Wanderers

After watching Russians drink in the streets, in the trains, and in the park - we decided we had to fit in. It started on the train (beers) that we took to find Peterhof Palace and Park which looks out into the Baltic sea/Bay of Finland. We found ourselves lost. Without a map everything is disorienting and when we try to buy a map they are all out. I am usually good with directions, but since everything is written in the Russian alphabet I feel just as lost as everyone else. I think of last season on the Amazing Race (my favorite TV show) where the racers complained that Russia was the hardest country to find their way though. We finally get off the train or elektrechka, which ended up being fun to take because we past through the country side. When we get off and try to ask for help everything is: I don't know or no. Russia is a country of stern people. I love the country, don't get me wrong, but people don't help you here like they do anywhere else. When you go too slow they tell you to go faster. When you are lost they tell you to get lost. When you are bare-handed they tell you to find a bottle.

Off the train the stop looks wrong: a few apartment buildings rise next to sparse forest and meadows. Dogs sun themselves in group and a woman walks her cow on a rope. We find a bus and ask the driver how we can get to Peterhof. He tells us to get on. We do, without knowing the stop or where exactly the bus is going. After a ride back in the direction we came from on the train, we find a huge palace and crowds of people. A quick walk around the palace is all we need- we came here for the sea. The park around the palace costs $9 to get in. We say forget it and walk down the street, past the fence of the park and older buidlings. Brides walk by yelling in Russian on their cell phones, Russian teenagers laugh and drink beer while enjoying the clear weather. We hit the end of the road and find a smaller local park that is next to Peterhof. We walk through it and finally find the sea. The trees open up onto a small beach that is mostly rocks and corse sand. The water is cold. We watch some Russians fishing. Peter asks what kind they are catching. They reply, "all kinds." We then watch teenage boys chug their beers and run into the freezing water. In the distance we can see Petersburg and other islands, maybe Finland. We are still disoriented.



Once we find the train station- after a nice walk through birch forests that are changing colors and purchasing some red russian berries from a Babushka- we catch the train in just the last minute. Driving back through the countryside we make our way to Saint Petersburg to look for food. Peter recommends a Georgian resuarant that we happily agree on. I have never had Georgian food. On the walk over we stop at a street vendor and buy real baltic amber jewelry for dirt cheap, but the restuarant is the true highlight of the day. It is a small place, that looks to be family owned. The paintings inside make you feel like you stepped off the cold Russian streets into a heated bright colored country. My mom is mostly excited they make their own home-made georgian wine. She orders a pitcher which they serve in a clay pitcher. The food then comes- georgian salad (almost like a greek salad but with more garlic and nuts), then stuffed bell pepers and eggplant (stuffed with a nut puree), and then i had potatoes with wild chanterelles. It was all delicous. My mom and Peter enjoy the wine so much that they ask if they can bring some home. The waiter runs down into the basement (where the kitchen is located) and pours them 2 liters of homemade wine in a coca-cola bottle. As Peter says, "The best Coca-Cola I ever had." We enjoy Saint Petersburg at night and make our way back to our hotel.


The next day I started to feel a little sick. So many people smoke so I almost thought it was an allergy, but today I def. feel worse (congestion, tight chest, sore throat). A common cold. I try not to let it get in the way of things though. We spend our final half day walking around older Saint Petersburg, looking at all the old buildings that withstood the war. They are not as polished as the palaces or churches and this intrigues me more. The cracks and chipped paint is beautiful to me. We eat lunch at an Austrian bakery and make our way back to the airport. I take my happy pill that calms me and puts me to sleep on the ride back to Moscow. It takes us longer to get from the airport to Peter and Dina's apartment in the traffic, but once we do I fall asleep early.

Today I tried to rest alot and had a low-key day. I went to Gorky park for a short walk and to a Russian bookstore where I purchased Russian childrens books that i might be able to read at one point. The bookstore had two stories and had any type of book you were looking for, in addition to school supplies, frames, cds. movies, puzzles, and craft supplies. There were also stuffed dead animals here and there. A dead stuffed squirell staring back at you in the childrens section might make you jump at first glance. This is Russia afterall...