Swan Lake

No trip to St. Petersburg is complete without a visit to the Russian ballet. Although the Mariinsky, the most famous theater in St. Petersburg, was closed for reconstruction, the more intimate Hermitage theater adjacent to the museum had several shows playing. We were lucky enough to get tickets (a process much more convoluted than the YesCar rental in Estonia) for a performance of Swan Lake.

At this point there were only four of us and we were probably the youngest people in the theater by about 30 years. Moreover, our combined knowledge of ballet was pretty limited... (Laura, where are you when I need you!) Some more memorable quotes from the evening:

"I'm not sure if that one is a man or a woman; how can you tell them apart?"
"hmm... I think you have to look at the lower half"

"If we hadn't Wikipediad this, I don't think I would know they were supposed to be swans"

"Wait, I'm confused, is she supposed to be a swan or a woman now?"

"So when in Russia, is it appropriate to bring vodka into the theater at intermission"

Truthfully, we all really enjoyed the show. My only basis of comparison is ballet at the Met, which I imagine must be close to--if not on par--with this. I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting. And for future reference, you are not allowed to bring vodka shots into the theater after intermission.

Russia in the Rain

By our third day in St. Petersburg, Katie and I felt a little bit like Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh. The rain has really seemed to follow us on this trip, and St. Petersburg has been no exception. Nonetheless, it was impossible not to be impressed by the city. Large domed cathedrals seem to tower over every other block and the streets are lined with beautiful buildings in every color of the rainbow. As noted before, the city spreads across many different islands so you often find yourself crossing various rivers and canals to visit the sites.

We were told to spend more time in St. Petersburg than Moscow because of all the city has to offer. After only 4.5 days here, I can say with confidence that it is definitely on my "return to" list.

Some of the highlights include:

• The Winter Palace and the palace square which serve as the engrave to the Hermitage
• The Hermitage - which is basically the Louvre of Russia. Unfortunately we visited this one after I wrote the last entry so probably didn't appreciate it as much as I could have. I personally found the building and some of the rooms themselves (including the state rooms from the last imperial family) to be more impressive than the painting collection. Supposedly the museum covers several miles of floor space, which is still only enough to display 5% of the collection
• Peter and Paul Fortress - the resting place of all of the Russian czars and the site of a former prison
• The Peteroff Palace, which is reminiscent of Versailles and had the most spectacular grounds of almost any palace I've seen. The centerpiece leading up to the palace was the "grand cascade and water avenue" that boasted over 64 fountains and 40 bronze statues... Maybe a little over the top but if it wasn't cold and dreary (and if there was no risk of getting thrown in a Russian jail) I would have jumped in.
• The Church of Spilled Blood: the picture of the facade of this one says enough and the entire inside is covered in mosaics
• Numerous other cathedrals but this entry is already really long...

Recipe for Disaster

St. Petersburg is built along a series of rivers and canals. Bridges connect all of the "islands" to each other, and every night from 1:30 am to 4:30 am, the bridges open to allow boats through. This pretty much means that if you are out partying on an island and your hotel is not located there, you either have to cab home before 1:30 or wait until after 4:30.

Friday night, our first night, 8 of us sat down to a nice dinner on a rooftop terrace around 9:30. Three hours, several bottles of wine, and a bottle of vodka later, we decided to head out to one of the trendy bars here that happens to have an equally trendy nightclub across the street. Both were, of course, not on the island we were staying on. Seeing as how we didn't even get in cabs until almost 1:00, it probably goes without saying that it was a pretty long night.

In the interest of preserving what is left of our dignity (and livers), I probably shouldn't get into too many details. I will say that while Katie and I dragged ourselves up around 1:00 to sleep walk through the Hermitage, most of the boys didn't make it out of the hotel until we repeated this whole adventure the next night (although, thankfully, on a somewhat smaller scale.). Good times in St. Petersburg. And for any guys thinking of coming - the women here are SO much better looking than the men. Stay tuned for pictures.

Helsinki

Yesterday morning we took an early ferry to Helsinki, Finland. It's a port city (and Finland's capital) with about half a million people. It definitely had a different feel than the Baltics. Although it wasn't that cold yet - everything about it felt more arctic. We had a full day and night and most major attractions were walking distance in the central city including the main cathedral http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Suurkirkko_Helsinki_maaliskuu_2002_IMG_0629.JPG and our personal favorite this church carved right into the rock http://www.muuka.com/finnishpumpkin/churches/helsinki/chteh/church_chteh.html.

Another highlight was the main market which was right along the water. One of our best meals at the trip was probably the fresh salmon paella we got off the street for only 5 Euros.

Night time entertainment was a bit of a bust. The frozen "Arctic Bar" that was all the talk in the tourist pamplets turned out to be more like a large walk-in freezer. Then we either went to the wrong place, or nightlife doesn't really pick up until midnight (or a bit of both) since we ended up at a pretty low-key bar before calling it a night to get some sleep before our 7am train to St. Petersburg.

The group is now up to 12 people - so unsure if I'll actually keep writing this blog since things will undoubtably be busier.

Mind the 11 Month Winter

Thank God we spent the afternoon in Riga. When we arrived in Parnu (known for Estonia's most beautiful beaches and bustling nightlife) it was completely deserted. As in, we could only find one hotel that was even open. The receptionist informed us that it is only busy here July. Someone is going to have to explain to me how the "summer season business model" is sustainable if winter is 11 months long. Needless to say, we don't have much to write. The highlight of the night after dinner was teaching Katie how to drive stick around the deserted streets. Tomorrow we're off to Finland for hopefully more exciting adventures including an arctic bar and mass quantities of alcohol.

Lunch in Latvia

Our planned destination with our new set of wheels was Parnu, a popular beach town on the Southern coast of Estonia. However, once we started driving we realized that the Latvia border was only 20 minutes father away, and Riga, the capital of Latvia was only another hour and a half. Why not lunch in Latvia?

With no maps or information of any type we drove across the border. We assumed that if Riga was anything like Tallinn we could find the tourist/old town area by driving toward the steeples. Turns out Riga (which we later read is known as "the big boy of the Baltics") was a almost double the size of Tallinn and it did take us several attempts to figure out exactly where to drive. (Unfortunately, asking random people as we drove by didn't expedite the process.)

We celebrated our arrival with lunch and a beer and then set out to explore. Unlike Tallinn, the walls surrounding Riga were torn down in 1863 so the city had less of the Disney World feel and more of a Western European feel. The cobblestone streets were intertwined with the modern streets and locals were wandering around with tourists. In 4 hours we managed to secure a map and hit all of the "must sees" including a trip up the tower of the tallest church for some aerial views of the city. At first impression we both liked Riga more than Tallinn - but it's quite possible that we were influenced by the fact that it was 75 and sunny outside.

YesCar

I woke up this morning and my butt informed me that I fulfilled my biking mileage quota for 2009. We were told that to rent a car all we needed to do was walk in the souvenir shop. So we walked inside and the woman assembling trinkets pointed to a table between a couple piles of sweaters that had a phone on it. After pushing the button labeled "press here" a man came on the line an informed us that a car would be waiting outside our hotel at 9.

True to his word, YesCar was parked in the front of our hotel at 9. No passport, credit cards, or deposit required. He wrote down my name and license number and said "Now you have car. Have fun." The only scary thing was that he stayed to watch me reverse parallel park out if a space and it's been a while since I drove a stick shift.

Beyond the City Walls

This morning we decided to venture outside the city walls and explore the Estonian countryside. We rented bikes for the day and took a 30 mile tour - of which 10 miles in the forest were decidedly less ideal on the ass for biking. We checked the following things off our list.

• Lahemaa National Park: Estonia's largest national park. We think it is only called a national park to trick tourists like us into visiting. It seemed no different than the rest of the countryside scattered with farms and small villages
• Estonia's largest waterfall: At 8 meters high it wasn't quite as impressive as Niagara Falls, but it was close second
• The largest manor in Estonia: Much to Katie's dismay this was enough to get me singing the Sound of Music as we ran around the house
• Boulder Counting: According to our guide book we apparently rode right by "the most beautiful group of boulders" in Estonia but we did count 2,743 along the coast
• Kasmu: "Estonia's cutest village"- more like a small grouping of 10 homes

Just when we thought we had seen it all, the clouds parted and it warmed up to a balmy 85 degrees. An oasis appeared in the middle of the forest complete with a beach, a waterside, and a flock of flying squirrels circling overhead.

A Tour of Old Town

When we landed yesterday around noon it was overcast and probably only 60 degrees out - looks like our visits to the beaches might not pan out exactly as expected. We decided against napping and powered through a day of site seeing in old town - which dates back to the 14th century and is still surrounded by much of the original defensive wall.

Wandering the winding cobblestone streets took us past numerous churches, cafes, hotels, and souvenir shops. In all honesty we both felt a little like we were walking around Epcot Center with the only locals present dressed in medieval gear working stands along the street sides. (Slightly reminiscent of Sienna for those of you who have been there.) Given that Tallinn is home to almost half of Estonia's population and it took us only about 4 hours to wander every street in Old Town, we have to assume that most of the non-tourist activity is outside the walls.

Too tired to venture out, we had our first authentic Estonian dinner. Well, the food was authentic, odd church like music played throughout the candlelit restaurant which was supposed to set a medieval atmosphere (no jousting???). The wait staff were all dressed in traditional clothes and served us a feast of wild boar, sour kraut, hearing, salmon, onion jam, berries, and some cheese like substance. Think we made it until 9pm before passing out.

You're Going Where? Why?

As I write this, Katie and I are in Copenhagen on our way to Tallinn, Estonia. Why Estonia? It all started with me needing to be in China for a school trip and wanting to travel somewhere that was (kind of) en route. So Katie and I looked at a map an determined the only major country neither of us had been to that fit the criteria was Russia. Backing out what we wanted to see in Russia we realized we had extra time. Why not Estonia?

The only things we knew about Estonia until an hour ago: where it is on a map and my mom said Tallinn was "pretty" and "quaint". The plan? No plan as of yet although from what we just read in our sleep deprived state we now know that Estonia has a population of 1.3 million, is famous for Skype and Kazaa (both developed by entrepreneurs here) and has captured the world record in wife carrying. Biking and canoeing seem to come up as popular activities in most cities - along with boulder counting. (Seriously?) Water parks are apparently "all the rage" in the south and the national park is supposedly home to otters, beavers, wolves and flying squirrels. I guess if I get to go down some waterslides, witness a couple practicing for wife carrying competitions, and see a squirrel fly I will leave Estonia a happy person.

Ahh... warmth

I’m back in Palo Alto after a nice surprise of being upgraded to business class on my flight home. Definitely the way to go on the long flights... too bad I have a negative cash flow and will probably have to wait quite a while before that happens again.

Anyway, so I’m at the car wash this afternoon, waiting outside (e.g. falling asleep outside) while the car wash people do there thing. It was probably about 50 degrees so I was thoroughly enjoying being back in Cali and was soaking in the sun in my T-shirt (ok I know this is abnormal but after below zero temperatures the last three weeks I think my Wisconsin blood came back). Anyway, I ran into my friend Paul. Now Paul is from LA, and just spent a week in Argentina. He sat down next to me wearing a full down jacket, a hat, and gloves. Not sure if he would have survived Harbin, even with the Russian hat.

Right now I’m trying to stay up as late as possible tonight - 9:00pm??? I'm also enjoying fresh air, blue skys, Sunday football, easy access to milk and cheese, and knowing that eating feet and internal organs isn't even an option for a while since I went grocery shopping at Safeway today.

Also, instead of organizing my life for the next quarter of school, I decided to upload pictures instead... this must be a record for me since I still haven’t uploaded the ones from my summer trip yet. Try not to mind our apperance too much... especially in Harbin. It was FREEZING!!! Also, I decided to save myself even further embarassment and did not upload the New Years Eve pics. Sorry!

Harbin http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=lisa.scheible&target=ALBUM&id=5287631409052388417&authkey=lf0JI8MU2Ws&feat=email

The Village by Harbin http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=lisa.scheible&target=ALBUM&id=5287632902806152321&authkey=xaVumJbSU3g&feat=email

Ice Cities http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=lisa.scheible&target=ALBUM&id=5287633332351441425&authkey=4BSN5UJUQKI&feat=email

Beijing & Great Wall http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=lisa.scheible&target=ALBUM&id=5287634101957709441&authkey=JQlmonUQb-E&feat=email

Beijing in a day?

So yesterday, in a crazy time-warped world (since it’s really been about 48 hours), was my last full day in Beijing. As much as we needed sleep, Laura wanted to show me about 20 other things before I left so we got up early, met Chris and John, and crammed it all in. I skipped some of the must-sees (e.g. The Forbidden City) since I’m sure I will be going in September. We did hit up the Silk Market, another famous street full of shops and cafés, Tianamen Square, the new National Theater, and at night a couple of Laura’s favorite bars. We also somehow managed to cram in a visit to her grandparents and a final family dinner (meal number 5 of the day I think).

Deals of the day: We went to a tailor in the silk market who John has worked with before and brought one of Laura’s Thomas Pink shirts. In less than 24 hours I had three copies of the shirt made custom to my measurements and a suit for a grand total of less than $200. I seriously think they must just have a copy machine where they put a shirt in, some new fabric, and push a button. They also came to her place at 9:00pm (after dinner and before going out) to do a final sizing on the suit which they then delivered along with the shirts at 9:00am the next morning. Amazing. Slightly less amazing although perhaps equally fun was stocking up on DVDs for $1 each at 1:30 in the morning before stumbling home.

The Great Scramble

Yesterday, Laura and I, along with her friends Chris and John, decided to go to the Great Wall. Since I’m coming back to China in September, and Laura and John live here (Chris is visiting), we thought it would be fun to go to one of the unrestored sections of the wall instead of the traditional touristy areas. Great idea, poor execution.

Poor execution example 1: No GPS in China. What should have been an hour and a half drive turned into almost three hours. Since it wasn’t a touristy area, our cab driver got incredibly lost. The Chinese, at least out in the villages, are also terrible at giving directions. We got no less than six different opinions. I don’t speak Chinese, but I think the conversations went something like this. Approach fork in the road and ask local if we take a right or a left. Response “well, the fishing village is Northwest, and you came from Beijing, so maybe turn around and backtrack.” Around 1:00, we finally made it.

Poor execution example 2: How much higher is it? The Great wall is built on a mountain. If you don’t go to a tourist region where you can drive half way up, cable car up, or walk up steps, you have to scale the mountain. Ok, not the worst thing, we all like hiking and were up for an adventure. We did, however, somehow manage to pick the highest peak that we could see for miles. Jeans, cashmere sweaters, and long down jackets / pea coats: not ideal clothing for what became a two-hour strenuous scramble up the mountain. A decent portion was open rock face and walking along narrow ledges; we were on all fours for about half the way up.

Poor execution example 3: Racing the setting sun. We had little time to celebrate our victory of making it to the Wall on top of the mountain. It was 3:00 by that point and we knew it would be pitch black by 5:00. Going down the way we came up didn’t seem to be an option – it was borderline too dangerous in daylight and we couldn’t risk getting stuck on the mountain at night. After weighing our options, we decided to try to walk along the wall several miles towards one of the tourist areas a few miles away… despite the fact that our ride home was waiting for us at the bottom of the mountain. Covering a couple miles in two hours doesn’t sound that bad, but the unrestored section of the wall was REALLY unrestored. We might as well have been back on the ledge on the mountain. Parts were steep enough that we actually had to “slide” down on our butts. We didn’t think we’d make it by dark, but we were hoping to minimally make it to a section of the wall that was safer to walk on figuring that if it came down to it, we could use light from our phones or absolutely worst case scenario wait the night out in one of the towers.

Luckily – we came to the restored section of the wall sooner than anticipated. (It should also probably be noted that to getting to this section involved jumping over a gate with a big sign on the other side that said “Danger: No Admittance”) In any case, the sun was just setting at 4:30 and we were able to haul ass to cover the last mile to a cable car just as darkness set in. The last part of the adventure was bribing one of the few locals still around to drive us the 10K back to where our cab was miraculously still waiting.

Finally some good decisions: Despite being completely exhausted and smelling of mountain and dirty cab, we decided to celebrate our victory (aka survival) by going to the nicest duck restaurant in Beijing. We followed dinner up with a full body massage and sleep-walked home at 12:30am.

Family Time and Still More Food

In the states, I typically spend January 1st recovering, watching sports, and maybe making it out for a late brunch around 1:00 or 2:00. For some reason I thought we were planning to meet Laura’s family later in the afternoon. I was wrong – Laura woke up early and called around 10:00am and they were already wondering how soon we could come over for lunch. With everything I consumed less than 12 hours before still swimming around in my system, I’m still not quite sure how I made it through the day.

We went to her Great Aunt’s house around noon and were greeted by about 15 family members sitting around a table with the most food I’ve seen on this trip. Picture “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” the Chinese version. (Although, in the Chinese version if you’re a vegetarian they won’t offer to make you lamb, they’ll offer to make you pork.) Despite my stomachs rebellion, I found a way to eat more of the delicious home-cooked food. (The dumplings were amazing although I wasn’t up for more animal feet.) It was really fun to meet her family, including her grandparents who I have been hearing so much about for the last couple of years.

After lunch, Laura’s aunt and cousin were awesome and offered to drive us to some of the tourist sites farther outside of town. We drove by the Olympic Green and saw all of the Olympic buildings. (China by the way is still OBSESSED with the Olympics. It plays on continuous loops here. E.g. after lunch everyone retired to the couch to watch the men’s ping pong finals, China vs. China.) After that we trekked out to the Summer Palace of the former Empress Cixi. Click here for Wiki pictures. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Palace We had a perfect day and a lot of fun wandering around, I was actually starting to feel like a human by the end.

After the palace we had to go back to say bye to the family and we were, of course, just in time for dinner… which consisted of an even bigger spread than lunch. I really don’t know how everyone stays so thin!!! Once we were all stuffed to the point of not being able to move, one of Laura’s aunt suggested we all play a game to finish more of the food on the table. For those of you who have played speed quarters with two glasses… you know how you have to drink when the glasses meet up with each other??? Well, we had to play speed “rock, paper, scissors” for chopsticks – if you ended up with two chopsticks you lost and had to eat more food. It definitely made for quite the post-dinner entertainment. At long last, we made it back home where I refused to do anything else that required moving… including typing the blog. We watched a movie and went to bed.

NY Style New Years... Sort of

Since the Chinese have their New Year celebration later this month, New Years Eve as we know it is pretty much an expat holiday in Beijing. That being said, our night was pretty similar to what you’d expect in a big city in the states. We had dinner for 25 (most of Laura’s friends) at an all you can eat and drink restaurant and then we reserved three tables at one of the more popular clubs, that for the most part played American hip-hop music. Despite the similarity of the general itinerary, there were a few notable differences:

• Dinner started at 6:30. Seriously????
• In addition to the standard sushi and surf and turf cuisine, we also sampled things such as spicy frog legs, bull penis, and some type of animal stomach
• The VIP section was actually within budget
• There was a disproportionate amount of Asians at the club, and I was one of two blonds at the entire place

Other than the fact that I had trouble breathing in the smoke – and am still suffering from it a couple days later, it was a fun night. The after party was at a fancy W-like hotel downtown overlooking the Forbidden City. The plan was to stay up and watch the sunrise over the Forbidden City, but seeing as how we started with “all you can drink” at 6:30 I think we only made it until 3:30 before cabbing back to Laura’s, making more food (although I have no clue how we managed to fit it in our stomachs) and then passing out.