Living Space/Metro/Walk to the University

Это моя комната (this is my room)

This is my street! Гражданская ул. It looked particularly pretty today.

So last post I mentioned I transfer at a metro station with multiple names, depending on the line. Well, turns out Пушкинская is one of the most beautiful metro stations in St. Petersburg (Russia is famous for its lavish and themed metro stations). I snuck out my camera just this once. Admire: marble statue of Pushkin, next to which I waited for my train.

The St. Petersburg metro is apparently the deepest metro system in the world, which comes as little surprise to me considering it takes me 5-8 minutes to get from the outside entrance of the station to the actual train, seriously. The escalators are really long (Rosslyn in DC is the average here) and move way faster than any I've ever been on in the US, Paris, or London. It jerked me down the first time I got on it, and it feels like a Disney ride, with musical advertisements and colorful signs on the way down.

Metro story: Today only 1 of the six doors at the entrance to the Черчышевская station (nearest the University) was working - welcome to Russia? - so some other students and I joined the mob of 50 people or so squeezing through the door. I got out my 22 rubles to pay for my metro token and continued trying to move forward and stay with the others. We squeezed and finally got shoved through the door. Once inside, I looked down and noticed that I only had the 2 rubles (coins) in my hand. Now, 20 rubles is only about $0.66, so it was not really a huge deal, but that doesn't change the fact that someone stole 20 rubles OUT OF MY HAND! Ridiculous, and more awe-inspiring and funny than upsetting. That was definitely the most careless I've been, but I know I'll be doubly watchful now that I know that Russian pickpockets are magicians.

Some pictures from the rest of my walk:

So my host babyshka seemed appalled I'm still awake and told me I should go to sleep. More to follow... visiting the Hermitage tomorrow for the first time with the group!

Пока!
Emily