Misc. Pictures

Here is Dan buying the stinky pastries. I can almost smell them now:(

This is called the Church of the Spilled Blood - it was built on the ground where Alexander the Great was killed.

This is a church in St. Petersburg that was built when they defeated Napoleon. They have his battle flag and pennant on display.

Dan with some catapult ammo at Narva.

Last Day

Our last day was an easy day. We had a girls day out, with several of the ladies going out for lunch in Old Town. The cafe we went to was so adorable, the men would never have appreciated it:) I had the pasta carbonara which was delicious and a much tastier dish than what I had at Olde Hansa. We split up after that and I went in search of some Souvenirs I had seen there earlier in the week. We left Old Town and went to the grocery store to pick up some things for dinner that night. The grocery store there is not too different from our stores here except you cant read anything and there is a larger selection of cheeses and smoked fish.
All this time the men had taken the children to a playland where they all tired themselves out. Dinner was with the 3 missionary couples and our group. We had a good time but it was hard to say good-bye to them! We miss them and are thankful they are doing such a great work there in Estonia.
For my last post, I will be putting on a few more pictures.

This is a famous statue in St. Petersburg of Peter the Great. It is a legend there that if this statue is ever moved, the city will fall into the sea. Also, if a couple gets married in St. Petersburg they must get their picture taken in front of this statue on their wedding day so their marriage will be blessed.

Here we are in front of the Winter Palace in the city center of St. Petersburg. It was so beautiful there!

This is the entrance to the Summer Palace built by Catherine the Great.

St. Petersburg Part III

The last day we were in St. Petersburg we went to a Russian church just north of the city. We got there by Metro, and on the way, a stray puppy wandered onto our train. I wanted to pet it of course, but couldn't because a mom and daughter actually took it home with them! I was happy for the dog:)
We arrived with a warm welcome by all of the members of that wonderful church. In spite of the language difference, I still felt at home at that church. The service was a little different that what we normally have. There were three men that preached and in between each man was a congregational song and special music. We were also introduced by our guide. After the service we were invited for tea with the associate pastor and an English speaking member of the church. It was very good food including: bread, cheese, and meat for sandwiches, yummy cookies, and tea or coffee. I had tea:)
We left shortly after that and had real Russian food for lunch. I finally got to try blinis! It was very good. I also had strogonoff, cabbage salad, and french fries. My blini was chocolate and bananas which was also very good. Everywhere we went we had Pepsi to drink which was fine with me!
We toured a little more around the city, picked up some souvenirs and headed back to the bus for an uneventful ride home. We did make one stop before we got on the bus - We had the bright idea to get some food and drinks before we got on the bus for dinner. We didn't have our guide with us at the moment so we were left to our own devices:) We were going to order blinis from a stand that was right there but had no idea what to order because we were illiterate there. So we get the bright idea to order some pastries from the stand next to the other stand. We order one of each of the four pastries that were there. They were heated up for us and we were on our way back to the bus. When we told our guide what we had bought he laughed at us! He warned us that we were going to get sick from eating those things and we couldn't sit by him on the bus because they stink! Well, he was right. I took one bite and that was enough for me! We through them away at the border crossing:)

St. Petersburg Part II

The second day we were in St. Petersburg was filled with seeing the city. Before leaving the hotel we had an amazing breakfast. There were some of the same things from the Estonia breakfast like cheeses, meats, breads, and juices, but with breakfast potatoes, breakfast sausages, olives, pickles, vegetables, and these little pancake things that were so good! They were about 1/2 in. thick and tasted like pancakes but better:) I loved them!
We started with the Summer Palace built by Catherine the Great. It was an amazing building. It has been almost completely restored due to the fact that the Germans practically destroyed it in WWII. There is a room in the palace called the Amber Room and is said to be priceless. The walls, pictures, furniture, and decorations in the room from ceiling to floor is covered in amber. It was so beautiful.
Next we went back into the city and saw several churches, monuments, old buildings, and the Hermetage (spelling?). We weren't able to go inside due to time. My favorite place we went was Town Square. As you walk through these massive arches you are overwhelmed with a sense of smallness by everything that surrounds you. It was so amazing. On the opposite of the arches sits the Winter Palace, which is now used mainly as a museum instead of a palace. The colors you would see in St. Petersburg are very contrasting. Things are either drab grey and brown or bright yellow, blue, or pink. That day we also saw a fortress, the northernmost mosque in the world, and ate at Subway:) The only thing different with that is they use cabbage instead of lettuce but you cant really tell:)
We ended the night eating with Pastor Clear at Pizza Hut. It was very good, much better than in the States. It is a nicer restaurant and they were pretty busy. We didn't get very good service because I think they were afraid to try and talk to us- our Russian isn't very good:)

Narva, Estonia

St. Petersburg - Part I

St. Petersburg was awesome! We did so much in 3 days; I hope I can do it justice. We have just arrived back in Tallinn and are exhausted so I will only write about Friday. Tomorrow I will finish and put on some pictures from the last few days we have been here.
Friday was a travel day. We had to be at the bus station at 5:45 am to leave at 6. The bus was a really nice coach bus and we had a good drive. The border crossing was a little scary but we all made it through ok. As soon as we got into Russia the road turned into what I would compare to the surface of the moon. Our guide said the Russians will never fix it because it is the road to Estonia; they hate Estonians. I have never been on such a terrible road and it stretched for miles!
The scenery changed vastly when we crossed the border. Every few miles there would be a little "village" of houses that were so run down it was hard to believe anyone lived there. Everything seemed so depressing and sad. It seems like things are never repaired; everything stays the same until it rots and is no longer usable.
We arrived in St. Petersburg around 12 pm and took the Metro (our favorite mode of transportation) to our hotel. The hotel was beautiful! We had an updated room that was very nice. It was called the Park Inn and was in a safe part of town.
That first night we went to eat dinner with Christians from Afghanistan who were friends of our guide. They were extremely hospitable and the food was amazing! They spread a table cloth out on the floor that we all sat around and brought out more and more and more food until the entire cloth was covered. There was huge platters of rice with pieces of chicken, bowls of tender beef, hummus, bread, a salad that consisted of tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and other good stuff, green beans, grapes, bananas, and of course to drink, Pepsi! These people were wonderful to us and I am so thankful that we were able to meet them. They have a wonderful testimony; I wish I had half of their zeal for Christ. After dinner, they brought out tea and chocolates and had amazing conversations with our pastor that was being translated from English to Russian to Farsi and back again! It was amazing to see and hear!
After leaving we went back to our hotel and talked with our guide for a few hours and went to bed.

Thoughts on Russia - St. Petersburg is the first place I have traveled so far that I felt I was not in America or anything close to it. It is very dirty- pollution fills the air and it can be felt as well as seen. The people there have no hope and you can see it in the way they live. The monuments and buildings are larger than life, almost to make you feel insignificant. There is still the soviet feeling wherever you go in the city; that was especially evidenced by the statue of Lenin still standing in one of the city parks. It is a very sad country that needs Christ.