Yesterday was awesome! We finally decided that morning to go to Peterhof despite the cloudy weather and some confusion over whether or not they were turning off the fountains that day. Mike, Peter, Heather, Erin, Meryem and I (we actually randomly met up with Max, Kathleen, and their Russian friend Sasha) took a marshrutka (cheap van-taxi with a pre-determined route) for $2 to Peterhof from a metro station. It took about an hour. The sun came out and walking around was really neat until we found out they closed the lower gardens, Grand Cascade fountain, and palace at 3 to prepare for the evening's light show and Ceremony of the Closing of the Fountains. And then it started raining.
We went to a cafe and got hot tea and french fries for a bit, and I finally decided to stay there for what ended up being 5 hours with Erin and Meryem for the light show. We killed time going into a nearby cathedral - which was great as always - and met up with Max, Kathleen, Mike, and Sasha. We paid $10 to get in, walked around the lower gardens, saw the Gulf of Finland, ate hot dogs, and got a sweet standing spot on the bridge closest to the back of the palace. Then we stood there for over 2 HOURS in the cold until it got dark and the light show started. But mixing English and Russian with Sasha was really fun, and it was so worth it.
The light show was AWESOME! It sounded like a live orchestra; there were ballet dancers and fireworks. The show was projected onto the back of the palace, and the announcer told a story as the show moved along. The fountains were dramatically turned on one-by-one, some to the tune of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. The whole show I kept thinking - I am so glad that I decided to come to Russia. Russia is so uniqure, so different, so elegant and contradictory. My experience has been nothing but surprises, and the combination of Russian classical music, Russian ballet dancers, and getting to know Sasha better, absolutely made my night!
No comments:
Post a Comment