Have you seen my muff?

St. Petersburg is cold! At least in the shade- the sun actually warms the city up quite a bit. Ashley and I have gotten to see a lot of it, during the day and at night (although night is only about 30 minutes long, so mostly during the day). We got to go the ballet, the evening of the 22nd. We saw Swan Lake at the Alexandrisnky Theater, which, it turns out, is the oldest theater in Russia, so that was pretty cool. It was so beautiful, and we had great seats; they turned out to be in a box so that was really cool!

The following day, we took a ferry to Peterhof, Tsar Alexander I's summer getaway down the Baltic Sea a bit from the city. Beautiful, beautiful palace with a huge garden that we walked through and lots of fountains including a "trick fountain" that shoots water at unsuspecting passersby and their cameras (no harm done, don't worry!)

It was a gorgeous day and really sunny right on the sea, so after a while of wandering, we sat on the pier and read for a while. I didn't get to go to the beach at all this summer, so I'm glad I managed to find one in Russia! We headed home and dined like kings at a sushi bar/Uzbek restaurant that an Italian girl staying at out hostel recommended. Not really what I had in mind for a Russian meal, but all the Uzbek dishes were just like what I ate in Tajikistan, so it felt just like home 😊.

The next day, our last day in St. Petersburg, we went to the Peter and Paul Fortress across the river from the Hermitage and the hostel where we are staying. There was a beautiful cathedral there, and a few museums. The Museum of Medieval Torture Instruments cost extra, so we didn't go into that one, but we did do this:

because there's nothing wrong with being a 5 year old when you're a tourist. Also shortly after these were taken we watched a couple take their wedding photos with this guy, so no shame.

The coolest part of the fortress was the prison, which has been converted into a museum. Lots of prisoners of the civil war and Bolshevik revolution were held here, and a few of their cells were on display (some names I recognized from my Soviet Union history class), and there was a lot of information about the political prison (in English) so we actually (re)learned a lot!