A Russian Versaille

Last entry I promised a post about my homestay and family, and - I assure you - it is in the works (I just left some notes, etc at home and don't want to print incorrect info about my hostfam, plus I haven't snapped pictures of them yet).

Instead, I'll just fill you in a bit about this past weekend:

Friday
As the last day of the work week, Friday holds a special place in everyone's heart. It's a different day for us because we don't have our regular 1.5 hour classes; instead, we have 45 minute classes and then a 1.5 hour lecture about language and culture ("лингвокультурология"). After the lecture, every other week we have an excursion to a museum, cathedral, or other culturally significant location.

Меншиковский Дворец / Menschikov Palace
Our excursion this week was to Menschikov Palace, which is only a stone's throw away from our university on Vasilii Island. Menschikov was the first Governor of St. Petersburg and close friend and adviser to Peter the Great. Menschikov Palace was the first stone mansion built in St. Petersburg and... well... if you'd like a thorough history, I'll just direct you to the wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menshikov_Palace ... and the article about Alexandr Menschikov himself : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Menshikov . Menschikov is actually an incredibly interesting fellow - one of those fantastically corrupt monarchical advisers who survived primarily by charming the Emperor.

Saturday
Natasha (one of the program participants) invited several of us to Petergof. Natasha was born in St. Petersburg, moved to the states when she was eight, and naturally speaks Russian quite well. It was initially a trip planned by her friend Nastya, and we were glad to be able to tag along.

Petergof
Originally planned and designed by Peter the Great, with the intent of creating a massive complex of palaces and gardens in the spirit of the French Palace at Versailles. Having never been to Versailles, I can't contrast the two, but I will say that Petergof is pretty darn opulent. If you get the chance to go, don't miss it. This past weekend was the last weekend that the fountains were operating before they shut them down for the winter (that's right, folks, it's mid-September and we're shutting down for winter).

I'm going to be posting all of my pictures to Picasa Web Albums for all to see. The first installment consists of the photos I took while at Petergof. The weather wasn't the best and thus I wasn't completely inspired to take snapshots of everything there was to see, but that will leave something for those who someday visit Petergof.

Without further ado: http://picasaweb.google.com/jonwebah/FlagshipPetergof