An Eventful Weekend

Before I begin, I'd like to apologize to my readers for a lack of blog posts over the weekend. I felt that I'd be wasting a post by not sharing anything new with everyone. Now that it's Sunday however, I think it would be an excellent time to recap my weekend. My friday morning was spent touring the Baltika brewery in St. Petersburg. I actually learned a lot about beer making and just how big of a company Baltika is. It's very common to find Baltika's products in all of the stores/supermarkets here. On friday night, a group of us attended a party in the city celebrating the end of the theatre season. It was a lot of fun, especially having the chance to celebrate with Russians and not only Americans. Each day I grow fonder of the Russian people; particularly how friendly and outgoing they can be.

Entrance to the Baltika brewery.

For the most part, I spent Saturday relaxing around the dorm. However, a small group of us decided to go out to eat at a restaurant called the Zoom Cafe. The food was excellent, as was the atmosphere. We tried various appetizers, including bruschetta and potato pancakes with sour cream. For my entree, I had veal stroganoff. Loved it. Finally, I had an orange cheesecake for dessert. This type of cheesecake was much different from what I'm used to. Regardless, it was incredible.

Orange cheesecake!

Today, we visited the opulent Peterhof Palace. Originally built by Peter the Great, the palace itself was improved by various rulers. Some of the biggest changes occurred under the reign of Catherine the Great and Elisabeth I. When visiting the palace, I was in complete awe of just how grand everything was. It reminded me of Versailles a lot. By the time we left the palace, I definitely agreed that I wouldn't mind living there!

Shot of the palace from the main gate.

Taken from the back of the palace.

One of many beautiful fountains!

Enjoy the pictures everybody. Thanks again for reading. Keep an eye out for another update tomorrow.

Until then.