New Years Day

Tonight is the final night here in Russia. It has been a very laid back New Years for sure. In Russia, New Years is a holiday that is second in line of importance, so pretty much all the stores, museums, businesses were shut down today. Although I am pretty bummed I couldn't explore the city today (we are about 30 minutes away from the downtown part of St. Petersburg)it was nice to have a "chill" day at the hotel. Basically I got up at 11:30, had brunch with Cierra soon after that, bought the internet, went to the grocery store, and went out to dinner for Chinese food. That was my day in a nutshell.

I was happy the grocery store was open at least; it is right next to our hotel. I just got some snacks and things because the only meal that was provided for us today was brunch at the hotel. It was pretty good- I have been really impressed with the complimentary Breakfasts that these hotels have offered on this trip. Perhaps its because we are not staying in low budget hotels or hostels where they normally just give you a stale croissant and burnt tasting coffee.

Here is a picture of us all dressed up on New Years Eve :). Today Cierra and I split the cost of getting the 24 hour internet in our room. We took half an hour to one hour intervals to check our email, surf, talk on skype, etc. It was so nice! I really miss having "high speed" internet. I mean, me a couple months ago would say this internet was slow... but compared to Italy it is amazing! I could actually hear people on the other end of the skype to skype conversation and it never cut out. I really wish Florence would get their act together (or Giuseppe) and fix the dang internet... its about time haha.

For dinner, Father Bryan, Cierra, and my new friend Georgina walked a few minutes to a local Chinese restaurant. We were very impressed with our food! I was craving some hot and sour soup and it turned out really good. Way better than the take out place in Italy. We also split some Wonton Soup which was equally as good, and I got some chicken fried rice and had a couple spring rolls. Overall, the meal was delicious and cheap! It has been really nice getting to know Father Byran on this trip. He is living and studying in Rome right now, and he is just 3 classes away from getting his law degree. I told him all about my dad and his recent accomplishment of graduating, passes the bar, getting a job, etc. He was very interested and pleased that he went back to school for another career! :)

Tomorrow we are getting up around 9:00 and having Breakfast, and meeting up with the GU group at 11:30 and we are on our way back to Italy! It is going to be a long day of traveling... we are taking a flight into Milan, and then we have a 3 hour bus ride back to Florence. We won't be getting in until like 10:30 at night. WHEW!!

Well I better wrap up because Cierra wants to sleep now... hehe. Have a good day everyone! :)

RUSSIA!

St. Petersburg
"A Winter Wonderland"

Last night we arrived at our final destination for the trip, St. Peterburg, Russia. We arrived by train late at night, around 10:30. I am now eleven hours ahead of the United States; crazy concept to grasp!
Although we were all very tired from our long 6 hour train ride, we were dazzled by all the lights that welcomed us into the city. There was still tons of Christmas decorations and lit up trees and streets, that it was truly a gorgeous site.

Look how weird the McDonald's are spelled in Russia hehe. Our hotel is about 30 minutes from the downtown area, but it is very nice. We are staying at the Park Inn, which is actually the same branch that we stayed at during our visit to Berlin, Germany on opening tour. I like the hotel because it is so modern- yet comfy at the same time.

Apparently Cierra's alarm clock went off the next morning, but since I am so used to using my phone as an alarm clock, I didn't hear it or recognize it. Oh I forgot to mention, soon after I wrote my blog post the other day before leaving for Finland, I took some ibuprofen for a headache, and I guess the water bottle top was not completely secure because it leaked all over my purse, and my phone shorted out and my ipod was temporarily unusable. (As of today it is working though, thank goodness!). So yeah, that has made the past couple of days interesting. I am so dependent on my cellphone (for those that know me, know this VERY well). Anyways, it kind has taught me how dependent I am on my appliances and without the distractions of a cell phone is maybe a blessing in disguise. Its not that I use it a lot here or anything (its ridiculous in price), but its more the concept of being "connected to the outside world" and having the option to use it when and if I need it. Its more of security blanket that I have, that when its gone, I feel very vulnerable...

Anyways, I woke up super late with only about 15-20 minutes to get ready, which is not a lot at all in Laura time... I did it though, and Cierra and I had a quick Breakfast at the hotel. I ate the eggs, which I heard is probably not a good idea, but oh well. They are like my favorite thing to eat for Breakfast! :). Yeah, forgot to mention also that we are not supposed to drink the tap water here, or eat fruit without peels, and eggs and dairy products. What's left? Honestly... I think I will just not eat so much fruit and definitely not the water (that's what they recommended the most). I guess you could say I live on the edge... haha just kidding.

Check out all this ice! Well, on with the rest of the day! We had a lovely bus tour and we stopped at several pretty spots and took pictures. I will post them on facebook when I get a chance, for all those that are interested. For lunch, we all ate together at the top of this shopping mall and it ended up being a very nice restaurant! When we first got there, there was a salad/veggie on our plates, but I wasn't too fond of it. We had a really good chicken-noodle type soup after, but it was SO hot! The next course was super hot as well (temperature wise- we are talking SCOLDING HOT!) but it was pretty good as well- it was some sort of beef stew with potatoes. I am not a fan of beef, so I didn't eat that, but the flavors were pretty good. It was kind of a gravy-like consistency, and I really liked the potatoes that were with it. I love potatoes! For desert, we had vanilla icecream, which I proceeded to put in my coffee because no cream was present. I had never done this before, and I think it is a fabulous invention! It cooled down my coffee, as well as added a hint of vanilla flavor and creamy consistency. :)

Once lunch was over, we had the option to go on the first bus which could take you directly back to the hotel, or stick around the shopping district for a couple hours and then pick you up at 5:00. I was ambivalent at first as to which bus to go on, but I decided to go on the first bus to avoid breaking the bank (I tend to go crazy when I shop hehe). I was also tempted to buy a phone before lunch was over, but I realized... hmm no one speaks English and I don't want to get ripped off! haha. I think I can live a few days without a phone... it will be good for me, right? :)

NOW its dinner time! Ciao buddies!

Off to Finland!

Today has been a pretty relaxing day so far; the Christmas tour has been jam-packed with activities and today we actually got to sleep in which was nice for a change. I am not used to such a busy Christmas break- its nice but also exhausting after awhile.

We are heading to Finland today at 2:45 and we are loading onto a ferry boat and staying in cabins for the evening. This part of the trip reminds me of heading to Croatia from Italy; we stayed overnight on a boat and some friends and I paid extra to stay in cabins for the night. Let me tell you- it was so worth it! Everyone else was super exhausted from staying up all night on the boat. No thanks!

Not quite sure what we are doing in Finland; to be honest, I have no idea what to expect. We are only there for the day, so we will have to make the most of our short trip. After our day in Finland, we are heading towards our final destination, St. Petersburg, Russia. I am expecting it to be very cold, and I am hoping there will actually be snow on the ground! Speaking of snow, I can't believe all the snow Washington has been getting these past few weeks! I talked to some of my friends from back in Spokane, and they said they had to stay an extra couple of days or more before Christmas because of the snow conditions. Apparently a bunch of airports were closed because of the dangerous snow conditions. I am not sure how the flights are doing right now, but I think the snow is slowly melting. My mother has been sending tons of pictures of the snow fall as well- she said that they were practically snowed in for days and almost no one dared to go out on the streets. As of a few days ago, there were 18 inches- CRAZINESS! At least they had a white Christmas- I still have yet to experience that.

Anyways, that's about all I have to say for today. I am currently just chilling in the hotel lobby attempting to surf the internet and check emails and such, but the connection is awful. Seems like a common theme in all of Europe- haha one thing I definitely miss in America. We are having lunch together as a big group in the hotel at 1:00 so I only have about half an hour to kill at this point.

Arrivederci and take care everyone!

Like I said before, check out all the new pics I uploaded on facebook! :)

Christmas in Sweden!

Christmas tour has been a blast so far. The first few days we spent in Copenhagen, and tonight we made it to Sweden. Today it is Christmas Day, and to be honest it totally does not feel like it at all. I have never been away from my family for Christmas, and we have so many traditions and things that without it, it just doesn't feel the same.

Here is a picture of Emma and I on the bus :) The first night in Copenhagen we were all pretty excited from traveling all day, so most of us just relaxed. We had an interesting dinner at the hotel... the first course was a salmon dish and the main dish was lamb. I didn't eat either of the dishes because I am mainly a chicken kind of girl so I asked for the vegetarian meal. The salad was really good- but the main course was a little too veggie for me. I am just starting to like vegetables and this was an intense vegetable dish (like the main part of it was this boiled leek), but I made the most of it and ate a large portion of it. That night Cierra and I just walked a little bit on the town and got a feel for the city.

The next morning Cierra pointed out the beautiful sunset outside our hotel window! Here is a picture of it on your left :) After Breakfast, the whole Gonzaga group loaded onto the buses and went on a driving tour of the city. We stopped at various locations along the way and took some pictures. One place we stopped had a copper statue of a mermaid on a stone next to the gorgeous Copenhagen waterfront. Towards the end of our tour we stopped to watch the changing of the guards next to the Queen's house. That was really interesting; a bunch of the students were trying to make the guards laugh. After the tour we all went to the hard rock cafe for lunch. Again, it was a limited menu so my choices were a burger or a veggie burger. I am just not a fan of burgers in general, but I sucked it up and got a burger; which is huge for me for those who know me well. I am definitely not a beef fan... the burger wasn't too bad but I was craving a chicken burger for sure.

After lunch we had tickets to the Tivoli Christmas festival which was probably the highlight of my day. There were lights, decorations, food stands, and souvenir shops all in the little Christmas town. There was actually a China town section and next to it was a large red roller coaster which was amazing! We convinced my friend to go on it, even though she hates rides that go upside down. The funniest part was when she had a scared expression on her face and she goes, "Oh no... it's called the DEMON?!" haha. Good times for sure.

Once we looked around at the festival, we wandered the long shopping street and peered in and out of stores for boots. My friend Megan was in desperate need of warm boots for Russia. She wanted something like Uggs- but they were no where to be found. Eventually she found a place where they sold actual Ugg Boots for a hefty price. When in Copenhagen, I guess, right? haha. Things in Copenhagen were so expensive! I couldn't believe it... the food was outrageous and the souvenirs and shopping was even worse. Needless to say all I bought was a winterish hat for Russia at the Tivoli Christmas Festival.

That night Cierra, Jen and Annie and I went to this Chinese/Indonesian restaurant. I ended up getting two little starter dishes: chicken skewers (which had a peanut-type sauce), and spring rolls. I also got this yummy cocktail. It was really good and just the right amount of food after a big lunch earlier.

The next day we had on our own, so Cierra, Emma and I decided to rent 3 of the bikes from our hotel and wander the city ourselves. Cierra brought along her handy dandy Europe book and they suggested to rent bikes and take a 6 hour tour around the city. Well, since nothing was open because it was Christmas Eve, we ended up just looking at the outside of these buildings and taking pictures. It ended up being a lot of fun! I am glad we did it. For lunch, we went to Burger King because it was pretty much the only thing open at that point. After lunch we took a small break and then headed out to the old-fashioned windmill. Here is a picture of me doing a handstand at a windmill! Anyways, the windmill was so cute! We definitely took lots of pictures there. The rest of the day was pretty chill once we got back from our tour. We watched the Holiday (with Jude Law- so cute!, Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet)- it is a very cute movie if I must say so myself. I would recommend it for sure! After the movie we had a nice Christmas Eve feast in our hotel. I again did not want the meat dishes, so I got the vegetarian salad and veggie dish. It wasn't that satisfying, but at least the bread was good and they served us plenty of drinks! The group had liver for the starter course (GROSS) and then duck for the main course. I just find it shocking that they serve such bizarre meats on a student sponsored trip; oh well. ANYWAYS, the next day was pretty much just traveling to Stockholm, Sweden. Cierra and I got up early to have Breakfast at the hotel (which was great because it was buffet style :) ) and then we loaded onto the buses around 11 30 am. We caught the train about an hour later and our train lasted about 5 and a half hours. I mainly just slept, finished my book (Pretty Little Liars- thanks Lillian!), read magazines, listened to music, and watched an episode of Sex and the City (my new favorite show!). Once we got there, we took a short bus ride to our hotel and then had a quick break before our dinner. I am so happy that we have free internet here! Its a nice change for sure- it is very slow because there is like 70 of us all trying to get on at once, but it works none the less. For dinner we had a shrimp salad (yuck, didn't get it, surprise surprise) and then the main course was chicken and mashed potatoes. ALL I could say was thank GOD! Finally something I can eat... I hate being such a picky eater but I have gotten a lot better since my childhood. AND I did try the shrimp and all those weird things we had previously (besides the Liver- I just won't go there) and I honestly don't like the taste. I know it gets annoying and maybe sounds stupid to some people, but its just who I am haha. The dinner was really nice though- I sat with Cierra, Emily, Elliott, Chelsea, and Scott. We had some great conversations and laughs. The rest of the evening I caught up on skype with some friends, and now I am just relaxing!

Tomorrow we have a tour of the flight museum and then I am going to a hockey game. It should be a lot of fun!

I will post later--

CIAO for now and MERRY CHRISTMAS!