I have returned back from Russia last Monday. Put simply, this trip was the best holiday I have had so far in my life. I first flew to St. Petersburg and then traveled to Moscow for a few days. Russia is beautiful, especially in Winter. I loved many aspects of Russia. It was the Russia that I like, the Russia that I read about, the Russia whose culture is a matter of interest to me. It is the Russia I've imagined, the Russia I've expected. I have experience all the "Russian experiences" I wanted to experience - like drinking chai with blini, vodka with friends, wearing those crazy shoe-covers in the museum, ice-skating, riding a Marshrukta (a small taxi van), going to theater, coat-checks at literally every single place, babushkas, ..... and I can go on with examples like this! I left a couple of quintessential Russian experiences like Banya for my next trip. I did way too much in my two-week trip, but we simply were running out of time for doing more things : )
I first stated my Russian tour in St. Petersburg, perhaps one of the best cities in the world. I explored the marvels at the State Hermitage museum, walked all around the St. Petersburg on those beautiful bridges, enjoyed the small cafes and museums, explored the history of the city. I am not sure how to put this in words, but I was quite impressed by the city. St. Petersburg looks wonderful at night. The Neva river was frozen solid and it gave the city even a more beautiful look! I was awe-struck each time I visited the palaces of the Russian Czars, like the ones in Pushkin (Tsarkoe Selo), or the Yusopovsky Palace (Yusupovsky Dvorets), or the palace at Peterhof (Petrodvorets). Perhaps these Czars and emperors lived the grandest life possible! I definitely can't describe how grand these are in words, but I have many photos that will give you an idea of it! And what can I say about the ornate and architecturally-marvelous Russian Orthodox Churches!
I headed off to Moscow for three days. Watching Red Square at night was one of the highlights of my trip! I saw almost ALL sights in Moscow - Kremlin, Red Sqaure, Moscow Metro, Bolshoi, Moscow State University, Novodevichy monastery, Arbat, Kitai-gorod ... just to name a few! My next trip will include the towns around Moscow that form the "Golden Ring".
It was an unbelievable experience to see the sights and places that I was wanting to see for a long time. And of course, it was wonderful to see my old friends and some make new friends. Everything went exactly as I planned, and I would say thing turned out even better. I took many photos, I mean PLENTY. After my trip, the last count of photos came to around 2800 photos.
As you can imagine, I was kind of sad to leave Russia. But I know for a fact that Russia is a place I can not live in. Unfortunately. In short-term, I would have loved to stay there for at least 6 months or a year, but I am concerned about a few things. First, the skin-head violence targeting people with dark skin color. (Yup, a small minority of idiots are messing up the reputation of such a great country!). Another thing that I'm concerned with is the constant "harassment" of cops by stopping people with dark skin color and asking for documents. I know they are not racist and they do it for bribes. But there is a limit - I can't put up with it. Just in case you were wondering, the cops DID stop us and asked me *specifically* for documents. Yup!
Overall, I would say I fell in love with Russia. It is just a great, great, great country. I was plainly thrilled to see my friends who took care of me in just an unbelievable way! I would definitely visit back as soon as I can.
До скорого, Россия!
Labels: Russian Stuff, Travel
