My first stop was Kiev, Ukraine. I met up with the entire American student group at 7:30am at the St. Petersburg airport. We arrived to Ukraine early the next morning and right away started the bus tour. No time to freshen up or get settled in our hotel rooms! Little did I know that my next two weeks would be exactly like that.
Kiev, Ukraine
The Dnieper River
The рынок or market
Night out on the town
My lovely lunch of Ukrainian Borsht, Varenkyky with potatoes, and kvass
The candles we used for the caves we went to with all the cool mummies buried (unfortunately we weren't able to take any pictures down in the caves.) I was surprised that there were mummies in Ukraine
"National Museum of History of the Great Patriotic War
Years 1941-1945" (WWII)
Me by the giant statues
The giant statues
The outside of the museum
Leninism-Stalinism Book
The ration of bread given to people during the Leningrad Blockade (After the fall of the Soviet Union, Leningrad was changed to St. Petersburg)
A journal found written by a 16 year old from the time of the Leningrad Blockade. It said that there were "no cats or dogs in the streets and people turned to cannibalism." Stray animals were considered a delicacy.
Auschwitz clothing, wires, and children. About 12 million died in this camp.
During the war literally nothing was wasted. This is a bar of soap made of human fat
A pair of gloves made of human skin. Scientists were still experimenting even on the dead.
Григорий Васильевич Малинко: (on the right)
The Ukrainian Iron Man.
A shard got lodged in his heart and he lost consciousness from the pain. He got buried but about an hour later someone happened to see movement from his breathing. The piece of metal was dangerously close to his heart so the doctors decidedthey must leave in there. He ended up living another 40 years. He really enjoyed fighting and strength sports.
A painting of a battle from the war
This car used alcohol for gas. Ecologically friendly.
The woman on the left had 9 sons and 9 died in the war. The woman on the far right had 10 sons and 10 returned home but 5 crippled. Both women are the same age however the one whose sons died looks far older than the other one.
The tin can is Nes coffee made in 1943 in New York. It is sealed and with no expiration date. This 70 year old coffee can still be consumed.
There was an entire room filled with pictures such as these on all the walls. These are all the people who died during the war or were directly affected by it.
Someone left beautiful red flowers
Some statues in front of the museum
A Russian tank used during the WWII
Getting on the train from Kiev to Moscow
Train ride to Moscow
The cozy hot tea we had on the train
Overall, I very much enjoyed the trip to Kiev. it was a beautiful and calm city. Somebody siad it very well when they described Kiev as "cozy."
Moscow, Russia
Entrance to the Red Square
Where people got their heads cut off
Beautiful viewpoint of Moscow
The area that inspired Tchaikovsky to write "Swan Lake"
The entrance to the Kremlin
A big cannon inside the Kremlin
The big bell inside the Kremlin
Red Square
The Museum of History on the Red Square
A confused security guard outside Lenin's Mausoleum
Since there were no pictures allowed inside the Mausoleum, I snatched this off the internet. But this is Lenin's real (according to some sources) corpse. Every couple weeks the corpse is washed bare handed with no gloves and the air in the glass container is changed. Apparently this corpse is looking worse and worse every year. It is fascinating that they were able to preserve it almost 100 years at all!
Loyal communists outside the Mausoleum paying tribute to Lenin
The mini version of St. Basil's Cathedral inside the actual St. Basil's Cathedral
We all stayed about 3 days in Moscow then on the third day my friend Linda and I flew out to Istanbul Turkey. It was an overnight flight with a layover in Frankfurt. We arrived at the Istanbul airport around 2am. Then we took a taxi to our hostel in the center and about 2 blocks from Hagia Sophia.
Istanbul, Turkey
Linda and our Argentinean friend eating breakfast at the hostel on cozy low couches. There are also pillows on the ground to sit on
The outdoor seating at the hostel
The statue of Medusa at the Basilica Cistern. This is one of the largest cisterns built in the 6th century.
Exploring the cisterns with a (free) Turkish guide
Outside one of the many mosques
We grabbed a cup coffee on a rooftop restaurant and this is the view from it with the warm sun shining on my face
Linda's cup of coffee with the beautiful view of Hagia Sophia off the rooftop
Another view from the roof. The yellow building used to be a prison but now it is one of the top notch hotels. Our new friend said it well when he said "people used to pay to get out, now they pay to get it."
Hagia Sophia
Another mosque
Our friend Alimaad and I goofing around on the roof of our hostel
In front of the Topkapi Palace
Having lamb for lunch
Drinking tea in the sun. Tea is usually served in these glass cups
Inside a mosque
All women are required to be covered up in the mosquess. Here is Linda and I in our scarves and long skirts
A bazaar in the streets
The famous Grand Bazaar.
We took a ride on the ferry which cost us only about 10 bucks
We rode on it for a couple hours and got to watch the sun set over the city
A palace along the river
The sun was setting while we were on the ferry
A Turkish flag. One thing I liked about Turkey is that they have their Turkish flags everywhere
The sun almost set
A yummy and popular dessert restaurant that we pretty much ate at every day. They have the best Turkish Delights!
We had tea and some sweet and interesting dessert
A street that lead to Taksim Square
We grabbed some freshly squeezed pomegranate juice on the way. This was 1 lira or about 50 cents.
Taksim Square
After staying in Istanbul for about 3 days, Linda and I took off back to St. Petersburg. Once again, it was an overnight flight with a layover in Austria this time. We arrived to St. Pete at 4am.
Riga, Latvia
We flew in to St. Petersburg at 4:20am, slightly too early for the metro which opens at 6am. Unfortunately we also stepped out of the airport and there was no going back in again so we were stuck in the cold with public transportation nowhere near or open. We were stuck to pay for a cab. For 800 rubles (about 25 bucks) it took us to Moskovskiy Vokzal, or the train station on Nevsky in the center, close to my house. I offered Linda my bed since the buses won't start running for another hour. We had a whole day to recover and were supposed to meet at the metro at 11:45 that night.
At 11:52pm, I was long time at the metro waiting already and still no Vika and her host mom! I was pacing the metro (despite the suspicious looks from the metro escalator lady) nervous that we would miss our paid bus to Latvia. Low and behold, I see their heads bobbing on the escalator and became relieved. We power walked to the bus stop. A huge greyhound bus pulls up in a couple of minutes, we show our tickets and passports and board the bus. The bus was way above my expectations: the seats not only reclined (unlike on the planes!) but it also was very clean and comfortable with heating and even wifi.
We visited Jurmala on the west of Riga. A resort town between the Riga River and the Lielupe River. During the Soviet Union times, Jurmala was a favorite vacation spot for high-level Communist Party officials such as Brezhnev and Krushchev.
The famous turtle that everyone must take a picture with when in Jurmala
Another thing to do: pose by the big metal globe that has "Jurmala" written across it
The nice and cozy hostel kitchen
Our bedroom
The view from our window
My bed at the hostel
The bazaar
I bargained for my fur boots at the Latvian bazaar. I made my decision very fast that it surprised the seller lady. She looked at Vika and said "странно" or "odd." What can I say, when I know what I want I go for it.
The beautiful streets in Riga
The Freedom Monument: important symbol of sovereignty and independence of Latvia set in the early 20th century
We ate dinner at a famous restaurant called Lido. It is a catering chain buffet that offers a wide range of Latvian cuisine. The location we ate at was the first Lido opened. A fun fact I found online is that "the restaurant introduced a Bohemian atmosphere to city life and led many to believe that private entrepreneurship was possible in seemingly impossible circumstances." It was established in the late 80's.
There was a dance floor at the restaurant where all the families and couples danced since this is a family friendly restaurant.
Posing with my new Latvian fur boots, warm mittens, and Latvian flag
After two days in Latvia, we headed for a day trip to the capital of Estonia: Tallinn.
Tallinn, Estonia
Waiting in line to eat lunch
The awesome Medieval style restaurant we ate at. "Three Dragons." The ladies at the register wore Medieval clothing. The options to eat were very simple: Elk soup, piroshki, or sausages and your choice of locally brewed beer or cider. There were no spoons and you had to drink the soup out of the bowl. Also, there was a barrel of pickles that you had to fish out yourself with a spear. The lighting was all under candlelight.
Our candlelit table
The Elk soup with a pirozhok
This is the building that our restaurant was in (Kostya!)
Can't resist. I love fur!
We grabbed a decent cup of coffee with pastries after lunch for dessert. A good cup of coffee in Russia is rare to find, so we took advantage of it while in Europe.
Outside the pastry shop
Taking pictures by awesome old walls
We saw people dressed in Medieval costumes everywhere
Us being goofy
I had a great time in all five cities and cannot say which one I liked most. It was interesting packing for all them where the climate ranged from warm to moderate to freezing. Since I like to pack light, it was pretty difficult. Overall, I am thankful I got this great opportunity and while vacation is supposed to refresh you, I must say I was completely exhausted from all the excitement of all the new places, people, food, languages, climates, and information...but in a good way. :)
