St. Petersburg

Hello friends! I arrived in St. Petersburg today and now I begin my travels as a true tourist. It's a big relief to be staying in a hotel at long last, eating what I want and not having to muddle through half-Russian, half-English dinnertime conversations. That being said, I did cry twice yesterday, once when I said goodbye to my friends in Murom and once when I said goodbye to my friends in Vladimir.

We rode to St. Petersburg on a night train. We slept in tiny bunkbeds in tiny traincars. Actually, we had a lot of fun. Not a lot of sleep, but a lot of fun. We get to do it again when we go to Moscow!

Check out St. Petersburg on a map. It's a really interesting place. First of all, it is built on a swamp. There is one major river, the Neva, that runs through the city, as well as numerous canals. Also, it's so far north that in the summer they have here what are called "white nights" when the sun goes down only for a few minutes. It's a little late for a true white night here, but it's 10:15 and still bright outside.

St. Petersburg also has a unique history. It was built 300 years ago, ordered by the tsar (king) Peter the Great. He wanted a city like the ones he saw when he traveled in Europe, and he also wanted Russia to have a great navy like the ones European nations had. So he ordered the building of St. Petersburg, what he called Russia's "Window on the West" and moved the capital here. Even though the capital was moved back to Moscow in early 20th century, today St. Petersburg still feels like a Western city. It looks like a city you might find in Italy or France, not very Russian. Now, this really was a rather silly place to build a city. Even in July it is cool and windy. The land is swampy. Combine these geographical challenges with the grand plans that Peter had for his city, and you have a recipe for disaster. Some scholars estimate that 70,000 peasants died to build this city. Yet most Russians are extremely proud of St. Petersburg. It is a beautiful city and is considered to be the cultural capital of Russia.

Well, I need to put on my sunglasses and head on back to the hotel!