Russian Around

A good nights rest was just what we needed for an active day in St. Petersburg. After a quick Russian breakfast (macaroni and hot dogs?) at the hotel, we grabbed our map and started walking. Directly across from our hotel was the Kazan Cathedral. Although the outside was not so appealing, the inside of the church was beautiful and decorated with perfection. Michael Garden (Mikhaylovskiy Sad) was our next stop.  The garden was massive and well manicured as expected. It was a delight to see but we had greater interest in seeing the church that was located at the end of the garden. The Church of the Savior on Spilled blood, now referred to as Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, is one of the main attractions in St. Petersburg; and after seeing it up close we understood why. The colors and designs of the numerous domes and pillars were magnificent to see. Like everything else in the world, it was under construction so we could not go in, but we were able to get great shots outside the church and barter with some tough Russian street vendors.

After church, we headed towards the water to see the Winter Palace.  Home to the Russian Monarchs between 1700 and 1900, the palace was fit for royalty. A turquoise/mint colored paint covered the entire outside walls except for the white pillars and the golden pieces on every window. It was located in between the embankment and the Palace Square, close to the Alexander column.  Constructed after Russia’s victory in the war against Napoleon, the column is honor of Alexander the first.  To get a better look from the water, Chase and I walked across the bridge adjacent to the palace and started snapping. This is about the time we started noticing all the weddings going on. No joke, we must have seen about 15 different brides getting in and out of cars in about 15 minutes. We think that people decided to get married that day because of how nice the weather was.  The couples didn’t know when the next sunny day in Russia would be so they took the plunge. Along with many brides, the bridge also gave us a great view of the Peter and Paul Cathedral. The building was completely gold and shined in the sun unlike any building we had ever seen.

The sites were great, but we still felt a little uncomfortable around some of the Russian locals. For this reason, we went to dinner at the English pub across the street.  English menus and American music really put us in the right mindset to eat some Caesar salad and beef stroganoff. We washed our meals down with some local beer and were ready for the night. Being that we were in Russia, we figured that the next logical step was to buy a small bottle of Vodka. It seemed even more logical after the purchase because it was cheaper than water; seriously. On that note, the water in Russia is in a class of its own. People say don’t drink the water in Mexico, but I would funnel any amount of Mexican water over taking a sip of the tap water in St. Petersburg. If the sink was left running or the toilet seat wasn’t closed, the room would stink up and make us somewhat nauseous. Chase actually took a sip because he was dying of thirst and said it tasted like metal. However, it did help us become a little more domesticated, and now we always turn off the water and close the toilet seat.

We had some sips of the Vodka and hit up Svetlana for some recommendations on the nightlife. She only suggested one spot so we were kind of stuck with that. She had never been there so she actually asked us to tell her how it was when we got back. The name was in Russian so no clue what it was called but we navigated ourselves there and got in without a problem. The establishment was pretty empty so Chase and I posted up near the bar for a few drinks. Then out of nowhere, two Russian girls came out of the back room and got up on the platforms beside us to dance. The second they got up there the tops came off and the music started going. We were surprised to say the least. After that the atmosphere in the bar changed. We consulted the bouncer to see what the deal was and he informed us that every girl in there was a prostitute. Literally every girl. No interest in diseases and a new undertanding for why all of the ladies were giving us sexy looks was enough to get us back to the hotel. We told Svetlana that is wasn’t the family atmosphere we were looking for and went to bed.  Our flight to Israel was late the next day so we were able to get up late and still get to the airport early. TGI Fridays and American music held us over until our flight to Israel.

To Russia With Love

We arrived to the Helsinki port and were unpleasantly welcomed by pouring rain as we trucked through the streets a good ten minutes to the train station. We had plenty of time to kill so we decided to sit down at the Aseman Wursti, a highly overrated hotdog joint. An hour of hanging out passed and we were distastefully introduced to the lamest of lame ladies on the planet. “Usually at restaurants you buy something. Have you ever heard of it?” With few words in exchange, we moved to the outdoor train departure area where we sat for another hour deliriously recording videos of God knows what to pass time. We were not satisfied with the way the lady treated us so we relocated back to the wiener café and established dominance as we bought the cheapest option on the menu. As we entered, we shouted, "We would like to buy a small Pepsi, Have you heard of this?" Other cafe patrons laughed so we  to post up there for another couple of hours slowly drinking the Pepsi, drip by drip. Our train had finally arrived so we hopped aboard and made ourselves comfortable for the upcoming six-hour ride to St. Petersburg.

After going a little crazy in the train station, we met some girls on the train that graduated from the University of Virginia and exchanged travel stories until we were finally in St. Petersburg. As we stepped off of the train, we were immediately struck with a feeling of intimidation. After receiving a variety of dirty looks from everyone around us, including the guards, we were in the train station searching for an information counter to figure out where our hotel was located. The lady sitting behind the information desk did not speak a lick of English, so we moved on to the next potential source of assistance. After several attempts with other Russians in the station, a guard finally assisted us out of the station and to a map where he would lead us on our pursuit. With extreme gusts of wind blowing us all over the place, we cautiously walked over a  bridge under construction, weaving side-to-side to avoid workers on the sandy walkway. After many complicated attempts to figure out our whereabouts (most strangers were not able to communicate with us), another guard pointed us in a direction down the main road. Thanks to Sheree, our great family friend, we broke out the Lingo translator device for one of the words the man muttered and we were able to understand that we needed to take a right turn. Following the right turn we came across another problem and no maps were to be found. Tension was building even more as strangers continued to stare at us and light began to fall. We waved down a cab and roller coasted to our hotel that we would have never found by foot.

We entered through a large steel gate entrance followed by a courtyard to reach the Sky Hotel. It was extremely run down as we entered the first floor which put off a grimy musty smell. We reached the sixth floor and were pleasantly greeted by a beautiful receptionist name Svetlana. Her English was great to hear and we were in our much nicer hotel room han expected. We were exhausted from all of the effort spent traveling and walking aimlessly in the streets of St. Petersburg so we decided to call it an early night and got some great rest. 

(Hel)Sinking Ships

The next day went by relatively fast, most of it being spent in the Stockholm port waiting for our ferry to set sail. We checked into the ferry around mid-day and wandered aimlessly the large boat until we shoved off at 5. We knew it would be a good time because the ferry was an over night trip to Helsinki, Finland and equipped with a Casino and nightclub.

The tension built, as it got closer to 5. These people were ready to leave and excited to  see the open sea. Once the horn sounded, people started celebrating like it was some sort of holiday. Dancers dressed as Alaadin characters filled the main hallway of the boat and performed for the hundreds of travelers and their families. It was pretty ridiculous. Little kids were going ape shit watching this happen. It was Christmas, Easter, and Halloween rolled into one aquatic holiday.

After people regained consciousness from the excitement and the boat calmed, Chase and I went to the tax-free section of the boat for some drinks. The sun was setting and we wanted nothing more than to enjoy some fresh beers and a beautiful sunset on the balcony. We passed numerous islands and captured some great photos of our exit into the open water.

After we watched the sunset, we knew it was time for the casino. We weren’t planning on taking down the dealers or anything but we had both played a little blackjack before and were confident that we could make some money.  After a slow start, we noticed our dealer was cooling down and exploited her visible weakness. We made a total of $60 before we decided to step off the table. A new dealer was changing in and we knew it was our time.  Instead of watching, we grabbed a few more beers and waited for our dealer to get back on the table. Long story short, the dealer came back, we followed and then lost all of our money. However, it was still a success because our drinks were purchased off of our winnings.

The New York Lounge was the next and final stop on the boat. We listened to kareokee for about an hour and made small talk with our new friend Charles in the process. Once the kareokee machine turned off, the lounge started playing some serious music so we remained by the dance floor for the rest of the night. We did not stay up to late because of our early arrival in Helsinki, but we sure did cut some rug.

Stockholm: Night Two

After an entertaining curve ball of a night, we were back on our feet, well rested and ready to explore Stockholm. We had a quick breakfast of corn flakes and were off to roam and sightsee. Our destinations were planned and we began walking towards the water where we ran into a walkway along the water that directed us right to The City Hall. The massive building was situated on the corner of the river, filled with colorful gardens, and blessed with an outstanding view of the city. We entered inside the courtyard only to find a horse statue that caused a group of Asians some serious troubles. One of them attempted to hop on the horse as the lifeless animal magically bucked her off. Friends gathered around and pushed beneath her for a good several minutes before the happy, drenched in sweat equestrian was able to pose for a picture. We left through the main gate in the front of the Hall and pressed on over a bridge to the next attraction. Across the channel from The City Hall was Riddarholm church,  one of the oldest buildings in the city that dates back to the 13th century. It was a true honor to stand inside this structure but we had one more major site to see.  

Across from this church we found the Royal Palace of Sweden. Apparently it is almost impossible to get someone else to take a decent picture of you when, even when your trying to capture and important lank mark. Luckily, we finally got a family from Maine to give us what we needed and we were back on course. As we circled the palace and passed some royal street performers, we noticed one in particular that was surrounded by a large crowd of people and setting up for his next show. We decided to stay and watch a man whose costume consisted of two people having dinner on his back. This was a particularly amusing site to see, especially when he bent down to pick up his materials. The show was quite intriguing as the man juggled wands of fire and sharp large pirate swords. It was a great ending to our Royal Palace visit as we left the highly populated scene. On our walk back we passed through St. Clara church and other cathedrals on the way back to City Hostel.

We arrived back to our eight-person room (all to ourselves) and sat down to watch the movie Inception. After the movie, we noticed we were running a bit behind schedule for our reservation at the Ice Bar. Our receptionist told us that they would not accept any guests that were more than ten minutes late so we were quick on our feet and in the kitchen. Unfortunately, the hostel did not have any stovetops for boiling water and cooking our pasta so it was up to the microwave to fulfill our appetite. We were able to cook the pasta in the microwave but it took much longer than expected. With only twenty minutes until our reservation and a ten-minute walk, our pasta and sauce were ready. We have never scarfed down food as fast as we did that night. Kobayashi and Chestnut would have had some serious competition. Thankfully, we did not have any hostel member’s pass by our ferocious vulture like feeding as we were out the door in search of the ice. We arrived to the Ice Hotel and proceeded to the bar entrance to receive our Eskimo jackets and high-end gloves before entering the 20 degree farenheit environment. The bar was ice, the benches were ice, and even the glasses that we drank our fruity drinks from were made of ice. We walked through a train of people that were singing and kicking their feet side to side to the music. The Ice Bar was surely the coolest one we had experienced thus far. Pun intended once again. Once we left, a heat wave simmered our faces and provided a rude awakening to our body temperatures before being back on the streets.

As we walked toward a spot for nightlife, we abruptly changed plans as we remembered it was Sunday night. We journeyed back to the City Hostel and caught our last glimpse of the beautiful sunset that Stockholm graciously provided us. 

Training Up To Sweden

With no sleep and a full day of traveling ahead of us, Chase and I slugged some water and got our game faces on. Unfortunately, our journey to Sweden involved several transfers in the Netherlands and Germany before we could relax and sleep. We changed rails in Hilversum, Osnabruck, and Hamburg before boarding our final train to Stockholm. From Hamburg, we took the train right onto a ferry, which  allowed to reach Copenhagen and continue on to Sweden in one straight shot. It was an exhausting fifteen hours to say the least.

We arrived in Stockholm Central station around midnight and decided to sleep in the train station until we could check into our hostel. However, after two hours of rest on the most uncomfortable and oddly shaped benches, a security guard informed us that the station was closing. We now had seven hours to kill and nowhere to kill it. Once we exited the station, a bright McDonald’s sign caught our eye and essentially called us over to it. No joke, this was the best McDonald’s ever. Great food and fast service put us in a great mood to enjoy free wireless internet and clean, comfortable booths. Now it may sound like this McDonald’s isn’t all its cracked up to be, but it gets better. Along with being open 24 hours, this McDonald’s attracted every group of girls in Stockholm on their way to and from the bars and clubs. Answer this question. When was the last time you sat in a McDonald’s for 7 hours eating Big Mac’s and youtubing hockey fights, all the while being surrounded by dozens of beautiful, blonde Swedes? Let’s just say we had a very happy meal. Pun intended. If you ever find yourself in Stockholm with time to kill, McDonald's is the place for homicide.

Unfortunately, nine o’clock rolled around and we had no more excuses to hang out in McDonald’s. We walked to City Hostel, a hostel close to the train station and located in the heart of Stockholm, and immediately passed out after checking in.  An entire day of traveling and a busy night at Micky D’s really wore us out. We slept until the early evening and hit up the grocery store across the street for essentials once we were settled. Everything is ridiculously expensive in Sweden and we knew that we would have to be conscious of our budget for our entire stay. Our grocery list included: bread, sliced ham, smoked Gouda, corn flakes, milk, pasta with sauce, peanut butter, and two apples. One Big Mac at McDonald’s cost more than half of groceries, which turned out to be enough for around 10 meals. It was eye opening.

 

Once our bellies were full, we finished off the bottle of Chardonnay that Christine gave us and hit the streets around midnight. A hostel mate named Adam tagged along, but, later proved to be of less value than our first friend  named Adam (he accompanied us for the first ten days).  This Adam seemed to be wasted after his first beer and somewhat of a liability. Most places were an hour wait, and the ones with no wait had an age limit that excluded him. He was definitely holding us back.  Two O’clock rolled around and we were next in line to get into club “Oh Oh Oh”. Adam was a little drunk and angry about waiting in the line so he decided to go home. We did not try to change his mind. Next in line, Chase and I got ready to give the bouncer our id’s and cover fee when all hell broke loose. The bouncer began arguing with a large English man right next to us, which halted the entry process. The man was angry that he could not get in without waiting in line, while other locals and friends of the bouncers got in instantly. More words were exchanged and the two men began swinging at each other. We couldn’t have been any closer than that to the fight without being involved in it. The bouncer asserted his dominance and was eventually pulled away by friends and co-workers once the police arrived.  We were excited to have some story to tell people in the bar, but there was one problem. Because of the fight, the police said that no more people were allowed to get in.  O well.

We thought about calling it a night until we passed an outdoor bar at the bottom of a nearby hotel. No cover. No age limit. We were in business. After a few drinks with a group of Swedish girls, we made it to the dance floor before closing and enjoyed the rest of the evening. 

Amsterdamage Control

After calling it an early night at the White Tulip Hostel, we checked out the next morning and walked down the street to the pleasing smell of waffles. We were waiting for family friend, Christine Turner, as she caught up on rest from her long flight  from the States. Stationed in the back of the restaurant was a hostel lobby area where we would catch up on our blog, use free Internet, and watch enough MTV Jams to hold us over until returning to Garrett’s basement in Annapolis. It was getting later in the day and we were eager to meet with Christine so we left the free scent of waffles and moved onward to the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

We arrived at the hotel and were instantly greeted by Christine, as she was just walking out of the lobby to come looking for us. After a warm welcome of hugs were exchanged, we made it up to her lovely room where rum and cokes and plenty of snacks silenced our hunger. Endless amounts of cheese and crackers, fresh fruit, and mixed nuts never tasted so great. An toast was made and Christine continued to present essentials to us from our families back home as we exchanged a few gifts for her. A bottle of chardonnay was another exceptional present we received from Christine, working out perfectly for our long train ride to Stockholm. After we traded our goodies, we shared some stories of our adventures and Christine shared one with us. Hours before her flight was projected to land, a man in the back seat of her plane had a seizure. After the plane searched for a medic or anyone capable of helping the man, an undercover security Marshall took charge to manage the situation. The convulsing man had been treated with the necessary fluids and was instantly back on his feet in good standing. Surprisingly, as they reached the gate, the man was able to walk off the plane unattended and journey his way into Amsterdam medic free. We hope this man is ok. 

Regardless, other funny stories from the 4^th of July were swapped and our hunger was satisfied. We then began to plan our night and dinner reservations. Christine kindly relayed several dinner options to us but we could not decide on one in particular because they all sounded delicious and any food was perfectly fine at that point. We left the hotel and knew that walking around the streets would surely bring us to a nice restaurant that Christine had recommended. We made a reservation at an Italian restaurant called Casa di David as we continued onward to a nearby bar where we were again treated with a tasty beer. After joyfully watching the Amsterdam city traffic of enraged bicyclists and car drivers, we headed for dinner.

We were seated at a nice window table that looked over one of the many beautiful canals. Our Italian waiter anxiously approached us and firmly inquired for our drinks as we ordered a couple of beers and a glass of wine. We looked over the unique scroll of a menu and consulted one another over the variety of great options the restaurant had to offer. Our waiter returned for our order but quickly left, as we were hesitant to make a choice. We quickly developed a meal plan and were on our toes and ready to present our order. Moments later, we received a salad, bacon and parmesan pasta dish, and a large ham pizza sided with a bottle of red wine. Lastly, we enjoyed a tasty desert of Tiramisu. Thank you Christine!

After this great meal, we took back to the streets and captured several pictures before heading back towards the Crowne Plaza Hotel. On the way, we ran into two of Christine’s friendly flight attendants that were on her flight and we felt it necessary to grab another beer at an Irish Pub next to the hotel. After sharing stories and explaining our trips mission of spreading democracy, we received a call from Garrett’s friends that were in town. We promised the ladies to bring our friends back before we went out for the evening so we met with Matt, Tyler, and Ari at the Flying Pig Hostel and returned back for a quick hello. Following our cocktail at the Pub, we left with Garrett’s buddies from Dartmouth and headed out on the streets for the Red Light District to see all that Amsterdam had to offer. Our first stop was at a nearby bar called Black Tiger where we toasted drinks “for the boys” and got completely rejected by the attractive bartender to get in one of our pictures. “What will I get from taking a picture with you guys?” she sighed. Her time was up and we were back on the streets in full force. After making a pass through the Red Light District, we decided to hop in a cab and transport to another bar called Paradisio. This small box of a bar was pretty overhyped as we found ourselves with another cheers with the boys before heading back to the Flying Pig Hostel for another round of drinks and a farewell goodbye to the Dartmouth crew. We may or may not have poked our heads into a sex show at some point in the night.

We arrived back at Christine’s Hotel early in the morning without having the chance to lie down on the comfortable beds and said our thanks and goodbyes. Christine’s hospitality and generosity was unbelievably helpful to our trip. Seeing our family friend, receiving dinner and drinks, and chatting about current happenings back home in Annapolis was greatly appreciated. This was the perfect supplement for us prior to leaving for our train to Stockholm.  

Pra hahaha ha

After an epic night at the beer factory and a healthy breakfast at Starbucks (we could afford to eat at the one in Prague), we found ourselves near Old Town Square for the very first tour of the day. A friend of Zach's told us that groups of college students run free day tours around the city and highly recommended that we check it out so we jumped on the opportunity, even if it was a 5 hour commitment. Once 11 o'clock rolled around, the tour guides began dividing the large crowd of tourists into groups of 30. Luckily for us, this meant we would have a more intimate tour with our guide, Karel (pronounced Carol). It took us about 30 seconds to realize that Karel was a champion. Definitely the best guide in the game. His energy was off the charts and his knowledge of the city bested any guidebook we could find. 

By design, our first stop was the Prague Astronomical Clock because of how close our starting point was to Old Town Square. At a glance, the clock looks like an enormous, stone tower with too many confusing dials to comprehend. But thanks to Karel, we learned how to make sense of all of the various parts. For starters, the mechanical clock and astronomical dial were constructed in 1410 by clockmaker Mikulas of Kadari and an astronomer from Charles University by the name of Jan Sindel. Pretty impressive. The three main components of the clock mechanism include: the astronomical dial, which represents the location of the Sun and the Moon; "The Walk of Apostles", a clockwork hourly show of figures of the apostles; and the calendar dial, representing the months.  We were also lucky enough to see the trumpet player that performs at the top of each hour. He was ok.

After teaching us all he could about the clock, Karel led us all over the Old Town and New Town of Prague, stopping at other notable sights along the way to give his two korunas on the matter.  Whether it was discussing the Tyn Church, the main church of Prague since the 1400’s, or the National Museum on Wenceslas Square in New Town, Karel quenched our thirst for knowledge. Other memorable stops included the Powder Tower, original entrance to the city of Prague, and the world’s only cubist café.

Moving away from the Old and New Town attractions, Karel decided to take us through Josefov, the Jewish quarters of the city, which was also remarkably beautiful.  Karel explained that Josefov is home to some of the oldest synagogues in Europe, the oldest being the the Old Synagogue of 1270. We found this hard to believe because of Prague’s Nazi occupation during WWII. However, Karel informed us that during the war, Hitler decided to compile Jewish artifacts from all over Central Europe and place them in a Josefov synagogue. Unfortunately, his goal was to create a museum for what he believed would be an extinct race after the war. Obviously this is a terrible reason for compiling such artifacts, but the collection turned out to be more positive than its original purpose. It is now seen as a badge of honor for the Jewish population in Prague and Central Europe for that matter. 

Next came Charles University and the Opera house.  While the opera house bored us, Charles University picked up where Josefov left off.  Founded in 1348, Charles University was the first university in Central Europe and is the largest and oldest university in Prague to this day.  The university was inspired by Charles of Luxembourg and is conveniently located near the Charles Bridge on the Vltava River. Once again, Karel dazzled us with his knowledge for Czech history. But our tour was approaching the end and Karel was about leave us right next to the Charles Bridge with so many questions left unanswered.  Karel first explained that tour would not include the bridge or the Prague Castle (2 of the oldest and biggest attractions in Prague), and then informed us that he would be accepting tips after his final story. Suddenly this free day tour wasn’t so free. Anyway, he began commenting on the Czech uprising during WWII and relayed extremely fascinating information to us. According to Karel, the Czech uprising after Hitler’s death came in the form of confusion and force.  To confuse the Germans, groups of nationalists organized the removal of street signs in the city. This disoriented the officers that were occupying the city and allowed the resistance to move around them with ease. The forceful part of the uprising occurred when a group of 30,000 Czechs took over the main radio tower in Prague, despite the 80,000 German soldiers that attempted to stop them. The Czechs were able to get in contact with the U.S, who informed them that Russian soldiers were on the way to help. Once the Germans caught wind of this, Prague was completely deserted by Nazi’s. Side Note: The U.S would have come to Prague’s aid sooner but the demarcation line of the Czech Republic fell just west of the city, meaning that Russia was responsible for Prague.

The tour was finally over and despite having to pay on a free tour, it was one of the most informative and fun days of the trip. Karel pointed us in the direction of the Prague Castle (largest in Europe) and said his goodbyes. We no longer had his guidance, but decided to push through to the castle and bridge before calling it a day. After walking up several hundred steps to castle’s cathedral, we realized that having no guide did not matter. The site of the cathedral was amazing the view overlooking Prague was breathtaking. We didn’t need words to describe it. We returned to our hostel via Charles Bridge content and ready for a siesta.

Our train for Amsterdam was early the next morning so we knew that it would be our last night to see the Prague nightlife and experience some authentic Czech food. For this reason, we decided hit a bratwurst sidecar for dinner on the way back to Beer Factory for the night. Amsterdam here we come.