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Orginially from Ohio, I went to the big city of New York for about 5 years (mainly for school), and now I am working towards my masters at Cambridge in England. I hope this website gives everyone a taste of what my life is like here... and if nothing else I think you will find it fun and entertaining!!
Thursday, April 21, 2005
2nd Day in St. Petersburg
On the 3rd day in Russia (2nd day in St. Petersburg) we took a bus to Pushkin (or Tsarskoye Selo in Russian) which is 25 kilometers south of St. Petersburg to see The Great Catherine's Palace.
Sitting on the bus... the building in the background is our fabulous hotel (hahaha read this VERY sarcastically)
I know what you are thinking... Diana it is freezing cold in Russia, why are you wearing sunglasses? Answer: The sun reflecting off the snow was CRAZY!!
We were welcomed to Pushkin by some street performers... unlike any other street performers... probably what street performers were like back in the day of ummm my parents?? grandparents?? not sure, but really cool!!
Got in another shot before they started yelling at my group for crowding them and taking photos and not giving money to them hehe. Don't worry, I am nice!!
One of the gates to enter the palace quarters.
Part of the palace from the outside. I really loved the bright blue colour!!
More of the palace from outside.
Ohhh and me in it... I almost blend in because of my blue coat hehe.
Me again... too bad the flash did not go off...
The gold shimmered really beautifully in the sun... another reason for sunglasses hehe.
Zoom in...
You have to love that they make you wear special shoe coverings inside museums and palaces in Russia to protect the floors.
We are like the doctors and surgeons in hospitals... SCORE!!!
The staircase up into the palace...
A statue bathing in the sunlight by the window.
The bright red window curtains... so many bright vibrant colours in Russia!!
One of the rooms...
Covered in mirrors and gold plating.
Seeee told you it was mirrors... now you can see me in the mirror :)
Special unit used for heating up the room... it was a really pretty blue and white pattern... reminded me of my grandma for some reason... will tell you when I figure out why that is haha.
Another mirrored room!!
One of the banquet or dinner rooms.
As demonstrated so nicely by Joseph and myself.
Closeup of the table... gorgeous!!
Vivian... me.... Joseph... all gazing into the mirrors hehe this must be why they had so many mirrors!!
A desk... reminded me of something my dad would have in our white living room that we only go in for special occasions haha.
Now looking in the mirror AND smiling... im getting good at this.
The amber room... made entirely of amber... REALLLLY amazing, and this photo does NOT do it justice, but I was not allowed to really even take a photo in this room, so I did it secretively (hence it not being straight) and without flash (hence it not being so bright or vivid in colour).
Another eating room... the colour motif (white, ivy and light pink) reminded me of my sister's bedroom hehe.
It must have been dark at night with only those candlelabras for lighting!!
There we go... that's a better idea of the colour theme.
The blue and white room... floral motif...
The asian motif room...
Every palace back then used to have an asian motif room to show they were trendy and rich. The wall is covered in silk that is hand painted in asia... or maybe just the silk was from asia, hehe sorry hard to remember...
The elgant couch.
A bed room... but the bed has gone missing... so they have placed chairs where the bed used to lie hahaha HILARIOUS!!
Special candleabra that looked much nicer in person.
Super special study room that we weren't allowed to go inside. The wooden design in the floor was spectacular (says the girl from a long line of wood craftsmen hehe).
Outside the palace, looking at the grounds, which is mainly just covered in snow.
Joseph, Lindsay and me posing
Ohhh nice fun photo!!
Vivian and me CUUUTE!!
ohhh how many combinations of people can we make... fun game!! Joseph, me and Vivian :)
More architectural photos... ohhh wouldn't it be fun to be an architect?
hehe for Zion's family... a photo of Pizza Hut in Russia... now it is save to go there!!
Vivian is ravenous... after looking everywhere for food, we are going to resort to eating at the next place we find!!
Joseph's favorite erotic shop.
Pizza Hut ad in Russia... hehe again for Zion's family...
McDonalds in Russia... ohhh sign of America taking over SCORE!!
So this was our yummy fast food lunch we found. On the left hand side with the cabbage and carrot salad are potato latkes (hehe although they called it something else) with a mushroom sauce that was totally YUMM!! But on the right hand side was what they called cheese cakes... which was some kind of weird funky almost ricotta like cheese and raising with batter fried and served with the favorite condiment of Russia... SOUR CREAM... it was ummm not to my liking hehe.
Joseph seems pretty happy with his food.
Saurabh being himself haha.
Still on the potato latkes... so happy... too bad there is no photo when I got to the cheese cakes YUCK!!
Gelatto to keep everyone happy since we couldn't find the ice cream shop earlier (recall the photo where Vivian was ravenous).
you KNOW im happy when I have ice cream!!
Tristan, Vivian and Lindsay on the subway.
Emily, me and Sully (or Richard to some of you... but he will always be Sully to me!!)
Russia at night.
Vivian and me with our complimentary shots of vodka... everyone gets free vodka at Cafe Idiot... hahaha what a name!!
Sam playing around with artistic shots.
Cheers!!
Maybe my friend was right... you can always tell who the Americans are by who has the biggest smiles haha.
Woooah there Lindsay and Sully... too much to drink already??
hmmm contemplating life... clearly NOT idiots haha
Vivian and I shared a HUGE burritto... yummmm... ohh did i forget to mention that cafe idiot is a VEGETARIAN restaraunt... SHOCKING to find that in russia... although they consider caviar and shrimp to be vegetarian hahaha.
Closeup of the burrito... hey it is better than the ones in england!!
Ewww grosssss Vivian!!
Vivian got potato dumplings and I got mushroom dumplings... kind of like pierogies... really yummy, especially the potato ones!!
Heey it is Tristan's birthday!!
I just had to take the photo because the candles were bordering the shot so nicely.
Tristan pouring his birthday shots.
haha I refused to drink any... but they insisted... so I drank a bottle cap full... that was more than gross enough for me!!
A car full of us went back ... and Tristan and some others went on to a club... but all in all it was a super packed fun day, and I was thrilled to go to sleep!!
Sitting on the bus... the building in the background is our fabulous hotel (hahaha read this VERY sarcastically)
I know what you are thinking... Diana it is freezing cold in Russia, why are you wearing sunglasses? Answer: The sun reflecting off the snow was CRAZY!!
We were welcomed to Pushkin by some street performers... unlike any other street performers... probably what street performers were like back in the day of ummm my parents?? grandparents?? not sure, but really cool!!
Got in another shot before they started yelling at my group for crowding them and taking photos and not giving money to them hehe. Don't worry, I am nice!!
One of the gates to enter the palace quarters.
Part of the palace from the outside. I really loved the bright blue colour!!
More of the palace from outside.
Ohhh and me in it... I almost blend in because of my blue coat hehe.
Me again... too bad the flash did not go off...
The gold shimmered really beautifully in the sun... another reason for sunglasses hehe.
Zoom in...
You have to love that they make you wear special shoe coverings inside museums and palaces in Russia to protect the floors.
We are like the doctors and surgeons in hospitals... SCORE!!!
The staircase up into the palace...
A statue bathing in the sunlight by the window.
The bright red window curtains... so many bright vibrant colours in Russia!!
One of the rooms...
Covered in mirrors and gold plating.
Seeee told you it was mirrors... now you can see me in the mirror :)
Special unit used for heating up the room... it was a really pretty blue and white pattern... reminded me of my grandma for some reason... will tell you when I figure out why that is haha.
Another mirrored room!!
One of the banquet or dinner rooms.
As demonstrated so nicely by Joseph and myself.
Closeup of the table... gorgeous!!
Vivian... me.... Joseph... all gazing into the mirrors hehe this must be why they had so many mirrors!!
A desk... reminded me of something my dad would have in our white living room that we only go in for special occasions haha.
Now looking in the mirror AND smiling... im getting good at this.
The amber room... made entirely of amber... REALLLLY amazing, and this photo does NOT do it justice, but I was not allowed to really even take a photo in this room, so I did it secretively (hence it not being straight) and without flash (hence it not being so bright or vivid in colour).
Another eating room... the colour motif (white, ivy and light pink) reminded me of my sister's bedroom hehe.
It must have been dark at night with only those candlelabras for lighting!!
There we go... that's a better idea of the colour theme.
The blue and white room... floral motif...
The asian motif room...
Every palace back then used to have an asian motif room to show they were trendy and rich. The wall is covered in silk that is hand painted in asia... or maybe just the silk was from asia, hehe sorry hard to remember...
The elgant couch.
A bed room... but the bed has gone missing... so they have placed chairs where the bed used to lie hahaha HILARIOUS!!
Special candleabra that looked much nicer in person.
Super special study room that we weren't allowed to go inside. The wooden design in the floor was spectacular (says the girl from a long line of wood craftsmen hehe).
Outside the palace, looking at the grounds, which is mainly just covered in snow.
Joseph, Lindsay and me posing
Ohhh nice fun photo!!
Vivian and me CUUUTE!!
ohhh how many combinations of people can we make... fun game!! Joseph, me and Vivian :)
More architectural photos... ohhh wouldn't it be fun to be an architect?
hehe for Zion's family... a photo of Pizza Hut in Russia... now it is save to go there!!
Vivian is ravenous... after looking everywhere for food, we are going to resort to eating at the next place we find!!
Joseph's favorite erotic shop.
Pizza Hut ad in Russia... hehe again for Zion's family...
McDonalds in Russia... ohhh sign of America taking over SCORE!!
So this was our yummy fast food lunch we found. On the left hand side with the cabbage and carrot salad are potato latkes (hehe although they called it something else) with a mushroom sauce that was totally YUMM!! But on the right hand side was what they called cheese cakes... which was some kind of weird funky almost ricotta like cheese and raising with batter fried and served with the favorite condiment of Russia... SOUR CREAM... it was ummm not to my liking hehe.
Joseph seems pretty happy with his food.
Saurabh being himself haha.
Still on the potato latkes... so happy... too bad there is no photo when I got to the cheese cakes YUCK!!
Gelatto to keep everyone happy since we couldn't find the ice cream shop earlier (recall the photo where Vivian was ravenous).
you KNOW im happy when I have ice cream!!
Tristan, Vivian and Lindsay on the subway.
Emily, me and Sully (or Richard to some of you... but he will always be Sully to me!!)
Russia at night.
Vivian and me with our complimentary shots of vodka... everyone gets free vodka at Cafe Idiot... hahaha what a name!!
Sam playing around with artistic shots.
Cheers!!
Maybe my friend was right... you can always tell who the Americans are by who has the biggest smiles haha.
Woooah there Lindsay and Sully... too much to drink already??
hmmm contemplating life... clearly NOT idiots haha
Vivian and I shared a HUGE burritto... yummmm... ohh did i forget to mention that cafe idiot is a VEGETARIAN restaraunt... SHOCKING to find that in russia... although they consider caviar and shrimp to be vegetarian hahaha.
Closeup of the burrito... hey it is better than the ones in england!!
Ewww grosssss Vivian!!
Vivian got potato dumplings and I got mushroom dumplings... kind of like pierogies... really yummy, especially the potato ones!!
Heey it is Tristan's birthday!!
I just had to take the photo because the candles were bordering the shot so nicely.
Tristan pouring his birthday shots.
haha I refused to drink any... but they insisted... so I drank a bottle cap full... that was more than gross enough for me!!
A car full of us went back ... and Tristan and some others went on to a club... but all in all it was a super packed fun day, and I was thrilled to go to sleep!!
