Adventures in Russia

Old Arbat mostly consisted of souvenir shops and outdoor tables selling old books and paintings. At one point, I was almost kidnapped by someone dressed as the Sochi bunny mascot, but we won't talk about that. There was also an ally full of really neat graffiti. 

After leaving Old Arbat, we headed to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. We will be going inside of it later on in the trip.

We met back up with our Russian teacher from America and headed back to the dormitories to get ready to see a ballet at the famous Bolshoi Theater. I can't remember the name of the ballet that we saw, but it was very interesting and the music was wonderful.

Today, we started off with lunch and dessert at the famous Pushkin Cafe. For lunch we had kasha, or porridge with pumpkin and for dessert creme brulee. Our waiter gave us a tour of the restaurant, in which many presidents and famous people have dined. 

One of the features of the restaurant is a large library-like collection of Pushkin works in different editions and languages. One of their oldest in the collection contains an original hand-written manuscript by Pushkin himself.

After lunch we met up with our Russian teacher's goddaughter, and she took us to Gorky park, which is named after Maxim Gorky. The park was opened in 1928 and is HUGE. They had everything from a cinema to amusement park rides to restaurants inside of the park. There were also tables to play ping pong on and volley ball courts. The park was absolutely packed with people, as the weather was beautiful.

After the park, we headed back to the dorms, but not before seeing a huge statue of Lenin near the metro station.

Tonight, we are leaving at midnight to catch the 1AM train to St. Petersburg, where we will spend the next four days!