Avast!

Its been some time since my last entry I know. Russia keeps me busy. Churchill once called this land "mystery wrapped in a riddle wrapped in an enigma." Politicians do have a flair for the dramatic, and said quote may go a bit too far, but it does hit the mark in some ways. I find myself, at times delightfully confused, and at other times, simply frustrated. This morning i was sick. Las night I ate something from a street vendor. It was a 'blini.' The blini is a Russian amalgamation of the crepe, the empanada, and the burrito. The one I ate was delicious, and was a meat of some kind (please let it not have been dog). I paid dearly for that roadside delicacy though my guts and spit and time this morning. However, please all of you know that

1. I am alive and well
2. I am happy, and engaged in my work and studies
3. I still dont have a working key to my building

Without further ado here are some photographs of St. Beautysburg

The Kazan Cathedral. A five minute walk from my office. Nina, our office manager was taken aback when after telling me it was her favorite building in the city, I replied, "it looks like a government buidling" It seems government architecture has quite a different connotation in Russia then it does in America.

The Church of Spilled Blood. This is one of the few Onion Dome churches in St. Petersburg, as the Czar outlawed them in order to give the city a more classical, european appearance. It is modeled after St. Basil's cathedral in Red Square, Moscow.

Namesake of Nevsky Prospect and Russian Folk Hero, Aleksander Nevsky. This is his plaza, where hippies play bongos and fire-dance, and the elderly walk the snowy grounds and reflect on Russia's (and their own) past.

The Partially frozen Fontanki Canal. People walk there dogs and ice fish on this thing. It warms up cracks, and then days later in a sudden snowstorm (like this one) refreezes. Immediately they return to the ice, walking without fear. Ive not walked far on it, but I have tested its strength.

Big, beautiful, bronze, horse butt, Nevsky Prospect, St. Petersburg, Russia.

until next time...

yours,
Lucas