(So, I wrote this a long time ago....)

So, Pushkin.
Luckily, and contrary to all my pessimistic assumptions, it not only snowed quite a lot the night before we went to Pushkin, but the snow stuck as well. Meaning that when we woke up in the morning the world was blanketed, and it was even snowing when we left the bus in Pushkin itself, although by the time we left the palace proper it had stopped and it was perfect walking-around weather. The palace itself was, of course, ridiculous. It was originally a modest wooden building designed for the use of Peter the Great’s wife Catherine (who, by the way, was a commoner by birth), but remodeled by their daughter Elizabeth. The wealth of the tsars was, perhaps, never more ostentatious than under Elizabeth (II?), and she was not shy with lavishing it upon the building. As one of our guides said, she basically broke the bank, versus Catherine the Great, the next owner, who ‘as a German, was very thrifty’ (her words, not mine). Essentially, the whole palace is a little too much for my tastes, from the gold décor to the famous ‘amber room’, which contains walls literally paneled in amber. The original room (and the entire palace, essentially) was destroyed by the Germans during their invasion in WWII, and the German government paid 18 million euros toward the reconstruction efforts. They really did a fantastic job restoring the palace, from essentially ruble to its modern, reconstructed glory, but the fact is that I (and I think many in our group) are a little tired of palaces. As stunning as they are, its just a little much sometimes, or at least consistently.
The grounds, however, were certainly worth the bus ride. Under snow they were transformed, although they must also be stunning in the summer and fall. Like the grounds at Pavlovsk they are quite extensive and of course we didn’t have enough time to explore them all. One thing to note particularly are their wonderful water features, stemming - I believe – from one main lake at the back of the palace. Also like at Pavlovsk (which, after all, is only a few kilometers away), the grounds are studded with buildings and monuments, like the ‘Chinese Pavilion’ and the ‘the Hermitage’ which apparently had no windows in its lower, hidden floor, allowing the tsars to take refuge there and do exactly what they liked in complete privacy. Wandering around in the snow and the – relative – wilderness was a lovely change after St. Petersburg and its unfortunate recent slush. I even fed birds. Lovely.
Really, it was a wonderful excursion. I’ve decided that snow makes everything better, and everyone, not just tourists, were enjoying it. There was also a very friendly dog who joined our group briefly. In Russia, or at least around St. Petersburg, stray animals are much less likely to be scary, and much more likely to be merely happy-go-lucky and looking for a snack. In generally, people are just so kind to animals, feeding them whenever they can and making allowances for them, like impromptu bird houses out of bottles, or the horde of cats that lives in the Hermitage. Its no wonder that animals seem less scary, when people treat them more kindly.

Lately I’ve been running around, trying to study for exams (my last is tomorrow, and then I’m free!!), while simultaneously getting everything done that I need to before I leave. Or rather, everything that I want to, which is primarily doing a great deal of walking where I haven’t been, and visiting museums. I had my last visit to the Hermitage on Monday, following a walk around one of the oldest parts of St. Petersburg and ending up as about a 6-hour walk all in all before returning home, thoroughly chilled. There really is a danger of not being able to get warm after being out in the cold for hours. Apparently, when you walk around by yourself, you get asked directions by all sorts of people. Or maybe now I look like I know where I’m going, because lately I’ve been asked many times for directions and information. This is decidedly pleasing, since I have passed the non-tourist test; I even talked for about five minutes with a man the other day before he realized I was a foreigner. And the grocery lady who I have been wooing with frequent purchases actually made conversation with me yesterday, which consisted of her asking me if it was cold, me replying that yes, of course, and her laughing at me for thinking it was cold when it was only about three below zero. Which admittedly, is not very cold. As Tanya said today, when it gets to 6 below, then its cold. I was even told today by a stranger not to bit my nails, and that it was unattractive. All in all, lately I’ve been feeling like I’ve been accepted into Russian society to at least some extent, and so it makes me all the more sad to leave. Really, as my time in St. Petersburg runs out, I’ve decided that yes, I am very much going to miss Russia. Its hard to describe exactly why, and it will probably become a lot clearer after I leave, but its really been such a wonderful place to live.

On a complete side note, the re-facing of the Hermitage has been completed, and it looks fantastic.