Blogs from Russia, Europe - page 293

The only thing I did this morning was try a new type of toothpaste, Zhemchug, which is flavoured with sea salts rather than mint. Linda left at lunchtime, to get on a train to Petersburg then a bus home to Helsinki. We'll definitely see each other again, hopefully while I'm in Finland this summer. There was another thunderstorm in the late afternoon, which almost put me off my essay-planning. ... read more

I got up fairly early today. It would have been good to stay in bed but I am behind on all my work so my conscience wouldn't let me. Michael and Tamzin went to Petersburg overnight so I was the only RLUS person in Tver to meet the director Dr. Bivon, on his tour of the centres where British students study. He phoned ahead to say he would be at the university at 11 so I waited for him in the language centre. At 1, Lyudmila Georgevna told me that he wouldn't be coming. What a waste of two hours when I am so busy. The last time I spoke on the phone with Natalia in Moscow we agreed that I would be here to meet him. When I checked my emails a while later there ... read more

Hello from St. Pete, It's been a fantastic four days in the "Venice of the North". We have so much to report from our first destination as there is so much to do in this city. Firstly the stereotypical view of a grey soviet city certainly does not apply here. This is a bustling European style metropolis that seems to have easily slipped out of her recent Soviet past and embraced many of the capitalist trappings of most major European cities. I'm glad to say though that it has also preserved the beautiful buildings and architecture of its past and while there is some neon on show it is really quite low key so far - and the omni-present big brands are relatively unobtrusive at eye level. We have been based near Nevsky Prospect for the ... read more

The blue spring sky came back today, then turned to shades of grey in the afternoon. Both myself and Ella ordered the same 'sendvich dlya lancha' for lunch, and recieved half of the same one twenty minutes apart. Russian logic for you. We spent the day between Kremlevskaya and Baumana, and the steep cobbled streets that link them. As we were sitting on a bench in the street 'Angels' by Robbie Williams started to play from one of the clothes shops. It reminded me of my class singing it in the Tatarstan wilderness when we stopped in the middle of our nightmare minibus journey in the autumn. Maybe the best memory. It wasn't the same today without Chris J playing it on his guitar. In the evening myself and Liisa took a trip 'there and back' ... read more

A mix-up this morning meant that the girls thought I was sleeping at 10.30, and left the hotel without me while I was having a shower to get ready to go somewhere with them. I had to settle for a walk around the kremlin in the rain on my own; the perfect weather had changed but it was warm never-the-less. Overnight my phone balance went from 9 y.e to minus 9 y.e so I had to call in at a phone shop to sort the problem out. The rest of the day was sports' day. AK-BARS beat Omsk again to win the Russian championship - the people in the sports bar were more excited at the end of the game this time, but still not as wild as Ella. We walked home across ulitsa Baumana, to ... read more