Passion For Russian

Getting to Peterhof

Peterhof is one of the unmissable attractions in St. Petersburg. Муж and I are cheap, so we opted out of the 500-ruble tickets on the hydrofoil, and decided, instead to brave the more complicated and much cheaper option of the suburban train at 87 rubles a ticket. This is one of those bargains. I’ll be bragging about to my grandchildren someday. (Note $1 today is worth about 30 rubles.)

Above is a huge map of the system. I actually I hate taking pictures like this because it really calls attention to the fact that I am a dreaded tourist, but it was too cool to pass up.

As much as I love the train and ours was a great experience, I do not recommend the Suburban train unless you are pretty confident in your Russian or you really want that “Russian experience”. But if you do, depart from the Baltic Station and get off at Novyy Petergof. Then take one of the following buses to the palace: 348, 350, 351, 352, 356.

I’m sure most of you reading this who’ve been to Peterhof took the hydrofoil. What was that experience like?

(Stay tuned for more on Peterhof!) 

Matryoshki of the World Unite! (A Revolutionary Show n Tell Party)

Something really cool happened last week. As you might know I am accumulating quite a collection of Matryoshki, and they have been nagging me to leave the house, so I finally packed them up and took them out for a night on the town!

…to an event sponsored by Russkiy Mir: Matryoshki of the World Unite! It was a matryoshka show and tell party! One of the highlights was the huge matryoshka, pictured above, with a giant bottle of vodka inside instead of the traditional 5-15 dolls. Not to brag too much, but I’m pretty sure I had the most on display (even though I didn’t bring everything I had - I didn’t want to be too overzealous!)

After the show and tell, there was a presentation about different matryoshki and then we sang songs. :) It was a small event, but I think it’s great that Russkiy Mir tried to do something unique while getting people together to celebrate Russian culture.

I’ll definitely be checking out their events in the future and adding them to my calendar. What’s the most unique Russian event you’ve been to?

Last Russian Festival of the Season

I actually thought I had posted this already, but I guess I had one last Russian Festival post to go…

So this was the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church Russian Festival in Baltimore. This was my first time at this particular festival, and my 4th Russian (or Ukrainian) Festival of the season. 

One of my favorite things about this festival was their tea station where they served flavored tea out of a samovar, and let you add jam or honey to it. They had a nicely decorated ‘tea room’ where you could sit and enjoy.

I would also say this festival had the best selection of food out of any of the ones we visited, although they did not have my favorite - pelmini.

So, that was the last festival of the season! I can take a break for now, but I’m already looking forward to next season!!

Did you go to a Russian festival this year?

Okay, I know you’ve been dying to know what it was I got at that rummage sale at the St Nicholas Bazaar. So if you haven’t figured it out yet, it’s…

Рюмки!

Рюмки are basically shot glasses with stems. When I think of pюмки, I think of the anti-drinking propaganda poster (that I’ll have to post separately because I can’t figure out how to post 2 ‘landscape’ photos in the same set with a ‘portrait’/vertical one. I’d love some help if anyone knows how!) Anyway, I’ve always thought these were cool, so when I saw a basket of 9 of them for $5 (less than a shot of vodka at the same festival), I had to have them!

I don’t know if pюмки are actually Russian, but for me they are connected to Russia. I love that they’re not as cliche as some of the other Russian artifacts I love!

Have you ever had a drink from a pюмкa?

Another great Russian Festival! St. Nicholas Cathedral’s Annual Fall Bazaar 

This festival also has a great selection of food and entertainment. As you can see from the picture there is a lot of space and room to spread out, which is very nice. You can even get an Orthodox priest to cook you some shashlik! ; )

Something unique about this festival is that they combine it with their annual rummage festival. And this year, I made an awesome find! I am so excited that I have to save it for a separate post, so stay tuned!

What did you do this weekend while I was gettin festive?

Муж and I were lucky enough to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary in St. Pete last year. He took me to this nice restaurant across from our hotel called ‘Ферм A’, and then on a ночная прогулка по рекам и каналам (midnight river cruise). We opted for the ночная прогулка (midnight cruise), where they played Russian pop music, and you got to see the raising of the bridges, as opposed to the дневная (daytime one) where a Russian lady yells interesting facts at you through a megaphone.