I've been bit by the travel bug

I sincerely apologize for how long it has been since I have updated! After my week of traveling, I found myself needing time to recuperate but having to do a million and a half things instead. But let me recap my travel week! First, we set off for Moscow on an overnight train. In Russia, there are two types of train cars: ones with doors and ones without. Apparently, the Russians rationalize the ones without doors as being safer for someone traveling alone because they spend a whole night sleeping next to a stranger and probably wouldn’t want to be completely shut in. At least that’s what they told us. Nevertheless, our first train compartment had DOORS! We woke up in Moscow and immediately hopped on a tour bus to see the city. Since we were only in Moscow for a few days (about two and a half), it was a challenge to limit myself in all I hoped to see but even still, I managed to pack in a lot including Red Square (even Lenin's body), the Kremlin (and the churches and the Armory Museum inside!), the Tretyakov Gallery (one of my absolute favorite galleries to date), the Novodevichy Convent and Cemetery (where Gogol and Chekov among others are buried), the Goulag Museum and a few other beautifully baroque churches. Unfortunately, at my favorite places, like the Tretyakov Gallery, the Armory, and most churches, I wasn’t able to take pictures. But here, I am in Red Square in front of St. Basil's Cathedral, the signature church of Moscow.

 I was seized with the urge to do something a little different in my pictures at Red Square, so here I am jumping with my friend Sarah.

This, unbelievably, is the spectacular interior of one of the Moscow Metros.

I also got to meet up with some old friends!

I have to say I was surprised by Moscow. First, it needs to be noted that people from St. Petersburg can’t STAND people who live in Moscow and vice versa. Therefore, I was warned by almost everyone that Moscow was a dirty city where people were greedy and cold. Surprisingly, it was almost the opposite! Moscow was definitely a huge and dirty city, compared to St. Petersburg at least, but her inhabitants were every bit as friendly! They even smiled and laughed on the metro (a very rare event in St. Pete’s, in my experience anyways). Whenever I found myself lost or confused, I was always able to find help from a Moscovite. I was even escorted places a few times by random people who, out of the goodness of their heart, just wanted to help this poor American girl find what she was looking for (something I have yet to experience in St. Petersburg, granted I haven’t been lost there very often). Nevertheless, I missed St. Petersburg and its beautiful canals very much!

Only a few days later, we hopped back onto a train WITHOUT doors and in 14 hours arrived in Kiev (after two border checks at 5am).  Kiev was amazing. Just amazing. The people were so pleasant, and the city had such a welcoming feeling overall. Ukrainian has many words that are either the same in Russian or very similar and many words that are RADICALLY different. It felt to me like listening to Russian in my sleep, but I was able to communicate in Russian since almost everyone spoke it as well. I really enjoyed wandering around the city in the mornings before our tours began. St. Sophia's Cathedral and the Kiev- Pecharsk Lavra (famous Russian Orthodox Cave Monastery) were beautiful places, and we were able to visit the caves briefly, but how I wished I could have spent more time there. 

 Kiev also had a great World War II Museum (Great Patriotic War as they call it). It is in the base of this monument to the war.

 Here I am standing in front of the lavra.

After Kiev, we spent a total of 19 hours on trains (with one break for an hour) including the trip back to Petersburg on a Russian speed train. I was actually extremely impressed with the speed train. I felt like I was in first class on an airplane! It almost felt too modern to be Russian. After jumping off the train and bolting home, I set off for Helsinki with a few friends that same night! Since our trip to Helsinki wasn’t with our CIEE Group, we decided to couch surf in Helsinki (cross another thing off the bucket list!). I never would have couch surfed if I were alone, but it ended up being a really interesting and positive experience. The person we stayed with was pleasant and even helped us cook one night. Helsinki was such a wonderful break from Russia and a very green city. The air was so clean, and organic shops and markets could be found on practically every street. We wandered through the famous design district and found many cute shops with eco-friendly products. Helsinki also was already preparing for Christmas and had a few “Christmas markets” that were great to wander through (which was wonderful because I LOVE Christmas). On our second day, we went to a fortress about twenty minutes from the mainland called Suomenlinna.

If I had to compare this beautiful island to anything, I imagine it would be a cross between Ireland and New Zealand. It is still a residential island, and over 500 people live there. 

Oh, and did I mention that water is FREE in Helsinki (there is absolutely no free water in Russia)? I drank more water in those two days than I have in probably the three months I’ve been in Russia. Besides the six, yes six, border control stations, it was the perfect way to end the week. And, in this week, I more than doubled the number of countries I have visited. As the title of this post suggests, I cannot wait to explore others.

I was shocked when I realized how little time I actually have left! Next week is already my travel break, and after that it is a mere 17 days before I return home. There is so much left to see and do (even though I have done almost everything in my guidebook already, yay!) I have taught English a few more times and really enjoyed it. My students are wonderful! I have also started a “Toys for Tots” program with a local orphanage and can’t wait to visit with the kids soon hopefully. I also shook Artemi Troitski's hand last week at a lecture (famous Soviet rock critic). I wasn’t able to gather a lot out of his lecture in Russian (besides his love for the Beatles and disdain for Brittany Spears), but he was a funny guy.

I finally feel that my Russian is at a level where I am comfortable speaking. I have even been able to stumble through many meaningful conversations that have lasted up to a few hours. But I must say, the weather is getting rather depressing. The sun rises around 10:30 am and sets around 5pm. I am pretty sure the best Christmas present I will receive this year will be seeing the sun again!

Here is my comedic Russian tidbit for the day: on many streets one can find this machine by the metro.

 Yes, it is an umbrella vending machine. That should give you a good idea about our wonderful weather here in St. Petersburg.