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Today we got our first real look at Russia. We started out by touring the Russian subway system, famous for its grandeur. I definitely hadn’t seen chandeliers in a subway before, was definitely nicer than New York! We went around the city going to most of the touristy sites. Many gorgeous churches in this city. So many of the buildings had interesting architecture – not something you normally see in the US. Apparently St Petersburg(formerly Leningrad), was designed by European(which apparently means not Russian) architects and according to our guide “didn’t have the Soul of Russia”, unlike the true Russian city of Moscow. Funny, because it seemed like most of the interesting buildings there were designed by “Europeans” too.

I thought that the city was gorgeous, despite its dour weather. Our guide stressed the point that it’s always depressing here, which is why the suicide rate is so high. It felt like a cleaner, less touristy version of Venice though, with its many beautiful canals. If the weather were better, and if it weren’t in Russia, I could see this city being even more famous than it is!

I’ll let the photos speak for themselves – be sure to check out the captions under each one in the album for context.

Continue to Day 2 – The Hermitage and Journey to Terskol