Der erste Schnee
No comment necessary... It was a short autumn :-( Boots, scarf, hats and gloves out!!!
posted by Anna at
1:19 PM
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16 comments
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
No comment necessary... It was a short autumn :-( Boots, scarf, hats and gloves out!!!
Friday, October 21, 2005
Thursday, October 20, 2005
A trip to Europe: Helsinki and Tallinn
Uih! What a week!!! I haven't had a free minute to update my blog, and actually I still don't have it... I simply decided to give myself a break from working! :-)
Hope you are all doing well! It is getting cold in Russia and my little adventure trip to Europe, well Helsinki and Tallinn, put me in a thoughtful mood once more: What on earth am I doing in RUSSIA??? Unable to answer that question, I will summarize the trip to Europe :-)
Mom and I set off for Helsinki on Wednesday evening by bus.. Helsinki is only about 350km away from St. Pete, but since Piter is in Russia and Helsinki is European Union... Those of you who have been to Russia know what this means... A trip that would take about 3 hours under normal circumstances, took us 8 hours... an adventure!
1. It is really cheap to travel from Piter to Helsinki and the travel companies exist for one reason: smuggling! Most of the people on the bus had their bags full of cigarettes and alcohol, which is both extremely expensive in Helsinki and costs close to nothing in Russia :-)
2. I was a little scared to leave Russia, lose my immigration card and go to an unknown country... it lasted for about 30 min :-)
Mom and I had to get off the bus at 5 am and wait in the train station till 9 am for the opening hour of the tourist office. We got to hear some fun stories from two fellow travellers and smugglers (two nice ladies in their late 60ies)!
3. I was afraid of crossing the streets on crosswalks! I freaked out every time, because mom would just start walking inspite of cars coming up with top speed. BUT: ALL the cars actually stopped!!! A forgotten and exciting experience! But for safety reasons I decided not to get used it... It could cost my lief in Russia!
However, we got a room in the EUROHOSTEL, and despite of being super tired we walked straight out again to enjoy the perfect weather and beauty of Helsinki!
Helsinki
Read more!
Helsinki
Helsinki: Market Square
The Cathedral in Helsinki and my mom
Anna in Helsinki
The port in Helsinki
All-you-can-eat in Helsinki after 30hours without sleep
Mirror princess :-)
Mom: after 34 hours finally in bed
Suomenlinna Maritime Fortress
Going to Tallinn on Friday was another adventure... at least the preparation! We had bought the tickets the previous day and the seller had asked us for a valid phone number, just in case. Fine!
So, Friday morning mom and I set off for Suomenlinna, an island reachable only by boat... Of course, half way through the sightseeing walk on the island, we receive a sms saying that the boat to Tallinn is cancelled :-)
At least one thing I have learned in Russia: to take sudden changes and suprises with calm, because I can't change it anyway and in the end everything will be all right! :-) And so it happened... we had no problem taking an earlier Catamaran to Helsinki!
Arrival in Tallinn...
Beautiful autumn in Estonia
Tallinn - the cutest city I have ever visited
St. Olav's Church
Climbing the tower of St. Olav's Church
View from St. Olav's Church: Tallinn
Tallinn: St. Olav's Church
Tallinn: at Kadriorg
Kadriorg
I'm back in Piter, working a whole lot, but that is great!
My appartment is warm since yesterday... 3 days around 0 degrees made the city turn on the heating :-)
Hope you are all doing well! It is getting cold in Russia and my little adventure trip to Europe, well Helsinki and Tallinn, put me in a thoughtful mood once more: What on earth am I doing in RUSSIA??? Unable to answer that question, I will summarize the trip to Europe :-)
Mom and I set off for Helsinki on Wednesday evening by bus.. Helsinki is only about 350km away from St. Pete, but since Piter is in Russia and Helsinki is European Union... Those of you who have been to Russia know what this means... A trip that would take about 3 hours under normal circumstances, took us 8 hours... an adventure!
1. It is really cheap to travel from Piter to Helsinki and the travel companies exist for one reason: smuggling! Most of the people on the bus had their bags full of cigarettes and alcohol, which is both extremely expensive in Helsinki and costs close to nothing in Russia :-)
2. I was a little scared to leave Russia, lose my immigration card and go to an unknown country... it lasted for about 30 min :-)
Mom and I had to get off the bus at 5 am and wait in the train station till 9 am for the opening hour of the tourist office. We got to hear some fun stories from two fellow travellers and smugglers (two nice ladies in their late 60ies)!
3. I was afraid of crossing the streets on crosswalks! I freaked out every time, because mom would just start walking inspite of cars coming up with top speed. BUT: ALL the cars actually stopped!!! A forgotten and exciting experience! But for safety reasons I decided not to get used it... It could cost my lief in Russia!
However, we got a room in the EUROHOSTEL, and despite of being super tired we walked straight out again to enjoy the perfect weather and beauty of Helsinki!
Helsinki
Read more!
Helsinki
Helsinki: Market Square
The Cathedral in Helsinki and my mom
Anna in Helsinki
The port in Helsinki
All-you-can-eat in Helsinki after 30hours without sleep
Mirror princess :-)
Mom: after 34 hours finally in bed
Suomenlinna Maritime Fortress
Going to Tallinn on Friday was another adventure... at least the preparation! We had bought the tickets the previous day and the seller had asked us for a valid phone number, just in case. Fine!
So, Friday morning mom and I set off for Suomenlinna, an island reachable only by boat... Of course, half way through the sightseeing walk on the island, we receive a sms saying that the boat to Tallinn is cancelled :-)
At least one thing I have learned in Russia: to take sudden changes and suprises with calm, because I can't change it anyway and in the end everything will be all right! :-) And so it happened... we had no problem taking an earlier Catamaran to Helsinki!
Arrival in Tallinn...
Beautiful autumn in Estonia
Tallinn - the cutest city I have ever visited
St. Olav's Church
Climbing the tower of St. Olav's Church
View from St. Olav's Church: Tallinn
Tallinn: St. Olav's Church
Tallinn: at Kadriorg
Kadriorg
I'm back in Piter, working a whole lot, but that is great!
My appartment is warm since yesterday... 3 days around 0 degrees made the city turn on the heating :-)
posted by Anna at
11:36 AM
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3 comments
Monday, October 10, 2005
Golden Autumn
Summer definitely left St. Petersburg and autumn has arrived with its beautiful colors, golden sun and a chilly breeze of fresh air! My mom and I just HAD TO spend 2 days outside in parks, walking around and enjoying the beauty of nature! 
I have been to Pavlovsk on a hot summer day in August, it was so different this time! Sunday was dedicated to Oranienbaum, a very nice, less touristy, but charming place about 41km west of Piter. The trip in "Holzklasse" was an adventure and I'm glad I got to present this highlight to my mom!
P.S. I'm shocked: Deutschland bekommt mit CDU-Chefin Angela Merkel erstmals eine Bundeskanzlerin. Sie wird als bisher jüngste Regierungschefin die zweite große Koalition in der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik führen... ARGH!!!
Read more!
It was a weekend of "going to places where I have been"... First "Pavlovsk" and then "Komarovo" Saturday night, but this time it wasn't camping (Thank God) although finding a place to sleep wasn't really easy. Thanks a lot, Sonya, for finding a place for us and taking care of me!!! ;-)
It is sad, but at the same time I'm really proud (Yeah, Mami, I know that you do not agree..): I do not remember how I got into bed or when, but my contact lenses were neatly in their cases the next morning! :-)
P.S. I'm shocked: Deutschland bekommt mit CDU-Chefin Angela Merkel erstmals eine Bundeskanzlerin. Sie wird als bisher jüngste Regierungschefin die zweite große Koalition in der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik führen... ARGH!!!
I have been to Pavlovsk on a hot summer day in August, it was so different this time! Sunday was dedicated to Oranienbaum, a very nice, less touristy, but charming place about 41km west of Piter. The trip in "Holzklasse" was an adventure and I'm glad I got to present this highlight to my mom!
P.S. I'm shocked: Deutschland bekommt mit CDU-Chefin Angela Merkel erstmals eine Bundeskanzlerin. Sie wird als bisher jüngste Regierungschefin die zweite große Koalition in der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik führen... ARGH!!!
Read more!
It was a weekend of "going to places where I have been"... First "Pavlovsk" and then "Komarovo" Saturday night, but this time it wasn't camping (Thank God) although finding a place to sleep wasn't really easy. Thanks a lot, Sonya, for finding a place for us and taking care of me!!! ;-)
It is sad, but at the same time I'm really proud (Yeah, Mami, I know that you do not agree..): I do not remember how I got into bed or when, but my contact lenses were neatly in their cases the next morning! :-)
P.S. I'm shocked: Deutschland bekommt mit CDU-Chefin Angela Merkel erstmals eine Bundeskanzlerin. Sie wird als bisher jüngste Regierungschefin die zweite große Koalition in der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik führen... ARGH!!!
posted by Anna at
3:12 PM
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1 comments
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Monday, October 03, 2005
Weekend with Mami
This was a long, very intensive and nice weekend!!!
Friday evening mom and I went to a figure skating show and it was a real highlight!
On Saturday we did a lot of sightseeing, meaning "walking around" and I'm really proud of my mother! My 64-year-old mother was as fit as 20-year-old chick (which I am not anymore either...) and enjoyed the - FINALLY - good weather. She came along to almost all the parties and didn't say a word about my obvious beer affinity, but joined :-)
We were accompanied by Charisse, a really nice girl from the Philipines who was a trainee in Novosobirsk. Since my Mami doesn't speak English and Charisse doesn't know German, I got to switch between the languages and also had to organize all the Russian stuff. Fun times! Unfortunately I missed to explain everything twice several times which led to funny incidents...
Figure skating show on Friday
Read more!
On the Colonade of St. Isaac's Cathedral on Saturday
Boat trip on Saturday
Undefined number of camels
Sightseeing on Sunday
Party on Sunday: Mother and daughter in partner look...
The best thing is: I found a little castle for living for me!!! It is an awesome flat!!! And it has a washing machine... :-))))
Hope you are all doing well!
Friday evening mom and I went to a figure skating show and it was a real highlight!
On Saturday we did a lot of sightseeing, meaning "walking around" and I'm really proud of my mother! My 64-year-old mother was as fit as 20-year-old chick (which I am not anymore either...) and enjoyed the - FINALLY - good weather. She came along to almost all the parties and didn't say a word about my obvious beer affinity, but joined :-)
We were accompanied by Charisse, a really nice girl from the Philipines who was a trainee in Novosobirsk. Since my Mami doesn't speak English and Charisse doesn't know German, I got to switch between the languages and also had to organize all the Russian stuff. Fun times! Unfortunately I missed to explain everything twice several times which led to funny incidents...
Figure skating show on Friday
Read more!
On the Colonade of St. Isaac's Cathedral on Saturday
Boat trip on Saturday
Undefined number of camels
Sightseeing on Sunday
Party on Sunday: Mother and daughter in partner look...
The best thing is: I found a little castle for living for me!!! It is an awesome flat!!! And it has a washing machine... :-))))
Hope you are all doing well!
posted by Anna at
3:32 PM
|
2 comments
