So, I just ate all the remaining choccies out of my advent calendar, that can only mean one thing….I'm coming home tomorrow eeeeeeek :)
Has been SUCH a good 4 months but I am so looking forward to Christmas times at home. I love this little place and I already know it's gonna feel so odd being back - just got out the English money I have here with me, were notes always so small and stubby and coins so heavy?!
This week has mostly been exams (I passed wooooo), saying some goodbyes, eating ridiculous amounts of chocolate, watching many films, being told off by an old lady on the metro, oh and accidentally setting fire to my babushka's oven gloves. After lots of nagging, I finally packed up my room and took down our Christmas decorations, feels oddly sad to be leaving, but ROLL ON CHRISTMAS TIMES, cannot wait, or sit still for that matter.
lots of Лиза love, see you in England!!
xxx
Saturday 21 December 2013
Tuesday 10 December 2013
Moskva
Oh hello,
Had a lovely lovely snowy time in Moscow this weekend (it felt more like Narnia if I'm honest), and definitely disagree with the people who say one time in the capital is enough, but, of course, it's got nothing on St Peteys (although this city does need to sort itself out, minus ten but pathetic snow, what's going on?!).
So, the highlight of the weekend for me has got to be ice skating on Red Square, so much fun, I'm still in one piece and so is everyone who was skating near me (phew), it was just incredible to be right there by a snowy St Basils, the Kremlin, Christmas market etc etc. The only down point was seeing the three-year-olds skate past doing spins and other things I've only ever seen on 'Dancing on Ice', ah well maybe one of them could teach me.
We also went inside the Kremlin after spending about a year finding the ticket office, oh Russia (signs are very much lacking in this country and getting lost features highly in my life), but it was totally worth it, despite not seeing Putin. Oh, but I did see Lenin so all is not lost…surreal. Back to being lost… the 'hotel 'we stayed in was cheapy cheap and we knew there would be a catch - they lied about how near it was to the metro stop (15 minutes was more like 25, and in the deep snow this was more like 40) so we tried different methods of getting there/back each time. On one occasion we managed to get on the totally wrong trolleybus (don't know how this went so badly) which was just taking us in a big ring around the residential areas…after about half an hour I thought I'd check with the driver about when we'd arrive at a metro, he said we never would and would tell us when we were within walking distance to one (ended up being dropped off very near to our hotel) the driver asked us a lot of questions about where we were from etc and then gave us each some sweeties as he felt sorry for our failure of a journey. Well, actually...I still don't know if they were in fact sweeties as he seemed overly kind for a bus driver here and I didn't wanna risk it being my gullible self in the middle of nowhere.
Anywhom, the hotel wasn't awful, and it included a free breakfast so you can't complain. Unless you don't really like the buffet selection of muesli, tomato ketchup, sour cream, mayonnaise, peas and questionable porridge.
Actually, I have a fair bit to say about questionable porridge as the standards are definitely slipping here on that front. Take these examples…
One thing that Moscow has to offer which St Peteys does not is Dunkin' Donuts, now I'm definitely missing all the goodness of British puddings, but when you're midway through one of these, all that goes away, yum. (I may or may not have eaten three in one day).
Now onto last week in Peteys - I had a (fairly successful) haircut! I won't lie, the technique used to dry my hair was a new one and I did look like a cross between a poodle and a mushroom when she finished with me, but I am not bald, so all is not lost (quite literally, ha ha). I like to think I'm quite the actor now after situations like these where acting is all I have, maybe I'm doing the wrong degree.
The winter coat competition is in full swing here, it has become my game when I am on the metro on my own, and there have been some great contenders - one time I actually thought a lady had a small dog on her head, and it seems that as the weather gets cooler (I found an icicle in my hair the other day - proof), the coats become more and more fascinating. On the other hand, all of the women here are still wearing six-inch heels and gracefully walk along the icy streets, I am wearing sensible boots yet still manage to slip up every now and again which I try to turn into a skip I was trying to do on purpose (feel a lot like Miranda at these times).
I like to think that by now my Russian isn't as pathetic as it was when I first arrived, but it does appear that I have a very strange accent when I speak it - in the space of three days I have been asked if I am Slovakian, German and Italian, how do I take this?
Well, this has been a shambles of a blog as usual, hope you're not lost in it somewhere.
See you in less than two weeks my friends. 2 little weeks. (I should probably find out how to get to the airport sometime soon)
Love,
Лиза
xxxx
Had a lovely lovely snowy time in Moscow this weekend (it felt more like Narnia if I'm honest), and definitely disagree with the people who say one time in the capital is enough, but, of course, it's got nothing on St Peteys (although this city does need to sort itself out, minus ten but pathetic snow, what's going on?!).
So, the highlight of the weekend for me has got to be ice skating on Red Square, so much fun, I'm still in one piece and so is everyone who was skating near me (phew), it was just incredible to be right there by a snowy St Basils, the Kremlin, Christmas market etc etc. The only down point was seeing the three-year-olds skate past doing spins and other things I've only ever seen on 'Dancing on Ice', ah well maybe one of them could teach me.
We also went inside the Kremlin after spending about a year finding the ticket office, oh Russia (signs are very much lacking in this country and getting lost features highly in my life), but it was totally worth it, despite not seeing Putin. Oh, but I did see Lenin so all is not lost…surreal. Back to being lost… the 'hotel 'we stayed in was cheapy cheap and we knew there would be a catch - they lied about how near it was to the metro stop (15 minutes was more like 25, and in the deep snow this was more like 40) so we tried different methods of getting there/back each time. On one occasion we managed to get on the totally wrong trolleybus (don't know how this went so badly) which was just taking us in a big ring around the residential areas…after about half an hour I thought I'd check with the driver about when we'd arrive at a metro, he said we never would and would tell us when we were within walking distance to one (ended up being dropped off very near to our hotel) the driver asked us a lot of questions about where we were from etc and then gave us each some sweeties as he felt sorry for our failure of a journey. Well, actually...I still don't know if they were in fact sweeties as he seemed overly kind for a bus driver here and I didn't wanna risk it being my gullible self in the middle of nowhere.
Anywhom, the hotel wasn't awful, and it included a free breakfast so you can't complain. Unless you don't really like the buffet selection of muesli, tomato ketchup, sour cream, mayonnaise, peas and questionable porridge.
Actually, I have a fair bit to say about questionable porridge as the standards are definitely slipping here on that front. Take these examples…
 |
 |
| This one could be held upside down above your head, just to give you an idea |
One thing that Moscow has to offer which St Peteys does not is Dunkin' Donuts, now I'm definitely missing all the goodness of British puddings, but when you're midway through one of these, all that goes away, yum. (I may or may not have eaten three in one day).
While I'm on the subject of british food (CANNOT WAIT), the lady who was sleeping on the shelf above me on the night train back to Peteys came and sat down, casually got a Tesco's chicken and stuffing sandwich out of her bag and put it on the table… I just glanced between her and the sandwich etc like I was watching tennis (actually, no, I don't care all that much for tennis, but you get the gist) I then asked her where on earth she got this from and it turns out she was an unusual Russian who loves British food and was on her way back from London and proceeded to pull out mince pies, pasties and BACON from her bag and said in a jokey way "this is all for me, no sharing" only, it wasn't jokey, she did not share. Not that I blame her. Well.
Now onto last week in Peteys - I had a (fairly successful) haircut! I won't lie, the technique used to dry my hair was a new one and I did look like a cross between a poodle and a mushroom when she finished with me, but I am not bald, so all is not lost (quite literally, ha ha). I like to think I'm quite the actor now after situations like these where acting is all I have, maybe I'm doing the wrong degree.
The winter coat competition is in full swing here, it has become my game when I am on the metro on my own, and there have been some great contenders - one time I actually thought a lady had a small dog on her head, and it seems that as the weather gets cooler (I found an icicle in my hair the other day - proof), the coats become more and more fascinating. On the other hand, all of the women here are still wearing six-inch heels and gracefully walk along the icy streets, I am wearing sensible boots yet still manage to slip up every now and again which I try to turn into a skip I was trying to do on purpose (feel a lot like Miranda at these times).
I like to think that by now my Russian isn't as pathetic as it was when I first arrived, but it does appear that I have a very strange accent when I speak it - in the space of three days I have been asked if I am Slovakian, German and Italian, how do I take this?
Well, this has been a shambles of a blog as usual, hope you're not lost in it somewhere.
See you in less than two weeks my friends. 2 little weeks. (I should probably find out how to get to the airport sometime soon)
Love,
Лиза
xxxx
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