Now we are more or less picked up, but we've still be working hard on wrapping up John's education (two more things left after this morning!) for the first semester as well as making decorations and scouting out a tree.
But let's go back to St. Pete's! It started off well, until it didn't. We got up on time and had plenty of time to pack our cold food, drink tea and coffee, and get out the door. The fridge was a little stinky so we wanted to get anything bad out of there before leaving. We started to forget something as we walked out the door but we went back and threw it out. We walked with the bike until we hit the forest road. Unfortunately it was very icy. We tried to ride anyway, and ended up sliding out once or twice. It was kind of slow-mo so wasn't a huge deal. But that meant we had to walk, and push the bike to the University to lock it up. We hoofed it, and once we dropped off the bike, started jogging a little. We made it over the bridge and saw the train in the station, and as we crossed the street it pulled away. No!! There was another train coming in 30 minutes, but that train took a little longer to get to Helsinki. We got on and had to buy new tickets, but were assured that we could get refunded on the others. Unfortunately, they don't speak good English at the Helsinki train station and the nuances of refund and exchange, etc. were lost, so we took a 20 Euro hit. But in retrospect, we got some back and we didn't pay as much as we "should" have in the first place.
We spent a little time in "The Stink", as we like to call it, and walked to the Embassy, which was very unhelpful. They told us the consulate was moved downtown during renovations and that we could call but the number didn't work. We just want to make our kid legal!
That's me looking at cool buildings and lights decorating the streets. It's dark enough that they can leave them on all day. They don't do that in Joensuu though... We had some lunch and then got on the boat. We brought food with us on the boat and still don't know how we got it past security, but did.
Our cabin was 9 square meters. Sounds super small, but it actually wasn't that bad. The bathroom is tight for sure, but we didn't spend much time in there.
We didn't start taking pictures on the boat until it started moving so they didn't turn out that well... but there she is! Remember this is 4 pm!
We had a great evening when we stopped over in Tallin to go through passport control. I guess they do it there instead of Helsinki, so we got three hours to wander the old part of Tallin. We forgot the camera, but if you look up pictures, I'm sure they will be better than what we would have taken. We had a good time looking at the buildings and walls, and wandering the quiet streets. Not too many people were out. Mostly our crowd off the boat. There are bars and restaurants open in the old town and the square had a few booths open selling hot Glogi (berry punch). We thought about getting something to snack on or drink, but ended up wandering more. Once we were back on the boat we went to bed. I had to search out some milk to buy first because of the reflux. I don't think they are too used to that request, though they do have kids on the boat.
Because of the Tallin stop over we got in to St. Petersburg later than we, personally, expected. For about the last hour, we passed though narrow harbor filled as far as the eye could see with boats and cranes and industry. It smelled awful!
It was an odd arrival as we all filed down the stairs and into the cargo area. We walked off where the trucks drove off and went to customs. Something to note about Russians. I don't think they have a concept of forming a line. Or maybe they do, but they think you are allowed to cheat as much as you want. I started getting annoyed and competitive as they would just walk up and cut in. Sometimes they would do the strategic you-stand-in-that-line-I'll-stand-in-this-one and whoever is closest to the destination will let the other join them. Thankfully in Russia they did a little bit of crowd control as we went through getting our passports checked.
Once we arrived, we were shuttled to our hotel. We were pretty tired, so we napped and, of course, by the time we woke up it was dark outside. We went off though and tried to find a place to eat, one that was recommended by our guide book or by Luda, the Russian in the program. It was okay, nothing too glamorous for sure, but I guess it's a popular chain. I got soup and John got something with potatoes and meat. Sounds Russian, huh?
Being warned not to drink city water, we ordered other drinks the whole time. It was kind of odd to not be able to have water. We did receive water in our hotel room fridge and had a water bottle that was full when we left Helsinki, but it was very different to have to pick out something to drink.
Some sights!
A cathedral.
The Singer Building
The first night we made it back to the hotel in time for John to get in the sauna and for me to take a bath. We enjoyed watching BBC News and downhill skiing on a German station. We tried to understand what they were saying! A lot of it was the same words over and over: jetzt, ganz. With access to T.V. though we ended up going to bed late, and when we woke up at 7:30, we were still pretty tired. The breakfast in the hotel was pretty good, but my stomach just wasn't settled. They had a full spread! Tons of different breads, cold cuts and fish and cheese and veggies, hot eggs and bacon and meat rolled into pancakes, yogurt with cereals. We tried to fill up our bellies for the day! But only on the second day did I find out they had Nutella. That plus a croissant = yum!
I think I'll have to do a second installment! John should be out of class soon, and I'm ready to go home!
Hope everyone is doing well! We always enjoy hearing from you.
Emily
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