Well I am back from Russia and what a wonderful time I had. Gosh, it was so amazing. It is so beautiful.
We left at 7:40am Thursday morning and pretty much spent most of the day on the bus. Customs was easy to get through and only took about 45 minutes which was good cos we have 35 people on our bus.
Driving into St Petersburg I felt so sad cos the houses are what we would call unlivable and there is so much litter and rubbish around. It made me so sad to see it all. The people dont want to fix their houses incase they get invaded or robbed. Russia is such a dangerous country for pick pocketing and crime. Its also the country with the highest suicide rate. Thankfully we cant back with all 91 students though! One girl did get her Ipod pick pocketed though. She said her and some other people ran after him and he had a knife so they stopped. They reported it though and the Police had the security footage. Apparently they are repeat offenders and Police are going to try and get it back for her.
On Friday we started the day with the Hermitage Museum tour and it was the most amazing place I have seen in my life. There are over 1000 rooms and if you want to look at each one for 1 minute it would take you over 9 years or something. It was so amazingly beautiful I cant even explain it.
We then went on a small tour of the city and it is so amazing, I can see why it is the most beautiful city in the world. There is a lake or something that runs through it and it is so beautiful with boats and tourists. That night we went to the Ballet. It was so great. I thought it was one of the best things about the trip. The ballet had famous pieces from famous ballets. It was so cool to see the dancers get right up onto their toes. The dancers also did the girl in the music box. Its like when the girl gets on one toe and points the other in the air and the man spins her around. It was so amazing and something I have always wanted to see. Now I have!
Some people got into trouble cos they had alcohol and of course we arent allowed to have any. It was their own fault though we were warned. Some people also got in trouble for sneaking out and into other rooms which is so dangerous in Russia. You almost got run over just crossing the street even at the crossings. It was crazy.
On Saturday we went on a sightseeing tour. It was great to hear about the history and culture of St Petersburg and it is so amazing to see all the palaces and temples. I loved them. They are all golden and coloured and have amazing shapes.
We went to a traditional Russian Folklore Dance that night and that truly was the most amazing this of the trip. It was so entertaining and I could have sat there all day and watched it. The guys and girls we such good dancers and were doing the most amazing tricks and spins.
We headed back to Finland on Sunday after stopping at the markets before the border. It was crazy, all the vendors trying to sell you things and throwing lollies at you to try. I was a bit reluctant to try them but they were good!
We crossed back over the border and I got back to Salo at 7:40pm.
It really was the most amazing and fun filled weekend I have ever had in my life. I loved it so so much and would do it again in a heartbeat. I made some amazing friends and it will be the first and last time I will see some of the students.
I would recommend anyone to go to Russia and inparticular St Petersburg.
Just one of the houses. Up to 3 families may live in here!
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