19 May 2010

We found out that the softest toilet paper in Russia thus far was on the plane to Syktyvkar!! I know you enjoy all these small snippets of information. I also realize that some would like to see a blog every day--that is absolutely impossible here in Russia because internet and wifi connections are not widespread and reliable. Andrei and I got up early today to search for a wifi and found one in McDonalds and ordered some drinks only to find out the system was down. We do have old modem connection in hotel at 100 rubles an hour--but it took more than 2 hours to download CNN home page. It also can take anywhere from 10- 20 minutes to upload photos.

Today we went to the fortress of Peter and Paul and saw the church that holds all the remains of the Romanov Tsars (including Nicholas and Alexandria and Peter the Great). A small but impressive building, and if we had more time we could have hear from the Church Choir--but we needed to head to our timed entry to the Hermitage. Our guide tells us that if you spent 3 minutes at each item in the Hermitage it would take you more than 8 years to get through the museum. The have an impressive impressive art collection and other objects as well. We were running late because of the brutal traffic. We have been absolutely blessed with terrific sunny and cooler weather here and all the locals talk about how unusual this is for this weather.

WE went to a folklore show in the early evening and two of our members--Chris and Tyler ended up being part of the show and if I can get a more reliable connection I will add those videos of them (and other videos I have taken). It was a good night and all returned to hotel tired and safe from a loooooooong day in St. Petersburg.