesting because Americans would be proud to host another Olympic Games. This showed me one of the huge differences between our countries; we really have life easier than we imagine back home in the States.
I registered for a city orientation trip through my ship because I was not very familiar with Russia. The tour took us to the Hermitage Museum, which was once the Winter Palace of Catherine the Great. Today, the Hermitage is the third largest museum in the world, and it houses over 3 million exhibits! The museum houses a large selection of pieces from Monet, Picasso, and Leonardo da Vinci. After we looked though much of the museum, we walked to Church of the Savior on Blood (Spilled Blood Church or the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ).
Then, we walked along a canal towards Nevsky Prospekt, which is the most expensive street in Saint Petersburg (much like 5th Avenue in Manhattan and Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles). On this road we saw the Kazan Cathedral. We toured more of the city and saw Saint Isaac’s Cathedral. This cathedral withstood the harsh battles of World War II. On the third pillar, there is an indentation from a bomb during one of the battles in Saint Petersburg.
On my first night, I took a canal boat ride with a small group. We went around several canals, as well as the Neva River. The Neva River flows into the Neva Bay, the Gulf of Finland, the Baltic Sea, and eventually the Atlantic Ocean.
On my second day in Saint Petersburg, I tried to look for a post office to mail my postcards! This was very challenging because I had to follow a map that was written in Russian! It taught me to be able to count streets and be aware of my surroundings (such as canals, rivers, and important monuments) because there are no street signs! My roommate and I ate at a McDonald’s because she needs to compare their food in several countries. We both got chicken sandwiches, and they were square. Also, the bread had bacon bits in it; it was very different from home. On my second night I learned how to navigate the Russian Metro and Train systems to travel to Moscow!
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