An Amazing Start to 2007
Wow, what a fabulous start to the new year!
We went out last night and had a blast. Quite literally, the sky was ablaze with fireworks. Jumping out of my skin at first, I had to quickly adjust to the constant explosions as we followed the hoardes of people down Nevsky Prospekt to Dvorstavaya Ploshad (Palace Square). There, we stumbled upon a gathering of thousands, congregating in front of the Hermitage to watch a huge staged spectacle. Amid the wet, heavy snow that was falling, explosions and bright light (flares, sparklers, fireworks, spotlights) came from every direction with no warning. Apparently, amateur fireworks are completely legal here. Speaking of legal, there are no open-container laws in Russia, so everyone was carrying bottles of champagne and they were selling it at stands all around the downtown area. By midnight, the streets were littered with empty bottles and drunken revelers yelling, "s'novum godum," Russian for happy new year! Shortly after midnight, we headed home by foot, taking the long way past the Rostral Columns, which were ablaze with fire, lit on the occasion of the new year, and Peter and Paul Fortress, sitting like an enchanted palace overlooking the frozen Neva River. We've posted pictures here so that you can see the festivities for yourself, or check out the video by clicking here.
A couple of cool links for you:
I went out at noon to meet a friend for tea while Matt went to run an errand. He met up with our Russian friend Zena who graciously and generously brought us a huge care package from the States, courtesy of Matt's family in Florida. We can't describe the joy and surprise when we opened the suitcase to find oodles of food, magazines, books and -- much to our delight -- a new laptop from my brother-in-law Ethan! It was as if our dreams had been answered!
Needless to say, we feel like we've turned a corner. As hard as it's been to live and work here, so far away from friends and family, we are slowly growing fond of Russia, with all of its oddities and charm. We are looking forward to being back after our travels to unearth more hidden gems and discover more ways we can make a difference in 2007!
We went out last night and had a blast. Quite literally, the sky was ablaze with fireworks. Jumping out of my skin at first, I had to quickly adjust to the constant explosions as we followed the hoardes of people down Nevsky Prospekt to Dvorstavaya Ploshad (Palace Square). There, we stumbled upon a gathering of thousands, congregating in front of the Hermitage to watch a huge staged spectacle. Amid the wet, heavy snow that was falling, explosions and bright light (flares, sparklers, fireworks, spotlights) came from every direction with no warning. Apparently, amateur fireworks are completely legal here. Speaking of legal, there are no open-container laws in Russia, so everyone was carrying bottles of champagne and they were selling it at stands all around the downtown area. By midnight, the streets were littered with empty bottles and drunken revelers yelling, "s'novum godum," Russian for happy new year! Shortly after midnight, we headed home by foot, taking the long way past the Rostral Columns, which were ablaze with fire, lit on the occasion of the new year, and Peter and Paul Fortress, sitting like an enchanted palace overlooking the frozen Neva River. We've posted pictures here so that you can see the festivities for yourself, or check out the video by clicking here.A couple of cool links for you:
- You can read about St. Petersburg in this week's New York Times travel feature, Holiday on Ice in St. Petersburg.
- We took a video in downtown that is featured on the Gator Sports website as part of the lead-up to the natioanl championship game. You can see it here.
I went out at noon to meet a friend for tea while Matt went to run an errand. He met up with our Russian friend Zena who graciously and generously brought us a huge care package from the States, courtesy of Matt's family in Florida. We can't describe the joy and surprise when we opened the suitcase to find oodles of food, magazines, books and -- much to our delight -- a new laptop from my brother-in-law Ethan! It was as if our dreams had been answered!
Needless to say, we feel like we've turned a corner. As hard as it's been to live and work here, so far away from friends and family, we are slowly growing fond of Russia, with all of its oddities and charm. We are looking forward to being back after our travels to unearth more hidden gems and discover more ways we can make a difference in 2007!
posted by Alyson Fieldman at 2:38 PM
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