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.