Sunset on the Gulf of Finland in a suburb of St. Petersburg.
Me with the Neva River behind me, and the Hermitage on the other bank.
All 5 buildings of the Hermitage. Largest museum in the world.
Me in front of a St. Petersburg gov't building, with the city's awards on it.
Study abroad friends in front of a statue of Pushkin at his house where he died. Pushkin is Russia's national poet, a pretty big deal.
Entrance to the school where i studied for the semester.
Triumphant Arch across from the Hermitage.
Sunset and a storm on the Gulf of Finland.
Traditional rostral column, like in Greece where they put the bows of defeated ships on lighthouses to warn approaching enemies.
Statue of Nicholas I, one of the most disliked tsars, but a great statue- it only has two points of support, the horse's two hind legs (usually statues like this have three supports, legs and tail). That's why they didn't tear it down in the Revolution.
St. Isaak's Cathedral. It's beautiful.
Savior on Spilt Blood. Cathedral built on the spot where Aleksander II was assassinated. The inside is completely mosaic.
Smolny Cathedral where I went to school (my school was built as a school for well-to-do young ladies).
Another view of Smolny cathedral.
Me in front of the Hermitage.
Cathedral in Novgorod.
Another cathedral in Novgorod. Me trying to be artsy.
Another view of a cathedral in Novgorod. The art is inset headstones. There was an outbreak of typhus, so graveyards were moved away from populated areas and headstones used as art.
Part of a church in Novgorod. Those frescoes are original and unrestored, from 1200's.
Me in my Russian Navy coat, with the Novgorod kremlin across the river.
View of the Novgorod kremlin (fortress) with the golden domes of the first orthodox church built in russia.
scenic windmill in novgorod.
Entry sign to st. yuriev monastery, in novgorod.
beautiful church in st. yuriev monastery, in novgorod.
example of old-style wooden russian architecture.
entrance to restaurant in the wall of novgorod's kremlin.
inside of restaurant in novgorod's kremlin
me in front of a church in st. yuriev monastery
monument to ww2 soldiers in novgorod. such monuments are EVERYWHERE in russia, which suffered 20 million casualties during ww2.
st. sophia church, the first orthodox church in russia, in novgorod. the exposed un-stucco'ed brick is how it looked originally.
russia's millenium monument, built in 1847 (i think) to celebrate russia's 1000th anniversary. it has hundreds of historical russian figures on it.
bell tower of st. yuriev monastery in novgorod.
friends in front of a typical wooden church (in an outdoor wooden building museum), in novgorod.
wooden church at wooden architecture museum.
me in front of gum, a huge, upscale department store/mall on red square.
natasha and marina, two friends i met taking the lsat in moscow, in red square in front of st. basil's church
pushkin monument in st. petersburg
catherine palace in a suburb of st. petersburg
ballroom of catherine palace. guilded and mirrored up to ceiling.
beautiful neo-classical interior in catherine palace.
up-close of catherine palace exterior.
me with a famous statue/natural spring that pushkin wrote a poem about. on the grounds of catherine palace.
view of kunstkamera from the neva, where the academy of sciences was originally housed.
view of rostral columns and old stock exchange from the neva on a river cruise i took for my birthday.
sunset on neva on my birthday cruise
me and lenin pointing the way to the proletariat... and the bus stop. this is in front of the house of soviets in petersburg
guilded interior of catherine palace
interior of catherine palace
catherine the great's riding coat, at catherine palace
nicholas II's coat and boots, at catherine palace
nicholas II's coat and armor, at catherine palace.
napoleon's face in horse genitalia.
horse statue that has napoleon's face for its genitalia.
view of peter and paul fortress, in st. petersburg
approach to peterhof, peter the great's palace that he wanted to be like versailles.
exterior of petrograd, peter's palace.
samson and the lion at peterhof. awesome fountain, but it was too cold when i went. to celebrate defeat of sweden, whose symbol is the lion.
fountains (turned off) at peterhof
me with peterhof in the background
awesome outdoor mosaic of suvorovsky crossing the alps. suvorovsky is an incredible russian general who does not nearly get his due in western culture. never lost a battle in over 60 major contests.
political propaganda billboard near where i lived. it says "petersburg is in putin's plan"
mom and i at the mariinsky theater
panorama of the mariinsky theater, from the stage to the emperor's box on the right
"wedding cake" building, characteristic of stalin-era architecture.
russian white house- seat of executive government, although not where the president lives.
tomb of the unknown soldier outside the kremlin wall.
panorama the moscow circus.
