Catherine the Great’s Palace

Now I’ll admit – before going to St. Petersburg, I didn’t know much about Catherine the Great other than the fact that she ruled Russia a long time ago. My visit to STP told me all about Catherine and I can confidently say she was one rocking lady! (I should have known. I mean, she has “the Great” attached to her name!) She was a ruthless leader (exhibit A: she had her own husband killed so she could rule Russia), she expanded the Russian empire to include from current-day Poland and Lithuania east to Alaska, and the time of her reign is considered the Golden Era for the Russian empire and nobility. Her accomplishments are impressive especially considering she lived during the 1700s when women around the world had very few rights.

At the ballet in the Hermitage Theater.

I visited Catherine the Great’s Palace during my stopover in St. Petersburg. The Palace is located about 45 minutes from STP and the long-ish bus ride didn’t disappoint. The Palace continues the seemingly standard baroque style of St. Petersburg and is enormous (I’m learned that everything in Russia is big. If you think things in Texas are big, go to Russia – mind blown). The Palace was damaged quite a bit during World War II and has since been refurbished to resemble how it looked when it was first built. Just when you thought St. Petersburg couldn’t get any gaudier, take a look at the Palace pictures below!

The most amazing room in the Palace is the amber room but because it's so wonderful, you cannot take pictures in this room. The room's interior is basically wallpapered in amber, a gemstone found in the Ural Mountains. The whole room glitters and shines with an orangey-yellow glow. Here's some pictures of the amber room for your viewing pleasure.

Continuing on with the Catherine the Great theme, I also attended a ballet in St. Petersburg in the Hermitage Theater which was Catherine’s favorite theater. Just in case you’re interested, Catherine always sat in the seventh row. I missed the opportunity to sit in Catherine’s seat but nonetheless, the ballet “Swan Lake” was very good.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about St. Petersburg as much as I enjoyed visiting. This blog may mark the end of my St. Petersburg posts. We’ll see if I can come up with anything else about STP and if not, I’ll move on to my next country visited: Stockholm, Sweden!

The seal of Catherine the Great, as seen on the gate leading into her Palace.

Catherine the Great's Palace. Everything you see that is now painted a brownish-yellow was once pure gold.

Catherine the Great's Palace. The palace is enormous.

Selfie in the "Gold Room" with Professor Mark Peters!

Catherine's "Gold Room"

Detailed work in the Gold Room at Catherine's Palace.

Main staircase in Catherine's Palace.

A replica of one of Catherine's dresses, as seen in the painting on the adjacent wall.

WWII damaged the Palace greatly. Here's the before...

...and after. The Palace has been restored to it's original beauty.

Added bonus on my day trip to Catherine's Palace: Peterhoff Palace and Gardens, home to thousands of fountains!

The Peterhoff Palace and Gardens, showing many of the fountains.

¡Hola España!

After just two days at sea, I arrived in Bilbao, Spain, on Friday morning. I must admit – I’ve had reservations about visiting Spain as part of the summer voyage. I have been to southern Spain (specifically, Granada) once before and did not have an enjoyable experience. My long weekend in Granada consisted of being yelled at repeatedly for not being proficient in Spanish. Not a fun time and I was hesitant to return to the country after my initial not-so-friendly welcome. Secondly, I have been wondering “why are we going to Bilbao?” There are many nice port cities in Spain like Barcelona; why are we going to somewhere I’ve never heard of before?

Well, I must say my fears and hesitations of Spain were quickly dashed away upon arrival in Bilbao. We docked in a small city called Getxo (pronounced “get-cho”), which is located about 25 minutes from Bilbao. Around the turn of the 20th century, Getxo was a seaside getaway for Spain’s elite. Think Rockefeller-level, only the Spanish version. The small city is full of huge old mansions that have been kept up very well even though they were built 100 years ago.

Bilbao is a nice city that has been forever changed by the building of a Guggenheim modern art museum in 1997. The city was dirty and forgotten but the museum has revived Bilbao and it’s now a destination for foreign tourists and Spaniards alike. I spent my first day in port in the Guggenheim viewing exhibits by Georges Barque and Yoko Ono.

Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain.

My second day in Spain was spent on a SAS field program to San Sebastián and Hondarribia. Hondarribia is the first city in Spain when traveling south across the French/Spanish border and had a medieval feel. San Sebastián is a popular beach-town and most SAS students made their way here to catch some sun.

Sopelana was my destination on Sunday. Sopelana seemed like somewhat of a suburb of Bilbao and had a festival celebrating Saint Pedro that included a parade and traditional Basque dancing. Bilbao is located in the Basque region of Spain, the people are particularly proud of their Basque heritage and the Sopelana festival was an example of this.

Finally, I spent my last day in Spain horseback riding on the beach. The horses were a tad feisty for my taste but I managed thanks to all the horseback riding I had to do on vacations when I was younger (thanks, Cady). Plus, what beats riding a horse along the beach?! So pretty!

Spain was a success and I’m glad I gave this country another try. I very much enjoyed myself in Bilbao and the surrounding Basque region. Up next – Scotland!

Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain.

Front of the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain.

Pintxos, like tapas, are small plates orders in Spain. Yum!

Me overlooking La Concha Beach in San Sebastian.

Festival in Sopelana. These 15 foot tall dolls were carried through the streets as part of a parade. I don't know the significance.

Traditional Basque dancing in the Sopelana town square during the festival.

Horseback riding along the beach on my final day in Spain.

Horseback riding along the beach in Spain.

Visiting a small town after horseback riding. We are very small in this picture!

London Calling

After 112 days, 12 countries and 23,379.5 nautical miles, the ship arrived in Southampton on May 2. It was hard to believe the voyage was coming to a close and our close-knit shipboard community would scatter home to all corners of the globe. After a somewhat tearful goodbye, I disembarked the ship and got on a shuttle headed for London.

Big Ben and Parliament in London.

Disembarkation was bittersweet. It was sad to leave behind newfound SAS friends but I was also excited to return to London. I studied abroad in London in 2007 and had not returned since! Seven years is a long time to be away from a place you love and I was excited to be back in the city of fish and chips, union jacks, and “mind the gaps!”

I spent a week in London going to all my old haunts including museums, restaurants and shopping areas. I am happy to announce that I finally went on the London Eye, something I did not do when I was studying abroad in London (a $50 Ferris wheel ride was too expensive for my student budget!). In London, I also visited the V&A Museum and saw an exhibition on wedding dresses through time, the British Museum, the Portrait Gallery and sites such as Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, the royal parks, Westminster and Parliament. Of course, a trip to London wouldn’t be complete without a visit to my favorite stores including Primark, Top Shop, Zara and Harrods which had an exhibit on Prada called PRADA WORLD. Very cool!

If you are one of my family members, you have probably heard the story about why I have never been to the White Cliffs of Dover. For those who don’t know, when my family came to visit me in London after I completed my 2007 study abroad experience my sister wanted to see Stonehenge instead of the White Cliffs of Dover (much to my father’s chagrin). My dad recounts the visit as the time we paid to see a pile of rocks in the middle of the English countryside and were told by the guides that “they don’t know why the rocks are there or who put them there, but we went to see it!”

View of the Cliffs on the train ride to Dover.

Well, since I had never been to the Cliffs I decided to go check them out during my recent stay in London. I took a 1.5 hour train ride from London to Dover and trekked up to the cliffs. I can confidently say that the Cliffs and Stonehenge are equally as exciting. The cliffs are a beautiful, chalky-white color which look very nice when the sun shines but at the end of the day, they are cliffs. J Dover is a quaint seaside town and I visited the Dover Castle as well as explored the downtown area. It was a nice day trip out of the city.

View of the Cliffs and Dover Castle.

After a week in London, I was off to Dublin to meet my sister Cady and two friends Kacey and Caitlin for a week-long excursion around Ireland. More on Ireland in the next blog.

View of Parliament and the River Thames from the London Eye.

London Eye along the Thames.

View of Parliament and Big Ben from the London Eye.

Big Ben & Westminster Abbey seen from the London Eye.

View of the London Eye.

White Cliffs of Dover.

View from the top of Dover Castle.

Downtown Dover with a view of the Castle.