To Piter againThe journal is nearly finished!Arrival and new yearWeather funcount downthat's it for now folks
 | linda nilovna |  | To Piter with John |  | that's it for now folks |
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Jan 16 2009, 12:13 PM
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Saint Petersburg, Russia
I will miss CafeMax on Nevsky Prospekt when we leave tomorrow. It has become a little refuge where I can access Australian websites and my emails (not that James has written often or voluminously). I have also been able to pick up an occasional Australian headline as I log off the Bigpond website.
Today is my last shopping day and music is my mission. I think that I probably have enough books, newspapers, journals, magnets and even dvds, but today it is cds and more cds. After I finish here I shall walk up Nevsky and make my final withdrawal in roubles at the Grande Hotel Europe before hitting the shops. John is having a last day in the public library and we have arranged to meet at Dom knigi (The House of the Book) at 5 for ameal before going to a concert (Carmina Burana) at the Capella. I finished my research yesterday at the library out at Victory Square which was a bit of a relief as the library is a fine building from the ourside but is not particularly well planned inside and after a while I used to feel quite cold. At least this time I didn't have any trouble with young men trying to push in the queue in front of me when I was picking up my books!
John and I caught up with Amber and Serena yesterday afternoon in Laima cafe. They are having a great time, are enjoying the classes, but not surprisingly, seeing it is on the edge of the Gulf of Finland, are finding the hostel not particularly warm. (Serena was here three years ago and still has some Russian contacts and that makes a big difference.) The phone connection also leaves a lot to be desired, still Serena and I have managed to keep in touch via SMS, I write in Russian and she answers either in English or in Russian in transliteration.
Last night we had dinner with our good friends the Vishnevskys who gave us an inspiredl present for James, a stripy sailor top. We think it is just wonderful and hope that he thinks so too. I have bought a couple of t-shirts for students and I can't wait to turn up to class in my fur hat!!
Sergey has kindly offered to drive us out to the airport tomorrow afternoon. John and I will have mixed feelings about leaving. On the one hand we have had a marvellous time, have done all the things we wanted to, seen friends, immersed ourselves in the language, watched lots of news on television, but the weather at times has been a trial. Yesterday it was +4 whereas today is it -4 and it is expected to get significantly colder tomorrow. The locals complain about these erratic jumps in temperature and I must say that John and I too find dressing for the weather a bit of a chore. The other thing is that for all its beauty poor old St. P has some very rackety parts and it is distressing to see dirty footpaths and peeling facades. Our stairwell is symptomatic of the general picture. Every morning when we leave we find loads of cigarette butts on all five flights of stairs and quite a few beer, wine and vodka bottles on the window-sills. It is usually men who want to have a drink and a smoke and don't want to go to a cafe and sometimes there is an extra smell (which I won't go into). One night when John and I came home late we found a person (couldn't determine gender) who was sleeping on the floor on the first level. He/she was gone the next morning!!
The shops are calling! I can hear them saying Pogudin, Okudzhava, Mumii Troll, Vystoskii. Must go. I look forward to catching up with you all and bending your ear with further details of our trip.
Best wishes and love, Linda Nilovna/Lyndall
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