WE'RE GOING TO EGYPT!!!!!

This is from the SAS website:

SUMMER 2008: MV EXPLORER TO CALL ON ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT INSTEAD OF ISTANBUL, TURKEY
Monday, July 28 1:30 p.m. (eastern) Following extensive consultation today with officials at the U.S. Embassy in Istanbul, the Overseas Advisory Council, ASI Group (our global risk management service), V-Ships (our ship�s management service), and the onboard senior leadership team (Captain Jeremy Kingston and Executive Dean Jill Wright), and consistent with the Semester at Sea commitment to the health and safety of our participants, the Institute for Shipboard Education senior management team in Charlottesville, Virginia has decided that the Summer 2008 voyage will not call on Istanbul, Turkey. The MV Explorer will now call on Alexandria, Egypt (pending confirmation of a berth). Anticipated arrival to Alexandria is Wednesday, July 30 at 0800. A field program is being developed and will be made available tomorrow for participants to consider. Please continue to check this site for further information as it becomes available.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE'RE GOING TO EGYPT!!!!! SO EXCITED!!!

TURKEY

So, just as I was putting up the last blog, our Executive Dean Jill Wright made the announcement that We ARE NOT GOING TO TURKEY. We don't know where the ship is being re routed to...I'll find out soon.

More Thoughts on Italia

At the moment, my mind is wrapped around whether or not we will go to Turkey. In about an hour, we're due to find out. But I must write more about my experiences in Italy, before I forget the details.

First of all, Italy felt like the beginning of an entirely different trip. Perhaps the weather had a strong influence, or maybe it was my monster of a cold that affected my state of mind, but Italy was completely separate from the Europe we've encountered this past month. Of course, anyone can guess that would be the case. And honestly, I felt much more at home. The Mediterranean lifestyle is one very familiar to me, and although Italy is not Greece, Naples and the Amalfi coast felt like a next door neighbor. Much more recognizable to me than say, the countries of Scandinavia. The spirit of the people and the liveliness of the city was refreshing and vitalizing. Naples itself was a city with a distinct personality, one very different from those we’ve already visited. If I could compare it to one, it would be St. Petersburg. But that really is more a result of the same high levels of crime. Crime was a big issue for us SASers and many were victims of pickpockets. I took the fewest amount of pictures in Naples because we were advised to not show our cameras. It was quite a disappointment not to photograph the streets! It is true that they weren’t well maintained and dirty, but they were intriguing nonetheless. Neapolitans seemed proud of their city, despite its numerous problems. It was an extremely busy place, and walking around felt like a whirlwind. I’ve already mentioned the traffic but let me just reiterate how much it affected our stay. Between the crime rates and the traffic, my sightseeing in Naples was quite limited. Not to mention the incessant attention from males…that is a whole other story. But despite all of this, I wanted to know Naples, to see as much as possible. I only wish I could have met more locals to show me around. But on my own, and even with SASers, I felt restricted. It was not like Russia where we felt unwelcome…quite the contrary, the Italians embraced our presence. But there were too many distractions that prevented us from truly enjoying the city. Without a doubt, it is a place I would love to return to, to see all the things I couldn’t. So, my lasting impressions of Naples, many of which I already wrote about include:
1. The intensity of the traffic
2. Crime
3. Vespas:
What an interesting change it was to go from countries where the bike is ubiquitous to an area where the vespa dominated the scene. I don’t think I saw one person riding a bike during my stay in Italy, and honestly, I would be terrified to in Napoli. But I would see as many as three people on one vespa! Even children sitting in front of their parents!
4. Trash:
Yes, there is still trash everywhere in Naples. Rubbish all over the streets. Some places seemed better than others, but for the most part, the city was pretty dirty.
5. Gender relations:
On the streets of Naples, I had the most interesting experiences as a female than in any other port we’ve visited. It was here that I received more attention from men than I probably have in my life. Never before had I felt so watched as if I were an old relic on display in a museum. Men of all ages would stop and spend two minutes of their life watching me pass. One would think there are more important things to do than watch females cross streets, but in Italy, this appeared to be a common pastime for males. And yet, only part of the time I felt violated, in a sense. Even that is much too strong a word. The majority of the time I would even smile back at the men and say “ciao” in return. It was the first time ever that I actually waved to a car that beeped at me. In the States, I am always slightly annoyed at car honks or even prolonged stares but here, I did not feel uncomfortable. In the other countries, I had similar feelings of resentment (like, why are you looking at me? Stop!). But in Italy, I only had a few moments with these reactions. But why? What was it that made me react differently here in Italy, with the absolute most attention than in other places? Could it have been because it was so ubiquitous that I had gotten used to it? Perhaps. Maybe more so, it was due to the lively, easy going, generally upbeat atmosphere that exists in southern Italy. I never felt threatened in any case, but maybe it was because as an outsider, I felt a little safer…which shouldn’t make any sense but I almost had a protective shield around me…knowing that I would never see these men again and that I wouldn’t pass their way twice. There was also a much greater familiarity with the female body. All throughout my travels in Italy, not simply in Naples, there was a preoccupation with the erotic, even in the small towns. Pictures of bare breasted women would be on the walls of a shop selling gelato. There were porn movies adjacent to stalls selling newspapers. As a woman, I did not feel any sense of shame or embarrassment…it was quite the contrary…because this seemed more like an appreciation of the female body, maybe even a celebration. And it was a rejuvenating change. Because I did not feel that behind all the attention I received, there were crude, vulgar thoughts running around in the minds of the men, which was relieving.

However, this was not the case all of the time, and it must be noted. On the last day, I walked alone in the morning throughout Naples to do some last minute sightseeing, and I was wearing a rather short dress that seemed to attract a lot of attention. Honestly, I felt like a prostitute. It was early morning, and there were not many women around, which made it all the more worse. Almost every person I passed was an older male who would stop what they were doing to watch me walk past them. Being alone, I never talked to any men except when I was purchasing something and made it a point to wear my sunglasses…I don’t know, there’s something about keeping my eyes hidden that always makes me feel better. In that morning, there is no question I felt extremely uncomfortable. There was even a moment where an Italian woman walking towards me said something to me, that appeared to be negative and directed towards my choice of dress…so I leave Italy with two completely different experiences.

Turkey???

We recieved word this morning that there was a terrorist attack in a neighborhood in Istanbul, killing 15 people and wounding many more. At this moment we are unsure of whether or not we're still going to Turkey...if you remember earlier this month there was an attack at the consulate but this is much worse...I've copied and pasted an article from the NY Times for you all to read...we won't know what happens for awhile...but its quite possible that we will change course...

Bombs Kill 15 in a Crowded Istanbul Neighborhood
By SEBNEM ARSU
Published: July 28, 2008
ISTANBUL — Two bombs exploded within minutes of each other late Sunday in a crowded pedestrian area of Istanbul, killing at least 16 people and wounding more than 150 in what the city’s governor called a terrorist attack.
The double bombing appeared to be the worst case of terrorist violence in Turkey in nearly five years and seemed to take the Turkish authorities by surprise. There were no immediate claims of responsibility, although Kurdish separatist militants were initially suspected.
Residents in buildings near the explosion sites hung Turkish flags from their windows and balconies in reaction to rumors that the separatists were responsible.
There was no obvious reason the Istanbul neighborhood that was bombed, which is almost completely residential, had been the object of a terrorism plot.
The first blast, which the police and witnesses said was relatively minor, attracted scores of onlookers curious about the commotion, with at least some of them thinking it was caused by a gas leak explosion. Many of the onlookers were then hit by flying shrapnel and debris in the second, more powerful blast about 10 minutes after the first and about 20 yards away, the governor of Istanbul, Muammer Guler, said in a news briefing broadcast by Turkish television.
Witnesses described a scene of panic with victims lying on the street in pools of blood. The bombings seemed timed to exploit the summer pastime of many residents of the pedestrian area of Gungoren, in central Istanbul, to stroll in the cool late evening before going to bed.
“It’s surely a terror attack, there’s no doubt,” Governor Guler said. “Because people were gathered after the first explosion, and because the second explosion happened right after, people sitting right across got severely injured.”
Senol Simsek, a witness who provided first aid to the wounded, told the NTV television network that he had seen at least five people lying and writhing near a telephone booth that was destroyed. The police quickly sealed off the entire area and closed it to all traffic.
Hayati Yazici, deputy prime minister who happened to be visiting Istanbul on Sunday, visited the bombing site and told the Anatolian News Agency: “It is obvious that this is the work of a villain organization, a person or people, however it is not certain as to who this is. Our friends are investigating, it will be discovered for sure.”
The double bombing appeared to be the most serious terrorist attack here since twin truck bombings at two Istanbul synagogues killed 23 people and wounded more than 300 on Nov. 15, 2003. An obscure group linked to Al Qaeda took responsibility for the synagogue blasts, which were the worst in a series of explosions blamed on Islamic extremist groups that year that killed more than 60 people.
President Abdullah Gul, in a written statement, denounced the attack here Sunday and said Turkey remained committed in what he called the struggle against terrorism. “Nothing can be achieved by terror, violently claiming lives of the innocent,” Mr. Gul said. “These attacks show the inhumanity and misery of the assailants.”
Officials were continuing investigations and analysis at both explosion sites to determine the precise cause and motives behind the attack, Turkish news organizations reported.
There was initial speculation that the bombings might have been the work of the P.K.K., or Kurdistan Workers’ Party, an insurgent group that has been fighting the Turkish Army for autonomy in the southeast area of the country adjoining Iraq.
Earlier Sunday, the Turkish military announced that its fighter jets had attacked 12 Kurdish separatist targets in Iraq’s Qandil region and that it had inflicted an unspecified number of “terrorist casualties.”
Lynsey Addario contributed reporting.

Capri and Naples

I’ve known about the Island of Love for quite some time (shoutout to Pao who bought me a lovely cross from Capri!!) and have always been eager to visit. The first two days in Italy all I heard back on the ship were wonderful remarks about Capri, so I was more excited than ever. We purchased tickets around 7:45 and got on the boat at 8:10. It took a little less than an hour to arrive at Marina Grande. Upon finding out the Blue Grotto was currently closed, we decided to get on a bus to Anacapri, the smaller town on the island. Once again, twists and turns up a mountain to Anacapri. At every turn, bus drivers have to honk because they can’t tell if cars are coming down and there is only room for one car one direction. It’s a little intense. We were dropped off at Piazza Vittoria, from where I grabbed a Herald Tribune (my LIFESAVER..oh to read newspapers again). The first thing we did was hit the Seggiovia del Monte Solaro, the 12 minute chairlift up Monte Solaro, Capri’s highest point of
July 251,932 ft. Wow…going up was the most tranquil 12 minutes of my life (well, perhaps a certain sunday morning). I had never done anything like this (besides like a charlift at kennywood, lol). Charlifts are now at the top of my list of favorite things to do. To my right was the Mediterranean Sea and we were able to see amazing views of Capri and the Bay of Naples in general. My barefeet hung loose over lemon groves beneath me…the landscape was massaging my eyes…and then when we got to the top, it was probably the best view of this entire trip. There is something about mountains that invigorate me and seeing the bright blue sea below made it all the more perfect. This was the Italy I came for.

Once we had taken the chairlift down, we found a place called Sciue Sciue to get a quick lunch. After, our main priority was seeing the Blue Grotto. The Grotta Azzurra is a famous cave that has a distinct blue glow to the water and is the most popular tourist destination in Capri. From Anacapri, we took a bus to the Grotto and waited in line for about twenty five minutes. Then, we got on a small rowboat that only fit five of us (including the guy who rowed us in) and went in line with the other dozen rowboats to pay the admission fee. Then we waited for about five minutes in the boat for other rowboats to come out of the cave. It’s really funny to watch people because in order to get into the cave, people have to awkwardly lie all the way down in the rowboat because there is such a small opening (1.3m high). Once we were inside, I was like, “where is the blue???” Everything seemed dark, I could barely see anything. But then I turned my head back to the right and towards where we had entered, and the water was the most beautiful blue color I have ever seen in my life (when I get internet access, I’ll put up a video…I was taking a video when we had just gotten in so my first view will be yours as well :) ). The men who row the boats are called “singing captains” because they sing while in the cave. We were in there for all but two minutes and honestly…I don’t know if its worth it (costs like 18 euros overall). There are other grottos on the island of Capri, and when we first got to the Marina Grande, there was an Italian man offering to take us to four other grottos and a tour around the island for 25 euros. The three other people with me wanted only to go to the Blue Grotto, but I really wanted to go on this other tour…we would have been able to swim in the grottos, ah…oh well.

After seeing the grotto, we got on a bus back to Anacapri and then waited about ½ hour for another bus to get to Capri town. Then, we took the funicular down to the Marina Grande and got our ticket back to Naples. Afterwards, we went to the beach right next to the Marina and ran into the sea…felt so refreshing. We were only in for about 15 minutes but it was so worth it…and free!

We got back to Naples around 430ish and once again, took a mini siesta. I later went out with some other friends to have dinner and we found this place that had been recommended to us, called Osteria Pizzeria? Naturally, I ordered a Margherita pizza which was very good and we enjoyed a local wine called Falanghina Beneventano. Later, we went to get gelato at Caffe Gambrinus, perhaps the most well known café in the city. It’s right near the Piazza Trieste e Trento and Oscar Wilde was known to hang out here. Mussolini even shut down rooms there because left wing intellectuals met there. The gelato was alright but what we really loved were these frozen lemons filled with lemon sorbet. So delicious!! After relaxing for awhile, we headed back to the ship.

July 26

Today I awoke up early enough for breakfast and headed out to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, which took me about twenty to twenty five minutes to walk to. Luckily, it was a pretty direct route, straight up Via Toledo. I had been hearing that this was the best archaeological museum in Europe and that the artifacts found in Pompeii and Herculaneum were all there. It’s a large, pink and green building…definitely an interesting choice of colors. Anyhow, I was actually really happy to get inside…my walk wasn’t as pleasant as I hoped…I’ll write more about that later…but the museum was a little disorganized I felt…perhaps it was the time I went (early in the morning) but it seemed understaffed as well. However, it was nice seeing the variety of artifacts, including paintings, sculptures, and mosaics. The classic Fighting the Persians mosaic was there, as well as some really interesting sculptures, including Farnese Bull, which is the largest sculpture survived from the classic period. The best part was seeing models of the town of Pompeii…so cool to see everything laid out. After the museum, I spent the next hour or so walking around parts of Naples…exploring what I hadn’t seen, getting the Herald Tribune, buying a phone card and getting very excited about making phone calls only to find out it didn’t work at the phones near the ship…sigh…

I went back to the ship a little early and took a swim in our pool and took it easy. I’m still sick so I didn’t want to push myself, even on the last day. I should be writing field reports and we have another important paper due in Global studies in two days….ah….work. And only two days until Istanbul…unbelievable. I’m so happy we’re here in the Mediterranean and the weather has been such an improvement!

It’s about 9:30 right now and I’m about to do some other writing and then go to bed. I have a lot of work for classes and I should get as much sleep as possible. I'll try to write tommorrow more about my impressions. Ciao!

Amalfi

July 24

My alarm always arrives too quickly. On Thursday, I awoke around 650ish and met Momoko for breakfast at 7:10, extremely sick but ready to go to Amalfi, a small town on the famous Amalfi coast. We had planned to go with two lifelong learners, Sue and Jim. One of the wonderful features of Semester at Sea is the diversity of ages on the ship. We have lots of little kids, even some babies on the ship who are children of the staff and faculty. They did the most adorable dance performance at our last talent show, to the song “Under the Sea” from the Little Mermaid. The poor things were just standing and dancing…too cute for
words. Anyhow, we also have Lifelong Learners, who are mostly comprised of senior citizens who have joined us on our voyage. They come to our classes and I try to bond with them as much as possible. Many have been on SAS trips before and almost all are extremely well traveled. It’s wonderful. There’s a program that brings students and Vintage Vagabonds (what they’ve remained themselves) even closer, where a student has “grandparents” and a SAS “family.” Momoko, my dear friend from Japan, is in this program and Sue and Jim are her “grandparents.” Together, we all decided to travel to Amalfi and it was awesome to change it up a bit and sightsee with the older folks. At 7:40 we met at the gangway and headed for the port to get tickets.

At 8:25, we boarded the “Metro del Mare” boat and it took two hours to finally arrive in Amalfi. Yet, it didn’t feel like that much time had passed. We did make three stops before our final destination, including the incredibly charming town of Positano, which is situated on cliffs. If there is one place I would wish to return to, Positano would be it. I regret not going there…it looked so beautiful!

But, I was just as happy seeing Amalfi. Once upon a time, Amalfi was a bustling place with a population of 70,000 residents. Unfortunately, in in the mid 14th century, an earthquake devastated the area, and now, Amalfi has only about 5,000 people. The boat dropped us off at Piazza Flavio Grande and the first thing I noticed was the large beach, Spiaggia Grande, to my right. The whole thing was covered with umbrellas and chairs. We headed to the main part of town, the Piazza del Duomo. We decided to split up for about 45 minutes so I took the opportunity to explore the main street, Via Lorenzo d’Amalfi, which was narrow but filled with restaurants, hotels, and shops. I stopped in only a few, and instead spent most of the time taking picture of the architecture. When the four of us met up again, we decided to have lunch at a place right in the Piazza del Duomo. Pizza was the obvious choice. I also ordered hot chocolate, to which the Italian waitress told me I was crazy to have such a combination. The pizza there was the absolute best I had in Italy. Just fantastic. After lunch, Momoko and I went to the main sight, the Cattedrale di Sant’Andrea. It is the dominating structure in Piazza del Duomo, which a huge flight of stairs leading to the Sicilian Arabic-Norman style structure. It was originally built in the 10th century and has three main parts, the cloister, the crypt, and the cathedral. Without a doubt, the crypt was the most beautiful part…it’s odd, it felt like the most sacred space I have been in!

After exploring the cathedral, we hit the beach! For 5 euros, we got into a private beach with our own lawn chair and umbrella, and interestingly enough, we found Jim and Sue there as well. The sea was amazing. Probably my best swim ever. The past few days were very warm so a swim was absolutely necessary! But the view from the sea back to the town of Amalfi was lovely. It felt like a dream world.

The water was the perfect temperature and after swimming we did some sunbathing.
Around 345, we caught the bus going back to Naples. For the first hour we continued traveling south, which struck us as odd, despite the amazing views of the sea. Sue and Jim thought we might have gotten on the wrong bus but I was sure we were going to turn around soon, which we did. At times the bus got quite crowded…there was even a dog that came on! But once we got on the highway and headed north there were fewer people and I did some daydreaming…
When we got back to Naples, we had dinner and then Momoko and I went in search of wi-fi. The McDonalds had weak signals (I didn’t get anything at all) so we tried to get wireless in a hotel but then were directed up Via Toledo. We came to a small piazza where throngs of teenagers seemed to be hanging out. “Parle inglese?” I asked a random couple, who were both about 16. They had the normal response, which was saying a little. Together we struggled to understand each other…we were looking for internet point…wi fi? When they realized what we wanted, the couple as well as several of their friends all motioned that they would show us…and so off we went! Suddenly there were about seven young Italians all around us, cheerfully (and very loudly) speaking in Italian about this and that…enthusiastic, they were! And so nice…even though we didn’t communicate much, there were times we clearly understood each other…so much smiling…it was wonderful! They took us down alleyways and walked through the streets like it was a playground (which was impossible for me to do with the traffic but what I expected a local to do) and it all felt like a maze…I had no idea where we were going but I trusted them. The first place we went to was closed so instead of leaving us there, they took us to another place! It was near Piazza Dante and also, unfortunately, closed. As we were talking and I was trying to ask how to get back to the port, there was a lot of confusion. An Italian at a restaurant right next to us came out to try to help, and then another Italian who spoke some better English came out to help more. Everyone was so nice, so willing to help! Mmm, life is beautiful.

We got back to the ship with no trouble and I went to sleep right away!

ITALIA!

Later tonight, we will leave Italy. Most of the past four days were spent coughing, sneezing, and fighting to speak with a broken voice. Despite it all, I smiled more than in any other port. This was the part of the voyage I waited for, where I could enjoy the warmth of the sun and the glow of the Mediterranean. After four days in the heat, I’ve gotten quite tan! And slowly, I’ve been recovering. Honestly, I think the scenery has healed me. On the first day, the majority of students on the MV Explorer left for Rome but I cannot tell you how happy I was to have stayed in the south. Naples and the Amalfi Coast had more than enough to offer and I could not imagine having a different week here. In the future, I will hit the more “popular” cities in Italy but I am so grateful to have spent my first visit in this area.

July 23

On the first day I had a SAS trip to Pompeii (the Italians actually spell it with one i, so pompei) and the town of Sorrento. It was an early start so fortunately, we were one of the first groups to get off the ship (if you can imagine, 600 students wanting to get off the ship at the same time, plus the faculty, life long learners…). We left right after the diplomatic briefing, around nine. Outside of the port, two buses were waiting for our trip and I jumped on number two, where the most wonderful tour guide waited, named Roberto (of course I did not know this when I was getting on the bus). As we made our way to Pompeii, about 25 kilometers, I was able to see my first views of Napoli. Naples is Italy’s third largest city, and has been in the news a lot this past year due to the trash/rubbish problems. I read many articles this past spring particularly about the crisis and I was eager to see the streets. Later on, when I actually walked through Naples, I did see trash almost everywhere on the streets, some places better than others obviously but the problem definitely still exists…

Honestly, my first impressions of Naples were not the best, because we passed many of the city’s slum areas. Everything seemed so cluttered and dirty, and yet there was a certain charm to all of it. Perhaps it was the variety of house colors and the laundry draping on balconies, or maybe just the excitement of being in Italy…I was enamored.

I had heard a lot about the traffic in the Naples area being absolutely horrible, and indeed, it took quite awhile to get to Pompeii. Luckily we were leaving the city and not going into Naples…there seemed to be a motorcycle crash on the other side of the highway…I saw a man lying on the ground right in the middle of the road…and then cars backed up for miles. There is major traffic in the morning, when everyone is going to work, but then when people leave for the siesta in the afternoon and also return, and then later in the evening after work. It’s a very busy area to be sure.

Anyway, we got to Pompeii a little after 10 and spent about two hours wandering the ruins. It was fabulous. Before visiting, I really didn’t comprehend what an extensive complex the ruins are…I imagined a little area with some columns…perhaps more than that, but I was not prepared for how large it was! If I were on my own, I would have spent hours wandering the streets, the houses, the small shops…and I’m sure I would have gotten lost. Since we had a short visit, we only hit some of the highlights…seeing the Tempio de Venere, the basillica, the Tempio di Apollo, the Lupanare (the brothel), among other things. For those who are not familiar with the story, Pompeii was completely covered in ash when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. It wasn’t until the late 16th century that the ruins were discovered and excavations still continue today. The volcano is still active and Mt. Vesuvius last erupted in 1944...I had a kick out of someone writing on our graffiti board on the ship “Don’t live in the Red Zone…Vesuvius will get you!” Supposedly this is one of the longest periods of inactivity and it will be interesting to see what happens in the future…scary to think 700,000 people live right under the mountain.

Pompeii was fantastic and such a surprise. I should have had a better understanding of the site having taken archaeology classes but honestly, I had no idea it was so large. I would love to go back on my own and simply meander…focus more on the feel of the place rather than all the distractions that come along with tour groups. I was very surprised when we finished and it was a couple of hours later…the time must have flown! After seeing the ruins, we went into a hotel nearby to try limoncello and some chocolate. Limoncello is a liqueur made of lemon peel, alcohol, sugar, and water and it was a lot stronger than I anticipated. Truthfully, it was a little painful to even finish my free tasting.

When we continued on to Sorrento, we saw limoncello being sold everywhere. Sorrento is a small town of about 25,000 people but is a popular destination for tourists. The ride from Pompeii to Sorrento took about an hour and was quite the drive. This summer I have gained a newfound respect for bus drivers all over the world. Really. The roads they have to work with are so much narrower and the fact that they deliver us safely from point A to point B is a miracle. The road we took from Pompeii to Sorrento swerved from left to right on a cliff overlooking the Bay of Naples. It constantly provided us with breathtaking views but the twists and turns right next to the edge took our breath away out of fear…our good natured tour guide, Roberto, who I bonded with during Pompeii (I adore 75 year old men) joyfully exclaimed, “don’t you feel like being on a rollercoaster or helicopter?” Ha, YES.

The first thing we did in Sorrento was have lunch. SAS always hooks us up with the best restaurants. The one we went to was called La Basilica and was on a side alleyway off Piazza Tasso, the main square. It was a fantastic, three course meal served with a local wine, called Solaro. After lunch, we were given time to explore the area. I spent the majority of the time walking on streets observing and taking everything in…to me, there didn’t seem like much to do in Sorrento but it would have been a nice place to go and relax. The restaurants all looked fabulous and there were several upscale stores for shopping. But all very touristy. I wish I could have seen more outside of the centro storico, the main area in town. I did visit the Villa Communale Park, a small area with great views of the bay. Around 3:30 we departed Sorrento and it took us an hour and a half to return to Naples, even though its like 50 kilometers. It was alright, everyone took the opportunity to dose off. Roberto’s thick Italian accent woke us all up by saying “wakey wakey.” I thought it was hilarious.

Back in Naples, I relaxed for an hour or so and had dinner on the ship. Later on, I went out exploring with some friends, and I had my first experiences of Neapolitan traffic. I thought St. Petersburg was rough. Oh my god, Russia has NOTHING on this. Crosswalking monitors barely exist. I didn’t follow one and never saw a green man go. The first night I almost died about three times. Red lights? Yeah right. There was never a time I crossed a street when cars were stopped. You have to walk through them as they are flying past. I’m so not kidding. I can’t imagine what tourists do with little kids…I would be terrified to cross the street. My MTV guide book did not prepare me for the experience when it wrote

“Stepping off the curb at first will seem like a death wish, but it is quite simple if you follow one basic rule: just go. Don’t step into the middle of the freeway or speeding vehicles, but generally cars and scooters will swerve around you.”

UM, yeah you have no choice but to step in front of speeding vehicles. I can laugh at it now tucked away in my cabin but traffic was a harrowing experience. I can’t imagine a worse place. I usually followed a local or two as they were crossing….I definitely have become more bold, which I suppose is good. The locals didn’t seem phased at all…they were perfectly fine. I would never want to drive in Naples…nothing could persuade me. It’s chaos.

Anyway, my friends and I found some great gelato and walked around the Piazza del Plebiscito, which was beautifully illuminated at night. The same can be said for the Piazza Trieste e Trento, which has a wonderfully nice fountain. After hanging out on the streets, we walked back towards the ship, which is right next to Castel Nuovo. The name is kind of misleading if you’re an outsider, because the castle was actually built in the 13th century (I’ve heard it’s also known as Maschio Angioino). Inside it’s now a museum and unfortunately I wasn’t able to go visit it but we were lucky to hear a concert going on inside the castle courtyard that night. We didn’t actually go inside and see the singers but we could still hear the opera outside.
At the end of the my first day, I felt sicker than ever. My voice was basically gone. But walking around Naples really piqued my curiosity. It seemed so different than the Italy I had always been shown in movies and pop culture. But the next day had been planned to see the town of Amalfi with Momoko and her SAS grandparents, Sue and Jim. Exploring Naples further would have to wait.

Sick at Sea

Ah, I’ve been horribly sick the past few days. At first it was seasickness, then a terrible sore throat came along, followed by lots of congestion, sinus problems…this morning I took day quill, only to throw up three times right after…luckily I got my hands on some Sudafed and some other things…the past two nights I got no sleep whatsoever…this morning we were SO bumpy…I was falling over this morning walking to breakfast, I had to skip global studies I felt so sick…I feel better now but nowhere near fully recovered. I’ll push myself for Italy but I’m worried I’ll be so worn down right after that I’ll still be sick in Turkey (we only have two days between Italy and Turkey). Send me healthy energy! The funny thing is, I have taken so many precautions against becoming sick…the seasickness is hard to prevent sometimes (only so many pills/ wrist bands, etc) but the sore throat came out of nowhere…eh. I’m going to logistical preport in an a half an hour but then going straight to bed…hopefully I’ll have more strength in me tomorrow for Pompeii and Sorrento.

AFRICA!

So today we passed through the Straight of Gibraltar and I got to see Morocco! It was so cool…unfortunately, pretty foggy so the pictures weren’t as clear and crisp but still a very wonderful experience…I’ve always had this romantic vision of Morocco floating around in my head so seeing the actual land was an incredible feeling! To my surprise, the coastline was very mountainous…but so grand! When we head back to the states, we will have to stop for at least six hours to refuel…unfortunately we won’t be able to disembark at that time L . We have two more days of sailing until we get to Italy! I’ve decided to stay in Naples and explore the Amalfi coast region instead of traveling to Rome, but I’m still just as excited! We are all very happy for the warmer weather…the past month hasn’t felt like summer at all but I’m certain all of that will change now that we approach the Mediterranean.

An End to Belgium?

Although I did quickly mention the many differences between the north and the south, I forgot to talk about the current political crisis in Belgium, which has arisen due to those very regional distinctions. As I previously mentioned, the Dutch north has become the far richer area and in Wallonia, unemployment rates are 2-3 times higher. Flanders wants economic autonomy and views the Walloons as “welfare deadbeats” (according to Prof. Lynch of UVA). The tables have turned and many Dutch-speakers are advocating for an independent Flanders. This is a country with a very complex government system, as I already talked about. And now, just on Monday when we were docked in Belgium, the prime minister Yves Leterme resigned. Last year, Leterme had said that Walloons are “intellectually incapable of learning Flemish.” His own mother spoke French! These are the kind of powerful sentiments that exist between the north and the south….and yet as a tourist, one could never notice any of this….however, Brussels, which is a separate federal district, did feel very different from Antwerp, and Brussels is a bilingual area! But what will happen to Belgium? Would the EU let a split occur? And if so, what would that mean for other areas, such as Scotland, northern Italy, Catalonia in Spain? Is it possible that I will never be able to visit Belgium as we know it today?

Belgium!

Just a quick note: I won't be able to upload any pictures/videos until I get to Italy. We don't have much internet time on the ship, and uploading any files basically cuts your time in half...sorry!

July 16

So, Belgium! I had a lovely stay in this country and wish I had more time to explore. I have no idea whether or not I'll have the chance to return but I would highly recommend Belgium to others as a tourist destination. The people were so very helpful, there's a great deal of diversity, and the food is AMAZING. Here's some info about Belgium before I get started. Most people don't know that Belgium has two main languages: French in the south, or Wallonia, and Flemish Dutch in the north, or Flanders. Luckily, I was able to experience both areas. Historically, there has always been a great rift between the north and the south, one established based off of religious, linguistic, economic, and ethnic differences. In the past, there was an enormous gap in the wealth between the north and the south....Wallonia had the higher ground with its large coal deposits and modernized quite early. The north remained predominately agricultural. But in the past 40 some years, there has been a complete reversal in the relationship between Flanders and Wallonia. Now, the north has overtaken the south in prosperity and growrth rates. One thing I should have known...Antwerp (or it's Dutch name: Antwerpen, the French name: Anvers) is the diamond capital of the world! Really cool.....needless to say, many shops selling diamonds and jewelry all around the city. Here's some more interesting information: Belgium has ten provinces, each with its own administrative governing functions, but the real authoritative power lies in the regions: the Flemish region, the capital of Brussels (which is similar to the DC) and the Walloon region. Each has its own parliament. There are also four executive bodies! Clearly, they have a very complex system of government, which tends to be very costly. As a result, they have the largest public debt in western Europe.

Belgium is a small country, about the size of New Hampshire but is one of the most densely populated in the world. The two major cities, of course, are Antwerp and Brussels (Brussels is home to the European Union and NATO). If I didn't travel to Amsterdam, I would have gone to Bruges and Ghent, other popular destinations. I loved Belgium. I only have the best things to say. The people were so, so kind! Yesterday we explored Brussles (Bruxelles) and had a great time. The first thing I went to see was the Atonium, basically a model of a giant atom (335 feet tall), about 165 billion times the size of an actual atom. It was made in 1958 for a universal exposition. We took the metro to get there...it was kind of on the outskirts of the city but worth the trip. Especially since we didn't have to pay anything to see it...unless you wanted to go inside. From the top of the atom, there were tourists gliding down on a line to the ground...a friend told me it was like 25 euros to do this....it was tempting.....

Mini Europe was right next to the Atonium but we decided to skip it. Instead, we took the metro back to Central Station and walked to the Grand Place, a really great, large open square with fantastic architecture. The buildings are in the Flemish Renaissance style, from the 16th and early 17th century. Supposedly, they were all rebuilt after French troops destroyed them in the late 1600s? Not quite sure about that one...check me on it...regardless, the guildhouses are not orginial...but so beautiful! There was the Hotel de Ville, the old town hall, the Maison du Roi which is now the Musee de la Ville de Bruxelles, which is something of a history of the city museum. My favorite part of the Grand Place was Le Cornet, the guildhouse of the boatmen. Unfortunately, the past two days were pretty rainy/gray so we didn't get to see everything in its grand splendor. I wish I had come in August...the Grand Place is taken over by the Tapis de Fleurs, where the whole center is covered with flowers. Still, seeing the Grand Place was great...the architecture is unlike anything we see in the states...

After walking around the Grand Place, we were starving and anxious to try frites. French fries are actually incorrectly named...they should be called Belgian fries, but here they are simply known as frites. Everyone had told me to expect heaven, and in truth, they were great. Here they serve them with mayonnaise and when we first heard this, our reaction wasn't the best. But then we learned that there is a wide selection of different types of mayo...the kind I got was pretty spicy...definitely not the mayo I'm used to. After eating, we went in search of Mannekin-Pis, a statue of a tiny boy peeing. I don't know, the Belgians love it. Supposedly, they even make costumes for the boy...more than 500 have been made. So we had to see it...and we were surprised at how small he is!!! There were security cameras and so on...I kind of appreciate how much they love this statue...its nice :)

On the same street, we found waffles. OH MY GOD. I don't think I'll ever have another culinary experience like this one. For about 4 euros, I bought a waffle filled with strawberries, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream. It was orgasmic. Honestly. I had another today in Antwerp. Just bloody fantastic. Wow. Really, I didn't think they would be different from the Belgian waffles in the States. But they belong in an entirely different category. But I don't get it! Why can't we figure out the secret and make these in the US??? And what about the chocolate???????? The chocolate is just .......oh god, for a chocolate lover, Belgium was just the best. I bought a lot of chocolate and will be very happy for the next few days until we get to Italy. I bought chocolate for family and friends, but honestly, I don't think they'll last with me in the same vicinity. Sorry! Ah, Belgium. Only good thoughts.

After my five minute trip to heaven, I headed to the Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts. It took awhile for me to find the place...I think I was still in la la land. It cost less than five euros for me to get into the Royal Museums of the Fine Arts, and it was worth it. Unfortunately, I only had time to spend in the Musee d'Art Ancien, which housed artwork from the 15th through the 18th centuries. The two most famous pieces I saw were Pieter Brueghel the Elder's "The Fall of Icarus" as well as "The Death of Marat" by Jacques Louis David. I really do wish I could have spent more time there, but I only had a bit of an hour. I didn't do much sightseeing in Amsterdam, Brussels, or Antwerp...most of the time was spent simply walking and observing. In Brussels, I passed SO many churches...the Cathedrale des Saints Michel et Gudule, the Eglise Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg, and so on. Also, I walked past the Palais Royal and Les Musee Belvue and the Palais de Charles de Lorraine. Sometimes I prefer walking to see a city...in Amsterdam we walked all over the place, and it was refreshing. By the time the late afternoon rolled around, I was pretty exhuasted (big surprise) and decided to go back to Gare Centrale to get back to Antwerp.

The only discomforting moments I had in Belgium were related to the trains. I had bought a round ticket in Antwerp so I didn't have to worry about buying another ticket (as I have done with all my other journeys) but if I hadn't, I have no idea how I would have gotten a ticket back. The train station was pretty difficult for my friends and I to navigate around, but I didn't think I would have much of a problem returning. Ha. So, I found the track where the trains depart to Antwerpen but there were so many trains coming and going, it was very difficult to tell which one was which! The monitors didn't help the confusion....at one point I asked the lady next to me if the train in front of us was going to Antwerp and she answered back in french, I don't know. She left and I shrugged my shoulders. Another woman asked me in french questions about the trains....there was nothing I could really do or say, but even the locals were confused. At one point, another train approached and the woman I had previously asked came over to me and pointed to the train. "Antwerp? Anvers?" I asked. She nodded. I repeated myself. She did the same. So I got on. And almost immediately, I realized I made a mistake. Luckily, we were heading in the same direction, which I could tell when we got to Mechelen, which is between Antwerp and Brussels. But there was no english and I was too embarassed to ask the man next to me, who I think noticed my confusion. When the woman came to collect tickets, she stopped, looked at mine, and started speaking in French and then Flemish. "English?" she asked me. I nodded eagerly. I immediately started to explain. "Someone told me this was going to Antwerp!" The woman chuckled a bit, I was clearly distressed....but she calmed me down. "It happens every day. You will get off at the next station, in Lier, and then get on the next train, which is going to Antwerp. I will give you a slip that will tell the next conducter you are a lost passenger." I started laughing. That's kind of romantic, isn't it? Lost passenger...the thought definitely helped a bit with the embarassment. As we approached Lier, I got up and waited alongside the door. The person who was sitting next to me, a man with a kind face who was in his late 30s I would guess, also got up. I had wondered if he knew English and had heard all that had gone on. He saw me fidgeting with my things and said "I think the train to Antwerp is on track 2. Well, that is what it is in the morning. When you get off, I will show you where you can go to check." Pointing, he directed me to the building where I could double check the track. "Thank you so much! I really appreciate it... I thought the woman was correct, but I wasn't totally sure." He shrugged his shoulders. "Today was an odd day. There were track changes. The train before this one and directly after were going to Antwerp, and luckily, you are not far, so it's okay." It was nice to be reassured that I wasn't a complete idiot. He was right, the train was on track 2 and I got back to Antwerp in less than 20 minutes. No big deal. His kindness was not unusual here. So many people helped me out, in big ways and smaller ones. I would never have to ask anyone...if they heard or saw I was confused, they said something themselves. It was wonderful, really.

I got back to the ship in time for dinner (yay! save money!) and relaxed a bit before going out to celebrate a friend's 21st birthday. I had my chance to try flavored Lambic beer, called Kriek. I had cherry last night, and rasberry today around lunchtime. It was amazing! Thank goodness its not readily available in the states because I would be an alcoholic. Lambic is one of the most well known types of beer in Belgium. This is how one of my guidebooks described it:

in the valley of the Senne, there is a natural borne yeast called Brettanomcyes. For centuries, brewers have simply left their warm wheat beer wort uncovered during the winter months, and allowed air to deliver the yeast into it. The fermenting beer is then left to mature in wooden cases for a year or more.

So, does not sound very appetizing. But oh wow-so good!!!! I didn't get to try the Trappist ales, which are interestingly enough, made in abbeys. The only brewing monasteries in the world are located in Belgium and there are about six of them. The word "Trappist" comes from the silent order of Cistercian monks who made them. Unlike the other ports we've been in, beer was incredibly cheap here.

I got in relatively early last night but wasn't able to get all the sleep I wanted.

July 17

Today was the day to explore Antwerp, our port city. I had walked through and seen much of it already, but it was nice to be more leisurely about it. The only thing I paid to do was to enter the Antwerp Cathedral (2 euros for students), a truly spectacular sight, which is also known as Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal. It's visible from almost anywhere in Antwerp....and was fantastic to see inside. From what I heard, it took over 100 years to build and is the largest gothic church in the Benelux region. The cathedral was probably the biggest I've ever been in....and had a four Ruben masterpieces, including:

-The Raising of the Cross (1610)
-The Descent from the Cross (1614)
-The Resurrection of Christ (1612)
-The Ascension of the Virgin (1626)

Earlier in the morning, I had passed several interesting places including the Nationaal Scheepvaartmuseum, which looks like an old castle from the outside. We also passed Vleeshuis, which was the guildhouse of the butchers in the 16th century. Now, it has been made into a music museum. The architecture was really insane...and the red color made it truly look like a meat house!! Nearby is the Grote Markt, the main square of Antwerp, very similar to the Grand Place in Brussels. Guildhouses and all. I actually like this better than the Grand Place...it was a lot more intimate. Supposedly Antwerp was named after a Roman soldier defeating a giant who then threw the hand of the giant into the Schelde river...I guess the latin word for throwing the hand is hand-werpen, so Antwerpen came from that....anyhow, in the middle of the Grote Markt, there is a statue honoring the Roman Brabo, who saved the city.

Recently, Antwerp has been gaining popularity as a fashion mecca. The Mier, which is the main pedestrian shopping street, is amazing. So many stores! All of these European cities have pedestrian shopping streets, it's fantastic. Oh, one of the things we've been noticing is there are SO many H&M's all over the place...there were three on the Mier....we saw about four in Amsterdam all in the same vicinity....there were two on the Stroget in Copenhagen about 2 minutes walking distance apart....really interesting...I thought it was an American store, but we're thinking maybe not because its so popular. Even Bergen had an H&M. I'll do some research.......

The first day we arrived in Antwerp we walked along the Mier to get to the train station. As we passed the stores, we noticed very odd displays in the window. Really strange mannequins....the only time I had seen these were in halloween stores...we just thought, maybe that's the way they do it. It was just extremely eccentric and slightly humorous but I was still perplexed at the meaning. Today I found out there's been a contest between the stores...I don't know what the prompt was: the scariest display?

Its 8:30pm right now and I'm about to go to bed. Maybe I'll watch a movie..I need to write some field reports but I don't have the energy, I'm just so tired. Writing these blogs takes quite a while in itself. I started working on these when I got in around 4ish? But of course, there's been numerous interruptions. Dinner, safety drill, etc.

My favorite moment in Belgium was at the end of my port experience, when I entered a Nepalese craft store that had been recommended. In the middle of our square on the ship, we have a graffiti board put up for each port. On it, students can write what place they liked or disliked, what they recommend, etc. I had read about this particular store and it had great reviews: nice service, free tea upon entry (who doesnt love that?) and great, well priced jewelry. When I was on my way back to the ship, I saw a sign for it and decided to go in. It was a lovely store...fantastic energy. There were singing bowls (YES!!), scarfs, and lots of jewelry, all what I expected. And when the woman behind the counter, (about 30 I would say, from Nepal,...she had told me she had been in Europe for about 6 years) saw me come in, she brought me over a cup of tea and it was delicious. There were two others in the store at the time, making purchases. The energy was just so amazing, I just had to buy something. I wear a long necklace every day with two crosses on it and various other pendants. People can always hear me coming from far away, I jingle! So I decided to buy a carnelian stone to put on the necklace but I wanted to make sure it fit first. She helped me out immediately, and we easily fell into conversation. I told her other students on my ship enjoyed her store so much they recommended it to the whole shipboard community. Before I knew it, the woman was so overwhelmed with joy, we were hugging about the wonder of life, tears were coming to her eyes...I didn't know the name of this woman but it was such an incredible moment....she was so happy to hear that people liked her store...it was too much for her. We had this great human bond...I knew her heart just by seeing her face. She made me remember all my blessings and I left her store probably the happiest I've been this whole trip. Definitely the most grateful I've been. And then when I passed through security to get on the ship, I made it a point to tell the older Belgian man that he has a lovely city and a beautiful country. He had a similar reaction to the woman, without the tears and hugging, of course. Just very happy. I loved it.

Oh, one more thing about the metro in Brussels. They never checked our tickets, there was no way to monitor people using the metro. It's all based on the expectation that one will follow the rules. It's hard to know how many people take advantage of the situation, and clearly if one is caught without a ticket, they have to pay huge fines. But I got the sense that no one takes that chance and voluntarly follows the rules. I would like to think that would work in a US city, but that would be naive. And yet, why? Are people's lives that harder that they would feel the need to cheat the system? Where do the differences lie? Why does it work here and not in the US? Will it ever work there?

The more I see of the world, the more questions I have about my own country.

Amsterdam pt. 2

Another busy day has come and gone! Today we traveled to see Brussels, technically the capital of Europe. But before I talk about that, I'll say more about Amsterdam. Traveling to a new city is always an interesting mind exercise for me. Before I visit a place, I always have ideas of how a city should feel based on what I know about the area, its history, the architecture, the people, and so on. In my head, all of these images come together to create one truly unique vibe. However, this vibe, this feeling is usually way off. Amsterdam was like that for me, as was Copenhagen, and even St. Petersburg. It's in no way a disappointment, just different from what I expect. In Amsterdam's case, I think it was a larger difference because I had always had these romantic feelings for the city....making it larger than life...but of course, it wasn't. Nothing ever is. On one hand, it was literally smaller than I imagined. The canals were beautiful...many times we walked along side them. If we had more time, I would have liked to take a canal ride. I suppose I'll make up a little list of my final impressions of Amsterdam:
1. Lively
It was easily the busiest city we've been to thus far. Even St. Petersburg didn't have so many hordes of people, despite having a population like 4 times the size. Lots of people outside, walking around, hanging out...almost claustraphoic at times. And we weren't always in the center of Amsterdam or in the most touristy places. Definitely, a lively, upbeat kind of atmosphere.
2. Bikes! Again!
I don't know which city had more bikes, here or Copenhagen. Probably Amsterdam....it's funny, we didn't look out for cars or trams but rather bikes. So many people use them and I love seeing it. I think things weren't as formal here in terms of bike rules and such as they were in Copenhagen but that's okay. I would have loved to have rented a bike and rode along the canals, which I really came to love. I wish Americans would adopt the European appreciation of bicycles....it would do so much good....
3. Canals
The canals were the peace and calm of the city. There were so many......and one of my favorite moments of the trip was walking along Prinsengracht in the morning, on my way to Anne Frank. They were still and silent, but seemed to keep the city in check. Part of Amsterdam was like the energy and enthusiasm of a teenager, anxious for wildness. But the canals were the wise, the thoughtful, the all knowing. I almost had a spiritual experience being near them....they had always been there in Amsterdam's history...
4. Coffeeshops
It's actually illegal to smoke or buy cannibis but in Amsterdam, it's pretty widely tolerated and much of it happens in coffeeshops, which are not what we Americans think of as a coffee shop. Oh no, this is where hashish and marijuana are sold...the shops are licensed but we heard a lot about people slipping things into drinks here or just messing around with tourists in general....but we could smell pot in places all over the city.....I didn't see much police....and yet, I never felt unsafe.
5. Americans
There were A LOT of American tourists...I engaged in numerous conversations with people traveling from the states...I spoke with more Americans here than in all the previous countries combined. It's always comforting to speak with fellow Americans...we immediately share this bond that only travelers and foreigners can establish with one another...a similar understanding of excitement mixed with confusions and anxiousness.

People were very friendly in Amsterdam, tourists and locals alike. At one point, I entered a cheese shop and immediately my senses picked up on the wonderful aroma. "It smells great in here!" I said, to no one in particular. The shop owner apparently heard me and replied, "it's my aftershave!" I burst into laughter...people in Belgium and the Netherlands have been so good natured and helpful...today, I got on the wrong train to Antwerp from Brussles (someone misinformed me) but two people on the train helped me. It was wonderful, and turned a potentially inconvenient situtation into a relatively stress free one.

I'm back in Antwerp now and have one more day to explore! I'm just happy I don't have to travel far, I'm a bit tired....

oh ps...I apologize for any poor grammar, mispellings, etc...I write these blogs very quickly and don't always have time to reread them....forgive me!

Amsterdam

The past two days has felt like two weeks....my body aches, my eyes drift off into the realm of some dream state, and my mind is overwhelmed with everything I've seen. And even a couple hours ago seems like a week ago.......time is a funny thing.... almost hypnotized when the senses are used so much.......

We actually arrived in Antwerp sunday night but I had already gone to sleep and missed our docking. Traveling through the Kiel Canal saved us a LOT of time and we ended up coming into Belgium earlier than planned. Yesterday morning (oh my god....it really cannot be yesterday morning) I awoke pretty early to enjoy a hearty breakfast before my adventures...but first, we had our diplmatic briefing with representatives from the embassy in Brussels (foreign service YES!). Once the ship was cleared and I got my passport, a couple friends and I speedwalked to the central train station, hoping to jump on a train to Amsterdam as soon as possible. Even during the speedwalk, I couldn't help but admire the city of Antwerp. By far, my first impressions were the best of any port city we've been to. I couldn't wait to return to explore more! Luckily, the station wasn't difficult to find, basically just a straight away from the port. We didn't have much time to look around the station...but it has a gorgeous interior..I'm planning on taking many pictures later. Buying a ticket to Amsterdam took less than five minutes (including waiting in line) and was a breeze. One way was about 19 euros (for under 26). We caught the 10am train...quite a feat in our case...The train ride was pleasant enough, minus a man who was across from me....at times making me feel rather uncomfortable....incessant, sinister type staring...oh well, he got off before Amsterdam so no harm done. The train took roughly two hours....so we arrived just for lunch time! After exchanging cash and kroners and such into euros, we stepped out of the train station very enthusiastically.

I had ALWAYS wanted to go to Amsterdam. If someone asked me to choose between Paris and Amsterdam, I would have chosen the latter. In a heartbeat. I think I was always drawn to the area because of my middle school obsession with Anne Frank, or maybe it was the romance of the canals and architecture....who knows....I was just very, very excited to be there. Almost immediately we were in the red light district, or on the outskirts of it at least. Our first impressions were of lots of sex shops, which wasn't too surprising.

Soon we were in the better parts of Amsterdam....with lots of fashionable stores, cafes, (NOT coffee shops), cute streets, etc. We were starving and had no trouble deciding on Cafe Luna, a really cute place on Kalverstraat. I got a cheese sandwich with lettuce, egg, and cucumber on a baguette as well as a Brussels waffle with chocolate (wanted to have that for comparing purposes!). All delicious. When we were finished we continued walking along, now in the hopes of finding the hotel we booked, on Marnixstraat. When we found it, we were told they weren't able to accomodate us, but had set up our stay with another hotel down the road. "Down the road" turned out to be a little farther, past where Marnixstraat turns into Weteringsch. We had some difficulty finding the new hotel at first, but after twenty minutes of searching and asking Dutch locals, we found Hotel Sphinx.

When we got inside, we were told our room wouldn't be ready until an hour later, so we decided to hit up the Van Gogh museum (gogh is actually pronounced like hhawwh...ha, perhaps thats not the correct phonetic way....in any case, we say it WRONG). The museum not only had a rather large collection of his works but also many contemporary pieces as well. I was really happy to see some of my favorite pieces, pieces that I hang on my wall and see every day.....lovely to see them in person! My plan has been to buy an art print from every country I go to as my main souvenir (who really likes those spoons, anyway?) so for the rest of the trip I carried around my poster in this elongated triangular shape holder...couldve been used as a weapon, I swear. We had spent about 3 hours walking and from and in the museum itself, so we headed back to Sphinx to check in.

Everything was set up when we got there and was generally satisfied with our room. We were just happy to have three beds. But, what we would come to discover later on that night, was that the walls were extremely thin. And lucky for us, about four hooligans from England were staying next door and made quite a ruckus. We got VERY little sleep. But before we went to sleep, we decided to head towards the Anne Frank house, thinking the crowds would be almost non existant closer to 9pm. They weren't. There was no way we could get in and see it in enough time before the place closed. So instead, we went out to get dinner and found a cheap vegetarian place called Maoz, where we all got falafels. After, we went to a chocolate shop where we either indulged in ice cream, waffles, or just a drink (hot chocolate for me).

Nearby was Leidseplein, a popular square filled with restuarants and the like. We stopped for about fifteen minutes to watch some break dancers put on a show, hopefully I'll be able to upload the videos I took. We were all pretty whipped by then and decided to have an early night since it was decided we would wake up pretty early the next day. Getting up wasn't that difficult since I was pretty much awake the entire night (thanks to our considerate neighbors). When we checked out, I was almost running to the Anne Frank house. I don't know, I think it's just me but perhaps its an American trait...I just had this image of massive crowds forming even an hour before the place opened....I was prepared to be the 50th person in line even at like 830.....so I booked it...for real. I was getting some true exercise there...carrying my bags around, the Van Gogh poster holder of death....I don't know, I was oddly energized. And when I got to Prinsengracht 263 (well, really like 265 because they bought like the all the buildings around the main building) there was only ONE person in line. Granted, it was about 8am and the museum was set to open in at least forty five minutes. But I was proud of this speed walking accomplishment...it definitely paid off. For a little bit, I put my stuff down with my friends and walked around the area in search for some caffeine (even though I really didn't need any) and instead passed by the Tulip museum, which I had heard about, but it didn't seem too impressing. After failing at my mission, I returned to the long lines I had anticipated.

But we were second! And we easily got in when it opened and I loved every moment of it. It had been a dream to be in this place....so much so that I tread lightly on the floors, as if they were sacred. When I was in middle school, I truly became obsessed with The Diary of Anne Frank....I would dream that I too was hiding as a Jew in the Holocaust. To me, this was one of the most important landmarks in Europe. And the speed walking truly paid off...there wasn't really anyone ahead of me.....I spent several minutes ON MY OWN in the rooms.......I was in Anne's room by myself for awhile, ......it was really an intense, emotional experience....and yet, very eerie at the same time. Yeah, totally eerie. I imagine that effect would have been curtailed a bit had there been more tourists around me........in any case, I was really lucky.

We stayed in the museum for about a little more than an hour and then hit a cafe near by for some breakfast. We all got dutch pancakes which were simply put, amazing. I stayed there for awhile because it was a wi fi spot and I had my laptop......when I was done, we went to see Westerkerk, a church almost right next to the Anne Frank museum. I remember reading how the bells and the church in general were a great comfort to Anne, but I had also read in one of my guidebooks that climbing the tower was a must do in Amsterdam. Westerkerk, which was built in the 17th century, has the tallest tower in the city, about 280 feet....which we climbed on extremely tight and narrow staircases....ah it was an experience, that's for sure! Less than ten people can be taken up at at time its so intense. If one is afraid of heights or is claustrophobic, this is not for you. Older people and larger people would have some difficulty as well. It was great though, very exciting! It took us at least ten minutes to get to the top...I thought the climbing would never end, I don't know how the tour guides go up and down so often. But the views from the tower overlooking the city are spectacular!!! It was perhaps the best moment I had in Amsterdam (besides being alone in the secret annex). If you are heading to Amsterdam, you HAVE TO DO THIS! It was fantastic....great panoramic views of the city, the canals, everything. We stayed up there for quite a bit before heading back down, which was a challenge in itself. I also learned that Rembrant and his son Titus were buried here in this church? Pretty cool........

We did a lot of walking around and observing afterwards, including passing Koninklijk Paleis, a royal palace. Supposedly it was originally meant to be Europe's largest town hall but when Napoleon came in 1808 and made his brother king of Holland, it turned into a palace. We also went through Rosse Buurt, or the Red Light District. It was certainly interesting...lots of sex shops, places to see sex shows, etc...and then in the windows of many buildings were prositutes standing, trying to get passerbys to come in....

Alright, so that is part 1 of Amsterdam. I'm so tired, I have to go to sleep...hopefully will write tommorrow.

Germany and the Kiel Canal!

About a week ago, we found out that we would be traveling through the Kiel Canal (previously known as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal) in Germany to get to Belgium! Originally, we were going to travel by going around the Jutland Peninsula, which we went through to get to Russia from Norway. The Kiel Canal was built in the late 19th century and is the busiest canal in the world, with about 45,000 ships passing through each year! (funny, I had only ever heard of the Panama canal but this one is much busier!) By going through the Kiel Canal, we have been able to save time and money. For those who are not familiar, the canal connects the North Sea with the Baltic Sea. According to wikipedia, most cruise ships cannot pass through the canal so we are quiet lucky! I did see many locals on the side of the canal watching as we pass through....it's pretty cool to say we've all actually been in Germany and seen the landscape (it is Germany on both sides of the canal) without setting foot on the land. But I've seen it! You would be amazed how close we are....hopefully later I'll be able to upload the pictures I took...we could easily swim to the shore....on both sides...we're THAT close. So here's a shoutout to Nina! I've been to Germany!

****

One thing has all been on our minds as we get closer to sailing to the southern Europe...what will happen about Turkey. When we were in Denmark, there was an incident outside of the American consulate in Turkey, where six people were killed. It is not that unusual to change plans or be re routed...so we're not sure what's going to happen...the rumor I heard is the alternative is going to France, Spain, or Egypt...I would LOVE Egypt...but personally, Turkey was the highlight of this trip....so it will be quite a downer if it doesn't happen...unless, of course..I go see the pyramids and ride camels instead, .....hmm....

Tommorrow I have two midterms and then on monday we arrive in Antwerp...the plan is to get on a train to go to Amsterdam asap and spend monday and tuesday there...come back and hit Brussels and see Antwerp....busy!!

Korsor and final thoughts on Scandinavia

July 11

This morning was one of the most relaxing mornings of the past four weeks. I pulled myself out of bed early, knowing I would regret missing breakfast if I slept in. It was a beautiful day out and I had barely seen any of Korsor. I left the ship around 9 and walked around the town for a good two hours. Although there aren't any real touristy attractions, it was so much nicer to simply observe the comings and goings of the locals. When I left the ship, I walked for about five minutes until I crossed a bridge that brought me to the main part of Korsor, which had some small shops and restuarants. I walked along a street called Nygade where I stopped at a tourist office for a map. Then took a left onto a small street called Algade, which led to the main church in Korsor. Then, I took another left onto Brogade, which finally brought me to the street that ran along the harbour, Havnegade. Near the pier, I found a bench and spent a good half an hour taking in the landscape around me. Everything was so quiet...I had written in my notebook, "I feel so wonderful here..on my own...I'm beside the water, watching the locals take their boats out and their dogs for walks-it is a quaint town, one that graciously accepts its visitors, one that appreciates the sea, one that lives on its own and understands the beauty of simplicity...one that doesn't take for granted the stem of a single flower. And the clouds-never has the sky felt closer to humans than it does here...I had the same feeling in Sweden...oh, if only I could paint........"

After some reflecting, I walked back towards the ship but continued on past it, to explore the other part of Korsor. The main road I walked on was called Revvej, which let me pass by many charming homes, as well as the library, and also a very cute bakery, from where I indulged in a brownie. Korsor vaguely reminded me of downeast Maine, near where my mother lives. If there was one word to describe the town, it would be simple. Not that it didn't have stores and a bar or two, not that the people were backwards in any sense...Korsor to me seemed like an oasis, completely separate from the rest of the world, surrounded by only good energy, void of darkness altogether. If the world gives in to chaos, Korsor would somehow be safe, I'm sure.

****

I've been to three Scandinavian countries thus far and I thought I would share some of my lasting impressions, even though they are pretty generalized:

1. Clean
There has been a complete lack of trash in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. The streets were spotless! No one even thinks to litter....it seems to be a common duty to keep one's city clean...although we want this in the States, we are all guilty of littering. We don't take those extra steps to find a trash can..in short, we are lazy. And ultimately, even if you yourself are determined to see America as clean as Scandinavia, your neighbor may not give the idea a second thought. Here it doesn't seem to be a problem at all. It will be interesting to compare Naples which has a rather large rubbish issue.
2. Safe
I never once felt in harm's danger. Even though I had one or two locks on my bags and stayed alert throughout my visits, I rarely had to give a creepy man the evil eye or constantly check my bag and wallet. The people were also so welcoming, which let us relax and be at ease. I only knew of one person who used her security belt in scandinavian countries, and that was only because she was used to it. In Korsor, kids of ages seven or eight would ride their bikes alone and go explore. Anywhere in Scandinavia seemed to be the perfect place to raise a child (maternity leave is also VERY generous, and fathers can even take off quite a bit of time..childcare is free as well). People truly look out for each other here. After all, the Danes in particular are said to be the happiest people in their world.
3.Bikes!
Bikes were everywhere, especially in Copenhagen, where there are separate lanes for bikers, and even separate lights. I saw more bikes than cars my entire time in Cph. People ride with baksets and it seems to be the transporation of choice for most Danes. In Bergen, there weren't as many bikers but Malmo has a considerable lot. Tourists can also be included in the practice-there are bikes to rent but also city bikes one can pick up from the street...a 20DKK is needed for a deposit but once the bike is returned, so is your money. It's a wonderful system that seems to have been adopted in many European cities. If only America could jump on the bandwagon.........
4. English
Traveling is incredibly convenient mainly because everyone speaks almost perfect English. Even though we tried to speak either Norwegian, Danish, or Sweden, it was simply a matter of respect and out of politeness.
5. Expensive
Probably the only downfall of Scandinavia on the whole was how expensive it was. Meals were always around $15, and these were the doable places. I didn't buy any souvenirs in Denmark or Sweden, and only a poster from the Bergen Art Museum. Scandinavia is expensive regardless but coming as an American tourist was even more difficult...thank you Mr. Bush for our lovely exchange rates. It won't get easier either because the majority of countries we hit next are on the Euro, so....eh.

Regardless of the expenses, Scandinavia was wonderful. The word civilized keeps coming to mind. The people were generous, sweet, and helpful. People are happy and life is good here. I can't imagine how different Scandinavia will seem when I move to India in the fall...........

Sweden

(wrote this earlier)
On a train back to Korsor from a day spent in Sweden. Now that I've been to three Scandinavian countries, I can tell you there are only subtle differences between them. Honestly, I could have passed on going to Sweden because it was so similar to Denmark. If anything, Malmo, Sweden had a more cosmopolitan feel than Copenhagen and Bergen. But I felt so great on my own! My most cherished times have always been when I was going solo. Even though I didn't explore Sweden by myself, I still had a very interesting time. It took about 25 minutes on train to get to Malmo from Copenhagen, Sweden's third largest city. One thing I noticed was there were a lot of squares and pedestrian shopping streets, much like Copenhagen (if you're ever in Malmo, hit up Stortorget, lots of trendy stores). The best square was called Lilla Torg, which is surrounded by 16th century buildings, a very charming area indeed. If I had any money, lunch there would have been divine. Since I was very short on money, I spent the whole time walking around, taking in the scenary. We passed the City Hall, the Casino Cosmopol in Kungsparken, and walked through a public park called Slottsparken, which opened in 1872. The perfect place for a picnic! Right in Slottsparken is Slottstradgarden, an organic garden with a very nice cafe. I could just imagine my mother spending hours in this place. As we continued on our walking tour, we passed Malmohus Castle, the oldest renaissance castle in Scandinavia. After taking a few pictures (its a museum now, we just saw the exterior) we headed to the pier on the Western Harbour, which seemed to be the popular place amongst the locals. Lots of sunbathing! Then we saw Turning Torso, the highest bulding in Sweden, which has 54 stories. By this time, we were all pretty tired of walking, so we got back on a train to Copenhagen. Interestingly enough, there was a Canadian who sat right next to me who was quite the traveler himself. He hadn't been home to Vancouver in four years. For this summer, he planned a 12 country tour through Europe. Ironically, he had lived in Japan as well as Korea so Momoko was very happy to hear someone speaking her language. The oddest part is he'll be in Bangalore this fall (as will I). We've been meeting so many great people on these trips...it's wonderful to chat with world travelers..
And now I'm on a full train headed back to Korsor and can't wait for a good night's rest!

Around Copenhagen

Thank goodness...my laptop is okay! I'm writing on it at about 8am this morning and today we will be taking the train from Copenhagen to Malmo, Sweden. We stayed in a pretty cheap hotel last night...but it was nice enough, called Cab Inn. These past two days have been so busy! I suppose I should start where I left off:

July 8

After arriving in Copenhagen, we left the train station and decided to wander the streets for a little. We passed Tivoli, the oldest amusement park in the world, and walked to the Stroget, supposedly the longest pedestrian shopping street also in the world. It's a great location...resturants and stores everywhere! Although they were all pretty upscale....don't expect to make some bargain buys. One of my guide books had recommended a small, cheap place right off the Stroget, so we headed towards Domhusets Smorresbrod and found it on a small side street. Smorresbrod sandwiches are a Danish staple and an unmissable treat! Smorresbrods are basically open faced sandwiches and can have different ingriedients...I bought two (they are not that large): one potato and one fried fish. Very tasty! And extremely cheap...by far the cheapest food I've gotten in Denmark....each sandwich was about 13 kroner. After eating, we decided it would be best if we found a hostel/hotel. We saw a tourist information center and found out where all the good hostels are. With our maps in hand, we headed towards DanHostel, reportedly the largest hostel in Europe. And we did get a room! But just for one night....there are 15 stories in this hostel and it was a perfect location, very close to Tivoli. However, we didn't have a hostelling card so it was more expensive for us...get one if you plan on hitting many hostels. Still cheap, it came out to be about 275 kroner (with sheets). It was a room for 6, with two sets of bunk beds. It was an exciting experience for us, being our first hostel and all. We did not meet our traveling mates until later that night...how sweet they were!

After getting our room, we walked along the Inderhaven in search for Nyhavn. Unfortunately, Tuesday was a day filled with pooring rain and we would find ourselves seeking shelter underneath the bridges, with locals and tourists alike. When it calmed a bit, we continued on our way and finally arrived at the Nyhavn Canal (it's the third picture on the side...similar to Bryggen in Bergen). The canal connects Kongens Nytorv to the harbour and is basically now just a row of beautiful buildings which are now expensive restuarants. Then we walked to Stroget again to find a restuarant called RizRaz which specializes in Mediteranean food but is buffet style. It seemed to be a very popular place with the locals and my stomach was easily satisfied with couscous, falafel, and the like. It was about 80 kroner (with water) for each of us.

As we were walking back in the direction of our hostel, we ran into the very people we had been trying to call! Nevertheless, we ended up going in separate ways....Momoko, Helena and I wanted to go to Tivoli for the night because we were planning to go to Sweden on Thursday (today!). After dropping some things off at the room, we headed to Tivoli around 9 and stayed there for a couple of hours. The entrance fee was about 80 kroner BUT each ride would have costed about $10 each...so, unbelievably expensive. I was totally bummed...I wanted to do the rides but we weren't able to because of the costs. So instead we just walked around the park (which was smaller than I thought) and took pictures of the sites. Tivoli is very quaint and sweet...intimate and very pretty at times. It's the most popular tourist destination in Copenhagen but I don't think I would go again. Perhaps if it was cheaper.......

When we were done we headed back to the hostel and soon met the other people staying in our room. There was a mother daughter team traveling throughout Scandanavia...the mother was from Cologne, Germany but they had lived in Toronto for as long as the girl had been alive (she was 25ish?). We had some wonderful conversations with them but we were all pretty exhuasted. When I was getting into bed, our other roommate came and we didn't get to talk so much...I think she was from Canada....nice enough.....

July 9

I woke up quite early yesterday and went downstairs to use the internet. When I was done, the other girls were almost ready to leave. We checked out and decided to get a head start to our day by crossing the Langebro bridge and entering the neighborhood of Christianshavn, where Christiania is! For those who are not familiar, Christiania is a self proclaimed free state/utopia that is basically separate from Copenhagen (even though its in the city). In the early 70s, a bunch of hippies took over the area, which used to be 19th century military barracks. I was happy to see the area in the morning, when the residents were starting their days themselves. We were only able to take pictures on the outskirts...there were signs in the best parts saying no photography was allowed. There was not many women living there...many older men and lots of dogs running loose (but they were clearly all cared for..they were just running around). It was pretty great...I had never seen anything like this, and I'm not really sure how to explain it. There were vendors selling various things and the colors were really great....lots of grafitti....it definitely wasn't a "clean" place...and taking the kids might not be the best thing. Not that they would be in any danger...but there were some questionable types. Still very cool!

After seeing Christiania, we walked to meet some friends outside of the NY Carlsberg Glyptotek art museum and then headed to the Cab Inn to make accomodations for last night. Afterwards, we went in search of a post office and then to find city bikes. Being unsuccesful, we spent the day hitting the following sites:

-Christiansborg

-Amalienborg

-Kastellet

-Little Mermaid

-King's Gardens

-Rosenborg Castle

-Denmark's National Gallery

Christiansborg, Amalienborg, and Rosenborg were all royal residences and we only were able to see the outside (I think some had tours?). If I remember correctly, Christiansborg is used for the Parliament now, and Rosenborg has a museum inside. Honestly, they were just sites to pass and take a couple pictures of...not very spectacular, but then again, I'm thinking of the palaces of Russia. The Little Mermaid was a long ways away and tourists were surrounding the poor statue. Truly, you can skip this. But the King's Gardens, next to Rosenborg, are lovely! The annual Jazz Festival has been going on during our stay and there seemed to be a concert going on while we were walking the park. So lovely! We wished we had a blanket and food for a picnic. Instead, we went to the Statens Museum for Kunst, or the National Gallery of Denmark (it was free on wednesday!). It was really great...there was so much I haven't seen....definitely go there!

After a full day, we were so very tired, and decided to stay in for the night...which was the best thing to do! We're about to head to the train station to go to Sweden...should be interesting!

Denmark pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002885&l=fb869&id=1084770089

Danmark

When we arrived, rain and a Danish band were waiting for us in Kørsor, Denmark. The quiet sea town seemed to have been awakened with our presence...there were Danes on the port waving in the rain to us as we approached and underneath a small tent, a band played American songs like 'Staying Alive' and the theme song from Friends. It was quite a greeting...we were all very surprised! Even outside of the gangway laid a small red carpet with flowers. Needless to say, my first impression of the Danes was a wonderful one. Even though I'm posting this almost a day later, I wrote the majority of this while I was on a train from Kørsor to Copenhagen. The train station was about a 20 minute walk from our port, but everyone was going in the same direction. We easily purchased tickets and boarded the 11:15 am train. As I write on the train, looking out of the window, I don't think I've ever felt more free. This is the first port where we won't be returning to teh ship for a couple of days...we are entirely on our own and I feel liberated. This is why I came to Europe. To have these moments...I am so happy. I stare out of the train window in wonder, taking in the extraordinary landscape...the sky is painted with rain clouds, but beneath the horizon lies red barns and fields of green and yellow hues...it looks oddly like the Midwest, everything is used for agriculture. Wind turbines can be always be spotted in the distance. As on the Norway in a Nutshell hike, some of the SASers are sleeping...how they astound me! How could you close your eyes on Denmark?

****

Although there is so much I want to write about yesterday and today...my internet time is almost up. We slept last night in the largest hostel in Europe..I woke up early to come downstairs to use their computers...but if anyone knows Toshiba laptops...I brought mine with me to Copenhagen, I've had it for more than a year and never had any issues....and yet last night, I tried to turn it on and nothing happened..its fully charged..I have no idea what could have been done, I always have the covering on to protect it, take very good care....who knows...so send me the best of energy and think of my laptop...it would be a huge deal and hassle for me if things did not work out...hopefully I'll write later.....

First Denmark album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002885&l=fb869&id=1084770089

Last thoughts on Russia

Tommorrow we arrive in Denmark but I'm still recovering from Russia. My mind thinks of the sullen faces I used to pass, the melancholy that seeped through their bodies, the anger in their voices-the racism in their eyes....The picture of Russia in my mind is of two distinct images: first, the wonder of the palaces and architecture and then spirit of the people which was beautiful in a much darker way, intersecting with a harshness...I want to leave it behind, but the memory has been following me around like a ghost, haunting my conscience. And yet I feel guilty leaving, forgetting-exploring new areas. I hear Russia calling to me as we sail west saying "Stay! You will understand us better!" I feel like I have left an orphan on the street, that I am abandoning a sadness and on to embrace the happiness of other places. I was so ready to leave St. Petersburg, but I feel guilty for moving on....but then, I never truly felt welcome in their country.

Here are my two albums on Russia:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002855&l=82e85&id=1084770089
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002861&l=f8ca0&id=1084770089

The Russian Orthodox Church

For me, the experience of visiting Russian Orthodox Churches was a highly spiritual one, filled with endless, interesting observations that taught me much not only about the Russian character but also reminded me of my own. As someone who was raised in the Greek Orthodox Church, it was constantly a fascinating trip that was captivating as a tourist but also meaningful as a devotee. In the past, I always stayed away from the word "religious" and would hardly use it to define myself. I preferred the term "spiritual," because it allowed me to be interested in many different beliefs outside of Christianity and use religion as a way to have an intimate connection with the universe in which I live. And yet, many Orthodox Christians would also agree that spiritual is a better term.
The Orthodoxy, as evident in St. Petersburg (and of course, through my own personal experiences) creates a truly mystical experience through its outside and interior architecture, through the chanting and the numerous rituals throughout the liturgy, and of course, through the icons. Even though Orthodox Christians will say the presence of the icons is not a form of idolatry, it definitely creates a closer connection with the saints and those who left their religious legacies. It allows the individual to reach a spiritual enlightenment without the aid of a priest. It places the power of salvation in the worshippers hands.
As many others noted, icons were visible in many public places, even outside the churches. For example, on the tour buses, there were tiny icons on the windows. And they did not necessarily have to be an icon of Jesus. The icons allow Christians to truly appreciate all of the saints and to form bonds with certain ones, establishing a unique and personalized worshipping experience. So, one of those icons in the window could have been the patron saint of the driver. Or it could be the patron saint of the church he attends, or perhaps one who speaks to him more so than others. In this sense, Orthodoxy draws many connections with Hinduism. We accept that there is a single, powerful God but also show a compelling interest our saints. During the week, the churches almost become like temples, where one can enter and perform their own religious ceremonies. Even though everyone carries out the same behavior, the feeling for each person can be individualized. For example, when one enters an Orthodox Church, the first procedure is to light a candle, cross themselves, and kiss an icon. Although everyone may perform these actions, they are doing it on their own, without the interruption of others. These private steps play an integral part in the worshipping of Orthodox Christians.
At every church I visited, these steps were in place. The first church I visited, St. Andrews, had a beautiful pink exterior and was on a fairly busy street, where shops and restaurants were next door neighbors to the church. Russians with shopping bags would take ten minutes out of their day to quietly and respectively enter the church, and worship, not because other people were there and would notice them being devout Christians, but for themselves. In America, going to church on Sunday may be for some, a way to prove to others than you are religious. But once again, here in Russia, there is more focus on the individual.
Even in the popular tourist destinations, such as the Cathedral of our Lady Kazaan or St. Isaac's Cathedral, Russian Orthodox Christians still came to privately worship. Many observers have thought that the Russians were almost putting on a show for the tourists but I saw this in a completely different way. They were simply not letting anything, even tourists, interfere with their spirituality. The Kremlin had interfered with their religion during all of the Soviet times. How can tourists compare to that? This is a country that was religiously oppressed for decades, whose churches were used for absurd reasons. It is often human nature to cling to something that was previously lost and this is perhaps a reason why other Orthodox churches may not be having the same revival as the Russians. Regardless of the reasons, the Russian Orthodox experience demonstrates for its observers a much more personalized form of worship that is perhaps not as prevalent in other Christian denominations.

The Women of Russia

Whenever there was a woman who spoke English, I made it a point to ask her about gender roles in Russia and what makes Russian women distinct and separate from women of other countries. I had a similar reaction from those who I asked in Norway, which was at first, bewilderment. Each woman I encountered had difficulty answering this question, at least at the beginning. All had to take a minute or two to think about what I had asked them and how to formulate their answers. They could easily talk and generalize about women of other countries but describing their the population of their own was infinitely harder. And yet every response I received was about the same. "Russian women care more about the home," they would say. "We love the hearth, our mothers, we love to take care of the house." Every time I heard this, I wondered if they loved it solely because it was expected of them, or if they genuinely wished to emulate the motherhood ideal. Perhaps this was a reflection of the older generation's feeling, but no, many of the younger girls I talked with shared the same opinion. It is not unusual at all to be married in their early twenties and already looking to have children. The priority is still to be with a man and to have a home. As one middle-aged woman told me, "we are nothing without men." Although the younger generation did not take as extreme an approach as this, they still recognized the statement as partially true. What's more, there were weddings occurring on every day of the week. Even if one hadn't talked to the women, they could easily notice the importance of marriage in Russian society today.
Another interesting observance that I had of Russian women was a trait that all Russians seemed to share, which was a certain melancholy visible on their faces. People would not respond positively to smiles or even spacebas, many ignored our efforts to speak Russian and learn about their culture. An older lady described to me, "Russian women have led harder lives, we do not smile like American women and we are not independent like the European women." A 20 something year old male said, "Russian females are more serious than other women around the world." Even the young women, whose may have been born the time of the Soviet collapse, still share this ultra pervasive sorrow. In some cases, Russian women would yell at me when they realized I could not understand what they were saying. In every scenario, I tried my hardest to speak their language and show the utmost respect, and yet the majority of women seemed angry at my presence in general.
One of the most fascinating experiences I had in Russia as a whole was watching Russian television. There was a small café I would often go to that had a television set on one of the walls. The first time I went there, I could not help but notice the tv show that was playing. Although it was fully in Russian, I could understand most of what was going on. It was a show centered around a group of women in jail but what I noticed the most was the shocking amount of violence. There were several scenes depicting women beating up other women, and also a scene of a woman being gang raped by male inmates. I tried to compare the show to something in American television, but nothing came up. Nothing seemed to be this cruel or brutal, but here it was, being watched by Russian women in the café.
As I myself looked up from time to time, I couldn't help but think how strange this show was. Where did it fit in with the Russian model of femininity and motherhood? Was this a popular show in Russia, and if so, did the women enjoy it? It seemed to be portray the exact opposite values the Russian women had been telling me they believed in. And yet, here was that melancholy that the women exhibit on their faces. This was a show focused on the suffering of women, albeit in a prison, but perhaps the Russian women have emotional connections with the characters in the series, who also experience pain.
Whatever the case be, Russia left me with puzzling picture of their women, one stuck in the intersection of the past and the future, where pain and hope mingle with each other.
...............................

Thoughts on St. Petersburg

We were told not to smile so much. To practice our scowl, (suggested with a chuckle) so that we would blend in more with the Russian nature. I remember in our preports the Russians we had on board talked about the significance of the soul in Russian culture and that a certain melancholy is almost always present. It's been seventeen years since the Soviet collapsed, but as I passed the faces of St. Petersburg, their eyes displayed the weight of the past and how it still had a powerful presence in the present. Some people from SAS said that they did not meet a single "nice" Russian. And in fact, many people have been so frustrated that they were brought to tears. The first encounter that I had myself was pretty pesimistic. As soon as I got off the ship, I tried to find a bank with a few friends, hoping to exchange dollars for the ruble. I gave the lady my cash and my passport and for no apparent reason, she started yelling at me in Russian. I clearly did not understand what the problem was...I had done everything I had been told to do, in truth there was nothing else I could. The language barrier was not the issue...but she genuinely was angry. In my entire life, I had never had a stranger yell at me like she did. We both tried to understand what was happening...and my eyes pleaded with her to reach a common, utterly human bond but it didn't happen. She did not have time to see those pleading eyes, trying to express my apologies for the complications...that I truly was doing all I could...needless to say, I walked away with rubles but very disappointed. Perhaps a fluke, I thought? Just someone having a poor day at work, we've all had those. And yet in my own work experience, when someone came in who did not speak english, I would do everything in my power to make sure the person got exactly what they wanted. I went out of my way to be at their service. I was not expecting that from this woman, it didn't surprise me that it wasn't there or even that this person wasn't in a good mood..just her impatience, her anger...directed at me? And that was the beginning of the prejudice, the resentment....many moments of my time in Russia clouded with negativity simply because I was non Slavic. We had been repeatedly warned about the growing racism in Russia...there have been several attacks on people who do not look Russian...there was an Indian man traveling with us to Russia who even had such an experience...and he told us a story about one of his colleague's daughter who is studying medicine in Russia and who was in some pretty bad circumstances just last week. We were warned about skinheads and I imagined we might encounter some animosity but the extent to which we felt discriminated against was unprecedented. My Asian friends (most of whom are my closest girlfriends) were uncomfortable almost all the time. My roommate Helena had even said that the best she felt was when we were in the Hermitage, because there were so many tourists from all over. No one starring you down, giving you the worst of looks...god, it was horrible. Every single person we passed just looked at us like, why are you here? you don't belong here.......we were in a cafe one night and a man came in, heard us speaking english (in faint voices, I might add) and he literally stopped right in front of us and stared as if he was saying "what the hell are you doing in our cafe...." he didn't even seem to believe what he saw....about two minutes later, he left. There were guys in the same room who I heard make fun of us because we would say thank you in russian a lot...because we were trying to speak the language, trying to be courteous and kind and respectful...but what we recieved in return was horrible. We would go into a store or restuarant and ask if someone spoke english and people would just laugh at us and turn away...and we would ask it in Russian! They were very hard, very serious and tough. And it put a damper on our trip, for sure. But as my mother reminded me and as I already knew, life IS hard, serious, and tough for many Russians. The government is horribly corrupt, the weather is very difficult to deal with, the scars of communism still are visible, the police are the least trusted people in the communities. So a rich American teenage girl who has never experienced any of this, prancing down the streets of St. Petersburg, of course they are resentful....of courses they would look twice. But, as I wrote in the blog before, my best experiences were also with the locals. Not just the worst, as I've described. I did end up having meaningful conversations with those who could speak english (which is not many at all....probably about 1 in 9) and it got better as the days went on. On the second day, when I was at the market near the Church of the Resurrection, two Russian men who spoke very good english started speaking to me, complimenting me (honestly, trying to flirt with an young American girl). They were running a fur stall and since I had desperately wanted to buy a chapka, I decided to stay with them for awhile and consider buying it. They were godsent....just what I needed...so so sweet and kind..the older man took me over to a bank and showed me where it was...put his hand out while we crossed the street (because uh traffic is insane here..I will get to that) but it was these simple gestures that made my day. It was through my interaction with them that I truly began to understand that Russians do not take life or things lightly...things must be meaningful to react positively. They do not smile unless they are happy, they do not say thank you at every chance, for the small things....we had to cut down on the spaceba's because, being polite Americans, my friends and I say thank you 24/7. The Russians, therefore, think we're just saying it to say it...and that because we say it so much, we don't mean it. Because we smile so often, we take everything for granted. "You smile just to smile but we smile only when we're happy." "But I'm happy all the time!" They laughed, geuinely entertained by my enthusiastic responses. Life is hard here. When we drove to Peterhof and had left the historical center of the city, we came to the apartments that were built in the 70s...and goodness, they were horrific. And there were so many of them! That was the only places I saw at all where one could live. No houses...just these apartments that were completely run down and dilapidated. Some new ones had been put up and it was such a stark contrast because the new and the usual...this is where these people who pass me on the street live...this is where they suffered in the past..this is where they dream of better futures. And yet walking down Nevsky Prospekt, every woman wore high heels, had great fashion sense, and looked wealthier than most people on semester at sea. There were so many intersecting lines...and I still don't understand it all.

A couple days ago, perhaps on Thursday, Helena and I talked about a top five list of the things that were either surprising us the most or what we would take away with us from Russia. What I had come up was almost the same as now:

1. Traffic: We were told before coming into St. Petersburg that we must be especially careful in Russia crossing the streets, pedestrians do NOT have the right of way and accidents are our greatest threat. Russians drive FAST and pretty recklessly. I had several close calls, as did most people. Even in DC and New York I never felt like my life was in danger everytime I crossed the street. And the worst part is there aren't many actual crosswalks or lights...we would get stuck in the middle of the road with cars going 60mph right past us...trust me, no exaggerations are needed. In the states, its comparable to crossing a highway, one would NEVER think of doing such a thing....and of standing in the middle of the road! If we cross, we cross when we know we can get to the other side. Not here. So if you ever go to Moscow or St. Petersburg, be extremely careful and prepared.
2. Police: Like I said before, all the polls have said that the police are the least trusted group in society. We were told that it would not be unlikely that police would randomly stop us, see our documents, and take our money. People who have lived in St. Petersburg have had these incidents and it's not unusual. The joke is that when a policeman stops you instead of saying can I see your documents, he will say, can I see your money. Most Russians can get out of anything (or perhaps they did not commit a crime at all) by bribing the policeman. It's pretty widespread. Everytime I passed a policeman, I crossed my fingers he would not approach me. We would stop talking so he didn't hear we were American, and just tried to blend in as much as possible. But the presence of the police was ubiquitous. The police, those in the military, were EVERYWHERE. And truth to tell, they were scary. We saw more people in the army and what have you than the police themselves....and honestly, they looked like Nazis. There would be a group of about twenty guys dressed in army uniforms (that looked like Nazi uniforms almost precisely) on every block or so...and they would just STARE YOU DOWN when you passed. And on the streets, there would be the trucks I have only seen in movies...it really looked like the place was occupied. That's the feeling I had. Like I had to protect myself, stay away from the policeman, truly...anyone in uniform. It was a very different atmopshere, one that I've never been accustomed to and very disconcerting.
3. Mullet: On a more lighter note, the mullet was everywhere! Every single guy (well, least 3 out of every 5) had a mullet! It was really interesting.,...I had never seen the mullet that much in my life.
4. Scowl...clearly...already noted...
5. Pastels: The architecture, the colors of the buildings were so light and wonderful! Every building in the downtown area of St. Petersburg was a masterpiece in itself. Unlike Norway, which had vibrant, stark colors, St. Petersburg was a city of pastels, of light yellows and blues and greens. It was lovely.
And I would love to write more but I really must go to bed....we gain an hour of sleep tonight..thank goodness but I'm so exhuasted, I've gotten very little sleep the past few days and can no longer stay up.....I have much more to write.....thank you to everyone who is reading...

RUSSIA

Oh St. Petersburg, how you have exhuasted me so! You were like a beautiful person who I could not stop staring at and yet when you spoke, so many times you were harsh. But through time, we warmed up to each other and we depart as friends. A couple hours ago, I sat in a cafe that I often frequented, with pastel pink walls and lows ceilings...with sweet tempered Russian women who spoke little english, but could understand our thankfulness...and I began to reflect on my time here spent in Russia. There were instances of immense frustration, almost always followed by the eureka exclamations of a deeper cultural understanding. Five days was just the right amount of time to see all the major landmarks but also explore the lesser known areas of the city. Without a doubt, my most rewarding experiences were those spent with the locals. And ironically, my worst moments were those spent with locals.
On Tuesday morning, we woke early as in Norway, but instead of seeing quaint sea villages in Scandanavia, we saw an excess of industrial areas....a lot of trash, a lot of just unpleasantness. It was not the best first impression of Russia. But when we docked in St. Petersburg, the view was what we had waited for. But getting of the ship was very different than in Norway. Some unlucky SASers waited in line for two and a half hours to get through customs...luckily I only waited for about a half an hour. And then I was free to explore Vasilyevsky Island, where we are docked. It is the largest island in the Neva delta and is home to St. Petersburg University, where I belive Putin himself went (double check me on that one...I may be totally wrong). There are also a number of museums scattered throughout the island, but most of the main tourist spots are on the other side of St. Petersburg. At night, most people stayed on the island because the bridges close to pedestrians and open so bridges can go through. So, if you're stuck on the other side, you're stuck there till 5am! And the metro stops at midnight, so that's not an option. Luckily, there were plenty of bars and places on Vasilyevsky Island....it could be a city all on its own.

My recommendations for Vasilyevsky Island: St. Andrews Cathedral: This was one of the first places I went to in Russia. It has a beautiful, pink exterior and is one of the smaller churches in the city and was built in 1780. Not many tourists enter...there was a Russian woman clearly yelling at a tourist who had come in to take a photo (whereas in the major churches, cameras are flinging every which way). One of the interesting things about the churches is that they were used for other things during the Soviet times. Some of the most brillant churches were turned into swimming pools, skating rinks...truly, the most bizarre of things. It's a miracle so many of the churches and cathedrals were saved. As someone who was raised in the Greek Orthodox Church, seeing the churches was filled with spiritual and emotional experiences. I don't consider myself very religious, and in fact, I connect more with Eastern religion than Christianity. But...the beauty is just breathtaking and it felt so very familiar to me. I made it a point to kiss many of the icons in the places I visited.
Twelve Colleges: These were also some of the very first few glimpses of St. Petersburg that I had. Over about 1200 feet, there's an unbroken line of identical red buildings. When they were constructed in 1742, they were first used for governmental purposes. But now, they are a part of St. Petersburg University. How I would love to be a student to use these buildings! Definitely make it a point to see these, they're lovely.
Sredny and Bolshoy Prospekt: These seem to be the two major roads filled with kafes, bars, and lots of stores. But the main attractions are across the Neva and this is where one should spend most of their time (the order in which I saw them):

Tueday, July 1: After I explored Vasilyevsky Island, I had to return to the ship for a semester at sea trip for my anthropology of religion course. The itinerary was changed a little bit because of how long customs took....we ended up leaving a half hour later but we still got to see much. Our first stop was a synagogue and I don't recall the name but it won't be hard to find...there's only one synagogue in the whole city but it's said to be one of the most beautiful in all of Europe. I was struck by the vibrant brownish red and tan horizontal stripes on the exterior. But inside was even better: the main section was a lemon yellow with white frames and some sky blue in other areas. There was a lot of Arabic influences with the architecture inside, which was interesting to see. My favorite part was inside of the wedding chappel, a very small room off to the side. We had the sweetest tour guide who spoke great english, and at the end she showed us a rather large bulletin filled with pictured of none other than Mr. Bush who supposedly visited the synagogue when he was last in St. Petersburg? It seemed kind of random...we didn't really know why he went. The next stop was St. Nicholas Cathedral. After St. Andrews, this was my second church to see in Russia and it was just as lovely. It was also built in the eighteenth century but unlike the other churches, it had marked off areas for those worshipping. I was tempted to cross the line and kiss some more icons and I should have, but instead stayed behind with the other tourists. Oh well. For those who are not familiar with Orthodox Christianity, the services are extremely long and for the most part, we stand the entire time. In Russia, none of the churches even have pews. The main element of the Orthodox church are the icons and the iconostasis at the front of the interior. This is always the loveliest section of the building. In a nutshell, the iconostasis is basically a wall filled with icons, with a door in the middle that leads to the altar, where only the priests and altar boys can enter. On the right of the door, there is always an icon of Jesus Christ and on the left, always ghe Virgin Mary. Typcically, to the right of Jesus there is an icon of the patron saint of the church. In the Orthodox Church, there is a definite mysticism that is alive which is lacking in most other Christian denominations. It is what I love about the Orthodoxy....religion is more spiritual and tied to the soul. I'm clearly biased, but in my opinion there is so much more emotion and feeling involved here. St. Nicholas's Cathedral was very nice, but you may only need to see the outside, which has a beautiful blue exterior and five golden domes and is a prime example of Russian baroque architecture. We then went on to St. Issac's Cathedral: St. Isaac's is without a doubt, the most beautiful church I have ever been in. First of all, its huge! In St. Petersburg, it is the second tallest landmark, after the Cathedral of Peter and Paul. One can see the cathedral from almost any area...it became a meeting point for my friends and I because it's so easy to find. It's been turned into a museum, and tourists can even go up to the colonnade where there are views of the city ( I didn't do this, but some of my friends did and said it wasn't particularly worth it..a lot of views of construction). But what words can aptly describe the beauty of the interior? The green and yellow colors of the iconostasis are so vibrant! And the ceiling is stunning. I took videos of the ceiling itself. So spectacular. Just take a look at my pictures....they will express the wonder so much better than my words can!
After we toured St. Isaac's, I decided to stay there longer and let the rest of the SAS group go ahead without me...I had planned to meet some friends. I love to people watch, so for about a half an hour I sat outside on the steps (as many Russians do) and just observe the passerbys. When I finally met them, we walked back to the ship, first stopping to take a couple pictures of The Bronze Horsemen: This is the famous monument to Peter I, named after Pushkin's famous poem. Supposedly it took the artist Falconet over fifteen years to create this. But honestly, it's just a statue of Peter the Great, on a horse, with a serpent underneath. So, not such an amazing sight. But definitely important to the city, and very close to the Admiralty and Hermitage, so one will most likely pass it.

Wednesday, July 2 Wednesday we woke up pretty early and decided to head out to the Hermitage . From our ship, its about a 40 minute walk. Right in front of the Hermitage is the Dvortsovaya ploshchad: Also known as the Palace Square, this huge space in front of the Winter Palace is somewhat overwhelming with its size. The line to the Hermitage usually starts in the square, and in the center there's the Alexander Column, which is the tallest in the world. Opposite of the Winter Palace is the Arch of the General Staff, which is pretty cool. Tuesday night, when we were making our way back to Vasilyevsky Island, we walked through the Palace Square and saw hundreds of policeman lined up with their cars in front of the Winter Palace. It was very odd and you could tell that the passerby tourists had no idea what was going on...my friend and I saw some SASers who had some fun with me, saying that some guy j walked and then ran off with a painting. I believed them. Ha, oh well. But truly, the square looked so much more impressive with those hundreds of policemen, but also a tad foreboding.
The Hermitage: If you go one place in St. Petersburg, make it the Hermitage. With more than 1,000 rooms and 60,000 works on view (from a collection of 3 million) the Hermitage is said to be not the best art collection in the world but not the second best either (according to wikipedia, it holds the Guinness World Record as having the world's largest colleciton of paintings). Several buildings make up the Hermitage: the Winter Palace (1767), which was the home of the tsars and is possibly the most extravagant place I have ever seen, the Hermitage Theater (1787), and the Small (1767), Big (1787), and the New(1852) Hermitage. You can't miss these buildings...not only are they huge but the green exterior is remarkably noticeable from anywhere on the Neva. One cannot help but be mesmorized. Wednesday morning, I made my way to the Hermitage and waited in line for at least an hour. If you ever intend to go, expect to wait. When it finally opened and we entered the building, it was pretty chaotic to get a ticket. People had said Russians may just cut others in line, and we definitely saw a lot of that. But it was all worth it when we passed through the security. The art was fantastic! So much! There was Leonardo and Raphael, Gaughin, and Picasso, Monet, Cezanne, and many others. What really surprised me was the amount of Greek and Roman art they had, more than any I had seen from museums in the states. But without a doubt, my favorite part was the palace rooms....so insanely beautiful. The ceilings were my favorite part...I don't know how much space on my memory card was taken from pictures of the ceilings alone. Such intricate designs in every place...On one hand, I was so grateful to be in the presence of such an incredible environment...but on the other hand, it was kind of disgusting that some would spend that much money on aesthetics and palaces when it could have been distributed in other ways. Oh well, I should have taken that up with Catherine the Great back in the day. There was no way to see everything in the museum...my advice would be to find out where the artists you enjoy are, and hit those sections. Most of the rooms are bombarded with people and tour groups...which made the viewing process a little hectic. But then I would find myself alone in other rooms...how peaceful those moments were! Standing in front of Matisse all by myself...just the colors and I...wonderful.
Nevsky Prospekt: After spending hours in the Hermitage, we made our way to the hub of St. Petersburg, practically the fifth avenue of the city, which is Nevsky Prospekt. Nikolai Gogol, the Russian author I previously quoted, once wrote "There is nothing more beautiful than Nevsky Prospekt!" I don't know if I would agree with him, but it's definitely a place to go. So many shops and resturants, it seemed to me to be the busiest place in the city, each time I walked on the street.
Cathedral of our Lady of Kazaan: This is one of the places where if you're not interested in the inside of the Orthodox Churches, the outside will peak your interest. One will be walking along Nevsky Prospekt and then all of a sudden see this incredible semi circular colonnade, similar to that of St. Peter's in Rome. The columns are huge! Inside was nowhere near as impressive as St. Isaac's but still rather large and a unique iconostasis.

Church of the Resurrection (or Split Blood): From the Cathedral of our Lady Kazaan, we crossed Nevsky Prospekt and walked along the canal towards the magnificent Church of the Resurrection. This is the Russia I wanted to see and had always envisioned: the neo Russian style. Whenever I see pictures of this church or similar ones, it always reminds me of fairy tales or some other world..I can't even imagine what I would think if I saw this as a child..it would either terrify me or I would just think it was the most magical place ever. It just doesn't look real! Unfortunately, the inside was closed on wednesday so I didn't get to go inside :(. But just seeing it was a great experience. There was a woman singing opera right outside which made the atmosphere all the more special. Here's an interesting fact: it's known as the Church of Split Blood because it was built in the same spot that Tsar Alexander II was killed by a bomb in 1881. Right next to the Church are the Mikhalovsky Gardens, which served as a nice oasis and provided some much needed shade.
Souvenirov rynok: Also right next to the Church of Split Blood is a great market area, where I bought my chapka and matriochka dolls! All the people working spoke some english which was great and enabled me to have some fun conversations. They had all the touristy necessities...probably some 30-50 stalls. Fun place!

Thursday, July 3 We didn't do too much this day...the first thing my friend Helena and I did was go to an internet cafe to upload some photos and check email. After returning to the ship, we decided to head out to the Russian Museum, where I wanted to go the most. To get here, we walked along a canal which took us right near Church of Split Blood. Walking through the M. gardens, we came to the Russian Museum, which is in the Mikhailovsky Palace. Being a palace, there were some absolutely beautiful rooms but I enjoyed the artwork the most (perhaps the opposite of Hermitage), which was very avant garde. The artwork was organized very well..there was a definite coherence from painting to painting, room to room. The majority of paintings I had never seen prints of or even heard of the artists, so I learned a lot! By the time we got out, we were pretty hungry but stopped first at Gostiny Dvor, which is a shopping arcade on Nevsky Prospekt. It was a really interesting place...it was as if there was one long room like an alleyway and there was no formal separation of the stores...they just went one after the other. But among the stores, there were categories. So, all the furs were in one location, all the shoes stores in another, etc. We didn't really find anything worth buying. By this time, we were starving. I had read about a cafe called Idiot (after Dostoevsky's novel ) in one of my tour guides and had been meaning to go. It was close to St. Issac's Cathedral so we made the trek over but it was totally work the walk...the decor was really cool! It was in like a basement and really cozy...I could have spent hours there. For lunch, I had a blini with fruits (I only really had blinis) which was excellent. When we got back to the ship, we hung out for a few hours and then went out later to find some bars. We went to this chill spot with a middle eastern decor...I decided to get a hookah while almost everyone else took absinthe shots (illegal in the states). I took a little sip and it was the strongest alcohol I've ever tasted...everyone who did the shots had tears running down their faces...after you're done with the whole process. We got back to the ship around three and I fell asleep immediately.

Friday, July 4 My alarm clock came all to suddenly but once rational thought kicked in I remembered today was the day we were going to Peterhof! Peterhof was my favorite place in all of Russia. It was about an hour drive (a very interesting one, which I'll describe later) and was incredibly packed with tour buses when we arrived. Unfortunately, we found out we wouldn't have much time seeing the palace and grounds, which was a bummer. If I could go again, I would stay at Peterhof for hours, just walking around the gardens. Peterhof was the summer residence of Peter I and is known as the Russian response to Versailles. Very famous for its fountains in particular. The first thing we did was quickly tour the palace, which honestly, was like any other. I'm glad I saw it, but it's not necessary. I wish I could have had more time to be outside! It's simply glorious...the grounds are extremely elegant. Just stunning....no picture can do justice to this place. I didn't get to explore everything, so I'm not quite sure how large it really is. But it's pretty extensive. The really interesting part is that Peterhof was completely destroyed by the Nazis during WWII. During the 50s, they reconstructed the whole thing again based off of maps, documents, etc. It's really sickening to think of people who would want to destroy such beauty.
When we got back to the ship, I relaxed a little and then went out to meet my friend Momoko in the evening. We went to Idiot once again and then returned only to go out again for some nightlife. After a couple hours of running around Vasilyevsky Island and trying to find a good place, we all settled on this little bar right on the Neva, that even had a small dance floor and karaoke, which we took full advantage of. It was really cool to see the bridges open into the air, we had been waiting to see that but had never been close to the river when it happened (or we had stayed in and were already asleep). After fully exhuasting ourselves, we returned to the ship and went to bed. Today (saturday) has largely been spent doing some last minute errands and shopping. It's almost 8pm and everyone is on the ship. For dinner we celebrated the fourth of july with a bbq...we had a bunch of American flags on the side of the ship..I can only imagine what the Russians were thinking (needless to say, there was a lot of noise too).