Double Petersburger with Cheese

Reporting live from St. Petersburg, where all is well, except that I’m trying to fight off a cold before we head out to the Continent. Matt, Jason and I took a fun, alcohol-fueled 35-hour train ride here from Ekaterinburg. We arrived Friday morning to the apartment of fellow Fulbrightnik Lauren. Presently our Russian-born, Cleveland-raised friend Olga came over to make the best blini of my life (it’s in her blood; she once taught me how to make them over the phone). Having sat for so long, we were far from tired, so we set right out. On the first day, we visited the precious little Nabokov museum. Housed in the tiny apartment where he grew up, it mostly contains photographs, personal effects, like his Scrabble board, and a considerable portion of his butterfly collection. Adorable. From there we visited the Medni Vsadnik, the great central monument to Peter I. In the surrounding park, I pet and fed apple slices to an oppressed but still beautiful baby bear.

Walking back to Lauren’s apartment, we went through a tourist trap alley where they sell souvenirs and bizarre experiences. For her upcoming birthday, I made one of Lauren’s dreams come true, and bought her a photo opportunity with a tiny monkey dressed in a baby’s snow suit. I even bargained with the monkey-keeper, and got a second monkey ½ price! Unfortunately, another “merchant” had a hawk, who tried to escape and whacked me upside the head. Karma? Then, feeling thoroughly disgusted, we ran into a friend of hers who was on his way to the Hermitage. Since students get in for free and we all have IDs from our universities, we decided, what the hell, let’s go to the world’s biggest art museum. It was hard keeping such a large group together, but no one got lost for good. The museum is unbelievable, impossible to take in completely, but always satisfying.

Saturday was amazing. We got a very late start, but eventually went out for a walk and got some surprisingly excellent cheeseburgers (free unlimited ketchup and fountain drinks!!). In the evening, we decided to class it up and head to the Mariinsky Theater where they were doing The Magic Flute. The boys and I have been practicing our German in anticipation for Berlin, so we were all over Die Zauberflote. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize that the production was at the Little Mariinsky and accidentally bought tickets to that night’s performance of Swan Lake. Bogus! After trying to scalp our tickets, Olga explained to the box office lady that we didn’t speak Russian, and managed to get us tickets to the right show. We triumphantly hauled ass down the street and made it in time for the opera. Here’s the best part: the little Mariinsky is a huge, yet intimate space with central seating, boxes and surrounding benches for a little theater-in-the-round. Since we got there so late, we got to sit around/on the stage!

Uh oh, I’m losing battery power…promise to write more toute de suite!