Day Three: Thursday, 22 March

Today was a very busy day. When we left in the morning after our delicious buffet breakfastat the hotel, we wouldn't be back until late in the evening. Our first event was a city sight seeing tour all over St. Petersburg. We had a guide telling us the history of the city and famous buildings and we were able to stop along the way to see the fmaous sights. One of the most interesting stops was when we saw a bear drinking out of a bottle! It was a mans pet I guess and the bear was chained up to show all of the tourists. It was quite funny too! In the afternoon we finished our tour at the Sate Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg. It is a huge museum too. They say that if you were to thoroughly look at everything in it it would take 11 years! That's a long time to be in a museum! We were in it for a few hours and then went to go eat an early dinner/ late lunch. We had to be back at the bus to take us to the hotel where we would leave to go to the Russian Folk Dance!

The Folk Dance was nothing like I expected. Well, to tell the truth, I didn't know what to expecet! It was quite the treat though, that's for sure! The enternatiners are so amazing, always keeping the audience on their toes, by having us participate in their acts and for always changing their performance. It was awesome. At Intermission their was a small Russian market outside in the lobby with women singing opera for us and an orchestra playing while we shopped around. I ended up buying some old Russian coins from the Soviet Union, and an Amber necklace. The dance ended with a grand finale and the audience going crazy! It was a fun night.

Day Four: Friday, 23 March

Today was another museum day spent at Pushkin and Catherine's Palace. The drive to the palace is about 45 minutes away. It was a historical drive though, we were able to see the battlefields where Pushkin and his pople fought and were some current homeless people are living in Russia. I think I have a greater appreciation for the country after learning about this part of the history. At the museum we split up into groups and walked through every room in the palace. Let me tell you, it was beautiful! Glass and crystal rooms, rooms full of stoves, the famous Amber room, and more. The palace was built for Catherine the Great as a wedding gift... Man, that's quite the gift if you ask me! After the palace tour we had the chance to walk around the rest of Pushkin and the area surrounding the palace. It was such a beautiful area with old buildings and historic figures. When we returned from the palace, we were dropped off in the city center and free time until that evening when we would depart for Moscow on an overnight drive... yes, on that coach bus! We decided to go on our own little walking tour of the city, exploring sights we wouldn't have had the chance to otherwise. At 9:00 pm we left St. Petersburg for Moscow. I was praying I'd et a little sleep!