5-9-07

5-9-07

Okay I need to type this puppy up quickly quickly so I can get back to my Grammar work in preparation for the final tomorrow. I’ll try not to abridge it too much, though.

So, today is Victory Day! Happy Victory Day! Everyone’s wearing orange and black ribbons (including yours truly). I’m not really why they chose orange and black. Anyway, it’s a big holiday, lots of posters everywhere, a parade (I’ll get back to that), and fireworks later tonight.

First things first, though. Today we went to Peterhoff, aka Peterhof, aka Petergof, aka Petrodvorets. For the past week everyone’s been saying, “Oh, the weather will get better on May 9th, don’t worry.” I’m pretty sure they just wanted to believe that because of the holiday. But nope, the weather today was just plain gloomy. Temperatures in the 40s and rain that hasn’t let up since about 9 o’clock last night. So it was in this weather we set out for Peterhoff, whose main attraction is a large outdoor park and fountain cascade. Add to this the fact that, yes, I am actually sick, and it was not the best activity I could have chosen for the day. I also left my umbrella at school yesterday, so I just wore my raincoat with the hood up. Marina made me put on another layer before I could leave this morning, and I’m pretty grateful. Anyway, back to Peterhoff.

The cascade is simply incredible. What make it even more amazing is that it’s not powered by a single motor or pump—it’s all done with gravity and a natural spring. I’ll post a picture so you can realize what an accomplishment this actually is. Unfortunately, it’s also pretty windy, so included in with the rain, water from the fountains would just blow right in your face. So overall, pretty, but unpleasant. The inside of the palace was pretty decadent, but as I said like a month ago, I’m palaced-out.

Then we came back and had lunch and hung out near Nevsky until about 5 o’clock for the parade. There were no floats, but there were at least 3 military bands. The Russians know how to do their parades. I’ll post some pictures. But for now, it’s back to Grammar. 3 finals to go. Less than 100 hours. Eep.