Started off the day (well, after classes got out) with a tour of Saint Isaac's, and a trip up to the top of the cuppola for a fantastic view of the c…

Back to Peterhof for the day.  Marina (different than our interpreter from the cruise) and I decided to forego the palace tour and do an impromp…

On our first day in St. Pete, we took a boat ride along the Neva and various canals in order to familiarize ourselves with the city.  It was lov…

...that's about it =)

So earlier in the week, Valentina, one of our professors, told us about this "folk festival" that was taking place nearby.  We assumed it meant …

...tour of the Novgorod Kremlin, including Saint Sophia Church, one of the oldest cathedrals in Russia

Shortly after arriving in Velikii Novgorod, we took a boat ride around the Volkhov River to see one of Russia's oldest cities by water.  Picnic …

When the cruise ended on the morning of the 1st, my parents and I transferred to the Saint Petersburg Hotel ("a Soviet dinosaur," according to our gu…

Up bright and early for an incredible tour of the Hermitage.  Such an amazing museum!  We got in just as the museum was opening, and becaus…

The last stop of the cruise was Saint Petersburg, where I would be spending the majority of the rest of my month in Russia.  The first day was s…

Quick note about the Captain's farewell dinner.  There was a talent show planned for that evening, one for each dinner sitting.  We were in…

One of the more beautiful spots in the world that I've been to.  Valaam is a secluded island on the northern reaches of Lake Ladoga, reknowned f…

Originally, our itinerary called for a stop in Svir Stroy, but upon arriving on the boat we found out we'd be stopping in a place called Mandrogi.&nb…

Absolutely incredible!  Kizhi is this little island on Lake Onega that is entirely devoted to an outdoor, open-air "museum" of wooden architectu…

After we set sail that afternoon, Marina had a vodka-tasting party for us in the lounge.  It was grand - we were accompanied by a balalaika an…

When tourists stop in "Goritsy," they often pull into port in that town and are then bussed over to see the Monastery of St. Kirill on the Whit…

Much prettier than Kostroma, but unfortunately we barely had any time here.  The highlight of the day, for me, was the fact that the symbol of…

I was a tad disappointed with Kostroma.  The monastery (Ipatyevsky) and convent (Epiphany) are incredible, but the rest of the town is rather …

Stop #1 on our cruise: Uglich, a town best known for things that happened to Ivan the Terrible's son Dmitri.  After being exiled to Uglich wit…

Our second and last day in Moscow (we needed much more time here, in my opinion) was spent shopping on Arbat Street and viewing the Tretyakov (Russia…

That afternoon, following the obligatory safety drill, we began the "at sea" (or "at river" as the case may be here) portion of the cruise.

Our whirlwind tour of Moscow began by meeting our table mates at breakfast.  Our cruise consisted of 220 (count 'em - 220) Germans, seven E…

We came back to nap after our Kremlin tour, as us non-Europeans weren't used to the time difference yet.  At around 9 we headed off for our Mo…

We got off to a slightly rocky start.  After arriving in Moscow and struggling with my cursory knowledge of Russian to try to find ourselves a c…

My parents had never been to Russia, and as children of the Cold War, they naturally had several pre-conceived notions about the country that made th…