Псков Pskov and the beach

So now it's the night after we got back from Псков Pskov. I just spent a while at the beach with Olivia, my neighbor, watching and taking pictures of the sunset. The beach is really quite lovely, littered with broken glass, cigarettes, slabs of concrete, and empty alcohol bottles. Basically what I envisioned when I found my apartment building on google maps a few weeks ago and noticed that it was next to the beach. I'm just glad that we were allowed to get right up to the waterfront, though we weren't allowed onto the sandbar where we could have found some nice views.

I feel the need to clarify that the previous paragraph was not at all sarcastic - it was basically what I expected, and it was lovely. Lots of people were there, too, enjoying the midnight sun.

My understanding is that we caught a glimpse of the open horizon of the Gulf of Finland from the concrete slab on which we sat. Much of the east side of the Gulf is fresh water because Река Нева the Neva River flows so vigorously. Also the reason why this side of the Gulf is fairly polluted.

So our trip to Псков Pskov was lots of fun. At least I thought so. The concensus of a good chunk of the group was that it was pointless to drive so far, somewhere between 5 and 6 hours, for such a short amount of time to a city where there wasn't much to do. But I think everyone had a good time anyway, and some people even had a good time complaining about not having a good time.

There was a whole lot of rain on Saturday night. Lots and lots of rain. Most of the streets were flooded and some cars were stuck in giant puddles. Everyone got soaked. Part of the problem was that the sidewalks were close to the road and then cars would drive by and send a fresh surge of water at our feet.

After navigating the worst of the storm to and from a restaurant, people somehow had the stamina to go out later. Some people went to a concert and the others, myself included, went to a club. This was an interesting experience - not something that I do much in America, let alone Williamstown, but I'm glad I went, if only to say that I was at a club in Псков Pskov. We stayed for a good while. I was in support of staying for a good while because we had paid to get in, something that I had great difficulty coming to terms with. Though not nearly so traumatic as when I had to pay to use the bathroom in Петергоф Peterhof. Oy!

Sunday was spent being bussed around to various monastaries and churches - all Orthodox, so far as I could tell. Sadly, I don't know where we actually were, because we were spoken to in Russian for the duration of the trip.

I think if I ever return to Russia, I'd like to live in the countryside. Perhaps not one of the places we visited, because they seem to be operate largely as receptacles of tourists. Certainly, most of these tourists seemed sincere and not obnoxious. But anyway, though I'm glad I'm in this program and living in St. Petersburg, there's a whole lot of Russia that I'll never see if I stay in the cities.

The long bus rides there and back were really interesting. Once St. Petersburg disappered, we didn't see cities of any magnitude for the whole way. For long stretches, the road was surrounded by trees punctuated by clearings, some small houses, some villages. You can see some agriculture in a couple of my pictures from the top of a tower.

That's all for now, time to get some sleep!

Also, my vocab blitz is continuing to improve my life and communication, which makes me very happy.