Moscow to St. Petersburg

The last two weeks of January, I was in St. Petersburg, doing pre-dissertation research. I consider myself lucky that I was able to go there and see dear friends, speak Russian, revisit St. Petersburg, and get a chance to explore and become acquainted with some of the archives in St. Petersburg.

[These first pictures are not of St. Petersburg, however. They are of Moscow in the morning, still alight with New Year's lights.]

[My friends in St. Petersburg joked that Moscow gets all of the lights and then whatever is left over, the government sends to St. Petersburg.]

[The Resurrection Gates in front of Red Square.]

[It was about 8:30 in the morning by this point. So still really dark! But not as dark as Petersburg. It didn't get light until around 9-9:30 there.]

St. Petersburg was cold. Not as cold as Chicago recently, but there were temperatures reaching -10 degrees Farhenheit. So. Cold. I was staying at the top of an old apartment building, and as I walked down the stairs, I could feel the cold just seeping through my jeans and leggings into my legs. Brr.

[The coldest I think I've ever been.]

[View from my window.]

Highlights of the trip included: Getting to celebrate my friend's birthday with her, visiting the Hermitage and Faberge Egg Museums, speaking Russian, and seeing friends that I knew from serving a Latter-day Saint mission in Ukraine.

[Neva under snow.]

[Frosted windows meet classical statuary.]

[The Hermitage]

[The Peacock Clock]

[Serious "Once Upon a December" vibes here.]

[and here, too.]

[Rembrandt's, The Prodigal Son]

[Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood]

[Faberge Museum]

[Oh yeah! I also went to the Dostoevsky Museum and definitely had a moment here.]

[Dostoevsky's Petersburg, about 150 years later.]

The archives themselves were more bureaucratic than those I have experienced thus far in the States or in the UK. Ordering documents takes 3 business days, so in order to get good archival work done, you have to be at the archives for at least two weeks. Also, 19th-century Russian cursive is a nightmare to decipher (but, I got better as I went along).  

[Hello there, microfilm reader.]

Lowlights of the trip included: It's hard to be away from Sam (but he gets back tomorrow! Hooray!), St. Petersburg is dark in the winter and I run on sunlight, and in typical Eastern European misogynistic fashion, I got groped on the way to a friend's birthday party (I am fine, but I am still mad about that. Will continue to be mad about that).  Those are the things that don't make it onto an Instagram story, but they are part of the entire experience. (That, and the random guy sleeping outside the apartment one morning--ohhhh, Eastern Europe.)

[The original StairMaster]

I also had a flight cancelled from Zurich to Newark, but in a stroke of my best worst luck with planes, the airline was very generous and paid for a hotel and a flight for the next day. So, I got to explore Zurich a bit and get home. Hooray.

[Hanging out in Zurich.]

Overall, I'm glad I went. From the beautiful Russian orthodox cathedrals, to being able to be back in a place I love, to drinking Russian juice (seriously so good), to seeing people I love, I feel lucky that I was able to be there for a bit. But next time, hopefully Sam will be able to join me.