Today was our first day in
Our gracious hosts then took us to the hotel and we settled in with no problems. Hannah decided to stay with us. We slept until
Coffee Shop: We started walking and Hannah found one of her favorite local chains as they have good savory rolls at a very reasonable price. I got the cabbage one which was very tasty except they serve it cold. It would be much better warm. The coffee was reasonable but nothing special.
St Issacs Cathedral: Headed back towards our hotel and which is 1/2 block from here. Figured out that we should pay for both the museum and the view. Went in and I was amazed at how huge it was with a marble everywhere. They had mosaics on display and we were not sure if were original or had been put there just for display. There were large amounts of tour groups from
Peter I Statue: A short walk towards the
The
Stolle (bottom entry): This was a nice little restaurant that Hannah likes to go that has great savery rolls also. The weblink above calls them Perogi.
Saluko. We then roamed the whole museum although I went a lot slower than the rest of the family. I really like to mid to late 19th century paintings of the russian forests by Ivan Shishkin although I didn't know it was a special exhibit at the time. I also was amzed at the and the reconstructed palace rooms in the permanent collection section in the Mikhailovsky Palace.
On our way back to the hotel, Hannah took us down Nevsky Prospect. This experience was not appreciated until we were halfway home. The constant rush of people and group after group of fashionably dressed Russians made it obvious that we didn't really belong there. We hit a traffic light that was green but the guy in front of us refused to cross and as it was narrow started blocking all of us. This seemed crazy but then I realized that he was setting up a pick pocket and jumped out of the way. Well we made it without incident back to the hotel for a few hours rest.
For dinner Hannah took us back to Nevsky Prospect but this time we took the back way. The walk was pleasant but typical of the day, fast traffic, dirty streets, and block after block of 3-4 story pastel colored buildings. We went to a Georgian Restaurant that her friend recommended and we had a very tasty meal but a not so great wine list. To top it off, the entertainment was a guy singing to a karioke machine very LOUD. We tried mainly Georgian style food, the eggplant stuffed with walnut paste, bread with melted cheese on top called ???, chicken with an alfedo type sauce, veal stew highly seasoned with salt but very tasty, a mutton stew with potatoes and onions. Made it out of there by 10PM and it was still light out. Nice walk back to the hotel.
We had a surprise as my wife's bag was in our room. It made her so happy!!!! Well Sam and I will continue in our Russian style of dress. They have 2-3 main outfits which they wear in public and when they are home, they immediately change into separate clothes. The difference is that their public outfits are very expensive and stylish (leather coats, fancy shoes, tight jeans). We on the other hand are living in our baggy jeans and sweatpants. Oh well, having fun anyways...
Be sure to visit Hannah's blog at hannahinrussia.blogspot.com
1 comment:
Hey, where are the pictures?
Nice link to Hannah's blog.
What happened to the assigning??
TEK
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