There is not much to say about the Mass itself. It was pretty much the same as in Vladimir, although I do like the Church in Vladimir much better. Actually, they had a history of the Church displayed in English, which was neat to read. The Soviets used it as a storage room and than as a theater after the persecutions began, the Catholic Church only got it back in 1993, which is after a fire in the 80’s.
After Mass, I went back to the hotel for some lunch at Sbarros. Did I mention a Sbarros was directly beneath the hotel, oh man talk about heaven, actual American pizza; it was great, and only 30 rubles, sweet. Anyways, lunch was good and then it was off to a few more churches. We went to Kazan Cathedral and the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood. Kazan Cathedral is clearly modeled after St. Peters in Rome
(Although I must say that having been to both it really fails in comparison). Still it is very pretty and houses the famous Kazan (I think) Icon.
The Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood is built on the spot of the assignation of Alexander II. The preserved the spot where he fell (but he actually died a few weeks later), that was really cool to see, and the entire church is covered in mosaics and is built in old style Russian architecture. It was raining almost all day, so after these two churches we didn’t really feel like walking anymore. For dinner, we found a KFC (I know, some much American food, but it’s so good!). Oddly enough, KFC’s in Russia do not sell biscuits, nor could I find sweet and sour sauce, unfortunate. That night we went to the ballet. We saw Don Quixote (I have a feeling that both the musical and book and any movies are more entertaining then this was) Ok, so it really was as bad as I would want to make it out to be, but did you guys know that there is no talking in a ballet, only dancing, just people dancing over and over again, ya … 3 hours, ya. I actually like the Nutcracker, but this was just not as interesting. I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would, but I don’t think I will be going to many ballets anytime soon. I think the biggest beef I had with the only thing was the fact that they don’t finish the story, it stops before you get to the part where Don Quixote’s friend fights him. After the ballet, the night was pretty much over. We went back to the hotel and hung out for a bit, than off to bed.
Day 3 was our excursion to Pushkin (Tsarsky Selo), which is one of the giant palaces of the Tsar’s. It was very big and very blue. Actually, I think I want to decorate one of the rooms in my future home like half the rooms at this palace, ornately decorated walls covered in gold and a tasteful painting on the ceiling, with some ten feet tall blue porcelain fireplaces.
I think that would be a nice room to have. Basically, Tsarsky Selo makes you wish you were a Tsar, even Nicky the 2nd. Not only was the palace beautiful, but the grounds around it were equally amazing. Gardens, lakes, and islands, the kind of place you think you ought to touring on a horse. After this little excursion, we came back to Petersburg for lunch (I don’t remember where). Then we went to a hockey game. This was very fun. I miss hockey (haven’t seen it for a year people!) Hockey is so fun to watch and our team (Petersburg) even won 3 to 0 I think, no fights though. After the hockey game we stood around outside (its cold in Peter) talking to some Russians for a while, that was interesting. Next I decided to have a nice cup of tea at a café and then I hit up Sbarros again before they closed (I love their pizza!). Although it was late, I still decided to walk down Nevsky to Dvortsovaya Square (the place by the Hermitage). It was really cool. There was no one there except for this one Sax man, reminded me of the Simpsons. So I sat there and listened for a bit, he was really good. So that was day 3. I think I will stop there for now, day 4 is pretty interesting and I don’t have time to do it justice right now, but it will give you guys something to which you can look forward.
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