So, this is going to be a biggie!

So, this is going to be a biggie!
It has been a busy couple of weeks, one of Jess’s friends arrived in the middle of last week and then my friend George came last Friday, so I have truly exhausted myself being tour guide, but I’ve had a great week. Last Friday, we went to one of our friend’s gig. He is in a punk band and was playing in this dingy little bar. It was a lot of fun, not really my kind of music, but still it was good. Afterwards we went to an after-party (yeah, we are living the rock star lifestyle!) This after party was in another bar across town and there were these two Belorussian guys playing. One of then had an accordion and the other a ukulele and they were absolutely incredible. I even bought their cd after the gig! I left shortly after they finished, as I had to go and get George at 6:40 the next morning. So after a very wee sleep I picked up George and we had a nap for a few hours back at home. When we got up, I took her for a walk around town, but it wasn’t a great day and was incredibly foggy! That evening I invited my friend Chris over and made a big pasta bake for everyone and after a box of red wine, we turned out kitchen into a disco and danced until about 4 o’clock. Chris left at about 12 though, I think it had all got a little bit too girly for him!
The next day George and I had planned to go to the Russian museum, but because it was pouring down, I think everyone had the same idea as us. So instead of waiting in a que in the rain, we went to the museum of erotica (George’s idea, not mine!!). Anyway, it was an awful ‘museum’ very distastefully located in an STD clinic, so definitely not recommended! After that we went for lunch in one of my favourite bars and when we emerged a few hours later, we found that the rain had stopped and the sun was even out! We walked home via a lovely little church, where there was a service going on which was nice. The next day we actually succeeded in visiting the Russian museum which was really nice. As I walked in I realised that I had actually been before (during the week that I visited St Pete after Kazan). But I didn’t remember much of it, so it was still very good. We had a great time in the museum, mainly being a bit stupid, taking photos and getting told off by the museum attendants! Afterwards, we enjoyed the sun by walking around town and taking in the Church of Spilled Blood in all its gold, gaudy glory. We met Jess and Hannah in this lovely little cafe which specialises in the most delicious pies, so we all indulged a bit too much. We then went up to the top of St Isaacs to get a view of the whole city. That evening, we treated ourselves with some amaretto and then went to a bar round the corner where a few of our friends were.
On Tuesday, George and I went to the train station to buy tickets to go to Moscow. I still didn’t have my passport (Russian beurocracy, don’t ask!) so our original plan of going to Finland for a few days was no longer an option. So we decided to do a whistle stop tour of Moscow instead! So we bought our tickets for the overnight train on Wednesday evening. We then hopped on the metro and went to Petrograd, one of the many islands of Petersburg. W visited the Museum of Political science, which was a pretty odd little place, but it was located in the actual building used by the communists and where Pravda was written and printed. We walked over to another of the islands, Zayachy, to see the Peter and Paul fortress. After this, we walked off the Trotsky bridge, which in mine and George’s opinion is the coldest place in the city!! So what better way to warm up then with a pot of tea in a bar!
After feeling guilty about not going to school all week, I went in on Wednesday for grammer and left George at the Hermitage. We met up in the afternoon and I took her to have an Uzbek lunch, which was very tasty and then did a spot of shopping! We got home, made ourselves a packed dinner and then walked to the train station to get our train. So complete with dinner and a Gin and Tonic (in a can!) we got on the train to enjoy an 8 hour journey. It wasn’t too bad, we had gone for sitting places, as they are cheaper, so it was a lot more uncomfortable than the sleeper carriages, but we were saving money! Most annoyingly though was that a lady had brought her cat with her and the little thing squeaked and meowed throughout the whole journey. At first George and I though this was cute, though it did get very irritating! So we got to a very sleepy Moscow at about 6 and after buying our return tickets for that evening (sleeper carriage this time!), we headed straight to a 24 hour cafe to get tea. After rejuvenating, we headed off to see the sights. I took her to my two favourite metro stations and then got off in the centre of town, where I took her though some back streets to then suddenly come out and find yourself being smacked in the face by red square and St Basils in all its splendour. She was suitable impressed and I was just so happy to be back in Moscow that both of us were just grinning like Cheshire cats! It was amazing, because it was so early, we had the whole place to ourselves. We then walked up though Alexander Gardens and up to the Lenin Library and then up to the Church of Christ our Saviour where there was a very impressive Easter celebration going on. We then went to the Novodevichy Monastery and walked around the surrounding cemetery. By this point, it was only about 11 and we were both knackered! So by accident, we both fell asleep basking in the sun at a bus stop! We then got the metro to Arbat and had lunch, which was really unimpressive, but did the trick for energising us! We then walked back down to red square and did a bit of window shopping and then ended up in GUM where we managed to fall asleep for an hour! We tried to go into St Basils, and usually students get in for free, so I just showed the women my student card, but these horrible women on the door wouldn’t let me in and shoved me out of the door after telling me that they had no time for idiots! So that was a failure, and George and I were too cross to argue with them, so we wandered up to see Lubyanka. After that, feeling thoroughly exhausted, we went for dinner in another of my favourite hang outs and then went to the train station to get the train home. It was so much nicer to have an actual bed on the way back, George and I fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow!
The next day, we got home at about 6, went back to sleep for a bit and then went to buy George’s bus ticket to Helsinki. For Georges last night, we all went out to this great bar and danced the night away and then the next morning George and I went to the banya and got rid of all the impurities of the last 10 days. It was amazing, again we were told off by banya bitches for not having flip flops, but that is all part of the banya I think! We took lots of goodies with us and had a sugar scrub, moisturising creams and of course some birch twigs to whip ourselves with! We went to this amazing burger place after and majorly overate, but we were very happy and full and sleepy so went home to watch a film!
And that is the end of that. I took George to get her to get her bus this morning and then had a very sad bus journey back to my flat!
Lots of love to you all... x xx x