Blogs from Pushkin, Saint Petersburg, Northwest, Russia, Europe

I’ve always wanted an excuse to visit Russia, so when I was invited to give a paper at Saint Petersburg State University, I couldn’t resist. Mark was more than willing to jump on the bandwagon, so we sorted out our visas (an entirely corrupt process which involves paying any random Russian company to “invite” you into their country before dishing out a not-so-small fortune to the Russian embassy), and jetted off to Saint Petersburg. Any preconceptions I’d had about Russia were instantly revealed to be misconceptions. Firstly, there was the weather. I’d always harboured the naïve notion that the Red Square lies under a perpetual dusting of snow; that the palaces and churches of St Petersburg would be viewed against a backdrop of steely grey sky. When I checked the weather forecast a week ... read more

Bonjour à tous, Depuis un certain temps, j’avais réussi à être assez constant dans mon écriture. Maintenant que les longs déplacements de trains sont terminés, je me rends compte que ce n’est pas aussi évident de poursuivre sur ma lancée. Ceci étant dit, avec le délai depuis ma dernière correspondance, vous avez probablement compris que la découverte de la Russie est maintenant terminée, et quoi que j’aie beaucoup apprécié mon passage en cette terre inconnue, il était temps que nous passions à autre chose. Je vous propose donc un petit retour en arrière sur notre dernière semaine et demi en Russie, passée à Moscou et St-Petersbourg. Moscou Arrivé sur la place rouge a été assez spécial. En fait, nous avons fait tous les détours possibles pour ne voir la cathédrale Basile-le-bien-heureux que le plus tard possible. ... read more

In a word 'cold'... read more

Hi Everybody! St. Petersburg is an icredibly beautiful city with its amazing architecture! It reminds me of Prague with the many pastel colored buildings. It has given us a great first impression of Russia and has definitely won our hearts. In some of our past travels to Eastern Europe, we have seen hundreds of gray Soviet apartment buildings and administration buildings. In St. Petersburg, we have seen not seen any ugly buildings. St. Petersburg was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great but was actually named for the Apostle Peter. It served as the capital of Russia from 1713 until 1918. It is Russia's second largest city and has a population of 5 million people. The locals call it, Piter. It was built on 42 islands and has 90 rivers and canals. I believe that we ... read more

We are some, when in St. Petersburg, we feel like hovering a bit over the ground as we go along the prospects. This was the idea of Chester (an IT-specialist at the Danish School of Journalism) and I have always felt exactly the same way. Chester got married with a broad from here, and I certainly also made myself acquainted with some of the female half of the population when I once resided in ‘the Venice of the north’. Maybe this is what makes western men fly along the canals. As for me this stop would be about finding some of these old good-looking friends, whom I first met seven years ago. I have two good friends from back in the days - both women, both very attractive. But I had lost both their contacts as ... read more