Russian Summer Trip 2016 Pt 1

So, I've finally decided to sit and write down my experience in Russia in July. It was a really interesting journey. 

I first took an early bus to from Tallinn to St. Petersburg...That was an ok experience, I guess. I really don't like long car/bus rides because I'm prone to car sickness/nausea if I can't get out for fresh air and walk around often. I think I've been like that since I was about 5 or 6. Anyway, there was a ridiculous amount of passport checks, I don't even remember now. 3 or 4? I think most of those checks were from officials who would board the bus and walk through to look at everyone's pass. Also, the actual border guards seemed to have a bit of a surly attitude. I think in every country I've been to, border guards I encounter seem unhappy. 

I finally arrived in the early afternoon. Dumped all my stuff off at the hotel booked for 1 night, and looked around the city a bit. Looking back, it's hilarious that I thought people in St. Petersburg were kinda bad at driving, because in Irkutsk, I discovered people were about 1000x worse on the road - I wouldn't ever want to drive there in my life, I had more than 1 scary experience I'll mention later. Nevertheless, that was one of my first impressions. I also noticed how the girls there dress impeccably. Ok, I saw some questionable and tacky style choices too, but there was also an incredible amount of well dressed, elegant women in St Petersburg. I felt like a wallflower for sure at times (actually...don't I feel like that all the time?). I suppose that sounds like a superficial observation, but it was something that really stuck out to me. Just amazing style and beautiful ladies, lol. 

Some pics:

Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood

Triumphal Arch near the Winter Palace

Palace Gates

I also had time to go look at the Museum of Soviet Arcade Games with a friend!

Hmm, what else did I get up to in St. Petersburg...well, I went in a grocery store to buy food, as you do, and I tried a Russian brand of sirok I forgot the name of. And I came to the realization Russian sirok is absolutely the best and so creamy. 

So then I rested, blah blah blah. You also have to register your location at a hotel in Russia, it's kinda complicated. I had help with that.

Next day it was time to go to the airport in St. Petersburg. While waiting for the flight to Moscow, I ate at this cute restaurant called Kamchatka with a retro Soviet decor gimmick going on. Think vintage Cheburashka toys, old Nevalyashka dolls, etc. Kitschy but cool. Actually, I don't even remember now if that restaurant was in St. Petersburg or Moscow airport? But it was cool. i only have 1 pic from it. 

The flight from St Petersburg to Moscow was uneventful, except there was a tour group or something of like 20 older folks in their late 50s - mid 60s who were very loud! They didn't speak Russian very well either (not that I can talk…I also suck at speaking Russian) and they kept begging this flight attendant to take their trash when she didn't even have a trash bag to carry all of it. She gave them a stern look and said in English, "Yes, I heard you." LOL! After that, transferred from Moscow to Irkutsk in economy class on Aeroflot. It was a pretty long flight and I started to feel claustrophobic and panicky and like I'm gonna DIE. Don't know why but claustrophobia has been a recent problem for me on planes. I used to be able to tolerate flying because of the window views! Although flying always hurts my ears…Now I just feel trapped and start to sweat and feel stressed after a while!

CAKE. This whole meal was actually really good. 

I'll wrap this post up at that and continue later with what it was like when I landed in Irkutsk and everything I did and saw!

Visiting Piusa and Võru, in Southern Estonia

This past weekend I ventured into southern Estonia on a short road trip. Estonia is not a very big place as you might already know, and reaching one end of the country starting from Tallinn doesn't take a long time. It was about 3 1/2 hours driving time to Piusa from here - it takes a similar amount of time to get to Narva (around 3 hrs) in the east or to get to the island of Saaremaa in the west. I set out at around 9 am Saturday and arrived in Piusa that afternoon.

I first stopped at the visitors' center of the sandstone mining caves. It was hot as hell down there (by my standards, because I wither in the heat despite having grown up in NC), like 21 degrees C and there isn't the Baltic sea nearby to keep things cool and windy. Now, about the caves - I have to say I liked the looks of them, but it was a bit underwhelming since you're not allowed to actually go in them due to risk of collapse, only to see the very entrance. So you get a short glimpse with a guide and then you're ushered out. That's fine though, since the nature surrounding that area is lovely and there are great trails for walking, hiking, photography.

So after that I spent the night in a rural hotel owned by a small family. Their property was beautiful, with a big pond, surrounded by the forest. Plus, they had a cute little dachshund dog that was slightly overweight and a bit grey in the face. Aww. But I don't have a photo of him.

Sunday morning I checked out and drove to Võru to walk around and whatnot. It's a pleasant little town with a small beach by Lake Tamula. There is a local museum about the history of Võrumaa county and the Võro culture and history, all housed in a little grey building with a colorful mural on the side. Admission was only 2 euros, and I was the only guest in the museum the whole time. The old lady working the front desk was very enthusiastic and friendly and told a lot about the history of the town.

The first level consisted of some cool contemporary art from the region, while the rest of the museum gradually took us through their history, from some ancient skeletons (from the bronze age I think it was) and onwards. I was really quite inspired by the beautiful antique things on display there from different periods of time. Dusty old books, farming equipment, instruments, clothes, household items. 

 Catherine the Great 

Various photos from the museum:

A local artist was inspired by rice paddies during their stay in South Korea. I like these pillows.

 

Animator is a small god, God is a big animator

I have loads of other pics too but I'm lazy. Anyway, after that I drove to Tartu and stopped to eat, then went back home to Tallinn. All in all it was just a peaceful weekend of cool sights.

Recording life