St. Petersburg

Our first several hours in St. Petersburg were a bit of a culture shock...we went from countries where almost everyone speaks English to a country where English is rarely spoken. To make navigating our way from the train station to the hostel a bit more interesting, the alphabet in Russia is Cyrillic (фисвуап), so a guide book map with all English names is not really very helpful. However, we did prevail and eventually found our accommodation. To complicate our arrival further, we had to register our passport at the first hotel, but no one at the hotel spoke English. After a very animated Russian conversation using mostly charades, we determined that registration would have to take place the next day (it was closed on Sundays). We also weren't sure (and still aren't) whether we have the right "departure" card to get out of the country...seems the immigration officer gave us (and a number of other people on our tour) the wrong half of the documentation to keep. We will find out tonight at the border crossing to Mongolia whether we can exit the country without a nice little fine! :)

All these initial complications aside, we have been having a wonderful time in Russia and have actually found it to be quite European and up and coming. The saving grace of our first evening in St. Petersburg was a tiny cafe we found near the hostel that had miniature statues of Lenin's head hanging from the ceiling and racey political videos playing with Russian music in the background. It served amazing soup (something Russians are known for), meat pies and good beer for a very reasonable price. We retired early that night...needing a little time to adjust to culture shock.

The next morning at breakfast (which was an interesting spread...thank God for the yogurt and bread), we found a few people who were also going to be on the same tour and spent all day walking around the major sites of the city with Ali - a med student from England. We must have walked for 6 hours...and did finally manage to get a map with Cyrillic print. At 5PM, the Vodka Train tour began and we met our "honcho" (e.g., guide) Lera, a recent university graduate from the area, and the 13 other members of our tour...all 20-somethings from England, Australia and Europe. Lera took us to a Russian restaurant for dinner to sample the local fare and then to a trendy bar with live music...mostly a mix of Reggae and Rock sung in a Russian accent - never thought we'd hear Bob Marley sung in Russia! They even sang a version of Brittney Spears' "Baby Hit Me One More Time" as a rock song...very interesting.

On day 3, we went on an adventure outside the city to The Great Palace at Peterhoff (http://petersburgcity.com/for-tourists/environs/peterhoff/). This place has the most incredible fountains you've ever seen and there are hundreds of them! We spent 2 hours just roaming the gardens. I must say, this is a palace I could stand to live in! That evening, Eric found his saving grace...a Hookah bar! The poor guy had been going through withdrawls, so was in heaven when we stumbled upon this place and he was able to share a few rounds of Hookah with Ali, Paul and Caroline (an Aussie couple on our tour). I opted for the Che Guevara bar next door with a quirky Russian DJ playing doo-wapp music from the 1950's - again, not exactly what you'd expect to hear on a night out, but quite fun nonetheless.

On our final day in St. Petersburg, we roamed the famous Hermitage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermitage_Museum) in the Winter Palace, the largest museum in the world. We saw original works of Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh, Renoir, DaVinci and more. In addition to viewing these amazing works of art, the palace this museum is housed in is spectacular. First of all, it's massive and incredibly ornate. Each room is decorated in a different style and you can imagine the many banquets and events that have taken place here for centuries. Once again, my princess longings emerged and I even made Eric do a quick ballroom dance in one of the main halls (he was oh so keen :). Our St. Petersburg experience was topped off with a performance of Swan Lake at one of the oldest theaters in the city. It was lovely, though we could only stay for the first 2 acts because we had to catch a night train to Moscow. Eric, this being his first ballet, was SO disappointed that he didn't get to see the finale of the men in tights!

Random Scandanavian Facts and Observations

Now that our time in Scandanavia has come to a close, we thought we'd share some of our experiences, observations and learnings over the past number of weeks...

Where we stayed: We were very lucky to have many gracious hosts on this first leg of our journey. It was fun to stay with friends who were local and also to save a bit on our budget. We also really enjoyed our nights of camping in our little two-man tent.

• Hostels: 3 nights
  
• Friend's Places: 14 nights
  
• Camped: 6 nights
  
• Hostels once the Cherniss family arrived: 11 nights
  
• Train: 1 night

What we ate: Globalization of food was very apparent in Scandanavia and choices of ethnic cuisine from around the world were the most common. In fact, we didn't come across much "traditional" food, though this might also have been because we couldn't afford to eat much at the nicer places and opted often to go to the market or eat in with friends. Once the Cherniss family arrived, we did eat out a bit more and had our fill of pizza in Sweden - we almost thought we were in Italy by the number of pizza joints!

Typical cuisine we had in...

• Iceland: PB&J, Ramen noodles, pasta with sauce, bread, eggs - we did most of our own shopping because it was so expensive
  
• Norway: PB&J, salami/cheese/bread, fish and chips, home cooked meals including stir fry, indian chicken, scrambled eggs and pasta
  
• Sweden: museli, salami/cheese/bread, home cooked meals at friend's places including Swedish sausages, tacos, BBQ, pasta; when eating out we had mostly pizza and kebabs because these were everywhere in Sweden!
  
• Finland: sandwiches, salads, and other ethnic foods...and 2 really nice dinners out with Eric's family and with Timo's family

Answer to Questions We've Been Asking: As many of you know, we set out on our adventure with the intention to ask those we encounter about the world, the future, their beliefs, etc. to get a more global sense of what people around the world are thinking and feeling on similar topics. There are several topics we've been focusing on and would like to share some of the common themes we heard in Scandanavia.

Thoughts on the Future:

• China is certainly in the minds of many as the growing super power...there is some optimism about this, and some anxiety about how this will play out on the global stage in the coming years
  
• The environment is certainly at the top of people's minds...and everyone we spoke to seems to be concerned about global warming and the need to work together collectively to address this issue and the growing strain on resources
  
• Technology is also seen as a major force that will continue to change and shape our world...in how we work, live, interact...also in what will happen on the world stage as it relates to business, governments/politics, and the environment
  
• Most of the people we spoke to in Scandanavia feel pretty safe when it comes to war or terrorism coming to their countries. However, there was some concern about terrorism and war in the world, and as one would expect, a very strong hope that we can learn to work collaboratively to avoid this and strive for peace
  
• On a more personal level, many people we spoke with want the same things many of us strive for...a good life that allows one to enjoy simple pleasures, financial stability, comfort and safety, and a growing desire to travel

Thoughts about the USA:

• In general, people who have been to the US or who have met many Americans traveling abroad have a positive impression of the American people as friendly, welcoming and open and don't necessarily associate the "people" with the "government"
  
• People who have not been to the US or met many Americans are more likely to associate Americans with typical stereotypes (e.g., loud, demanding, "cowboy" attitude) or with the current government and world politics
  
• All we spoke with were not supportive of how the US has handled Iraq and do not view the current government very positively
  
• There is also a lot of American influence from Hollywood - music, movies, TV. For example, many of the TV programs are American and in English. We also went to see "Die Hard" and "Harry Potter" in Sweden and Finland and the theaters were packed - it felt like we were at home in a local movie theater with our friends.
  

Thoughts on Religion/God:

• In Norway, Sweden and Finland there is a state Luthern church that people are automatically enrolled in at birth (in Finland there is also a Greek Orthodox church). People have to pay taxes to this state church, unless they choose to opt out.
  
• Most people are not particularly religious, but will go to church on special occassions (e.g., weddings, funerals, Christmas, Easter)...of course, there are some people who are still quite devout, but majority we spoke with felt the society was more secular and reglion was more a matter of tradition as oppossed to strong belief
  
• There were some we spoke with who said while they are not "religious" per se, they do have spiritual beliefs and think there is some sort of God or higher power and broader spiritual meaning to life.
  
• And there were some who felt that God is not a reality, but created to give comfort and purpose.
  

Other Random Stuff We Noticed or Learned:

• Norway is not part of the EU, but Sweden and Finland are. Finland is the only country that has the Euro.
  
• Trampolines in Scandanavia (especially Norway and Sweden) are like swimming pools in California...one in three houses seem to have one.
  
• It seemed the most popular color to paint your house in Sweden (outside of the major cities) is dark red.
  
• We didn't seen any Starbucks in Scandanavia...we did see a few McDonald's, but most the fast food was local chains
  
• Bikes are a popular mode of transport and there are numerous bike lanes in all the major cities.
  
• Almost everyone speaks English, so there was not much of a language barrier.
  
• It seemed like a lot of people wear their wedding rings on their right hands, especially in Norway.
  
• There is not nearly as much social pressure or financial tax benefit to get married as in the States...it's very common for couples to move in together for a number of years, and even have a couple children before they get around to getting married.
  

Of course there are many more observations we noted over the course of the 5 weeks, but this should give a good initial impression of our stay. There is much more we could say, but time is running low at this internet cafe, so you'll have to stay tuned...entries on Russia to come soon.

Be sure to check out our photos from Scandanavia by clicking on the photo link on the right!

Good Times in Sweden and Finland

You all have heard from Mariah on our previous posts, but I don't want you too get used to her eloquent, flowing descriptions of exotic places so I figured I would bring it all back to reality and break down some of our travels in Sweden and Finland.

First, we were extremely lucky to have the opportunity to meet and stay with friends in both countries:

I. Andreas & Sara (Gotenbörg & Stromstad)

Sara met us in Stromstad (our first stop in Sweden after a short ferry ride where we indulged in our first dinner out in weeks).

Note: Most Norwegians go to Sweden for cheap booze, Swedes go to Finland and the Finnish go to Estonia (important to know once you pay 10 bucks for a cheep beer in Norway).

OK, as I was saying, Sara meet us in Sweden late in the evening and let us crash in her room. We explored Stromstad for a while and made the trek down to Gotenbörg where we met up with Andreas (Sara's boyfriend and a classmate of Mariah's in New Zealand). Both were excellent hosts and were a great intro into Swedish life, IKEA style, and the difference between real and fake beer...

Fake Beer: Is sold everywhere and does not require a specific license and contains less than 3.5% alcohol

Real Beer: Is sold with wine in special shops where there is no limit for alcohol

I definitely made the mistake of buying "Fake Beer"

II. Ida & Anders (Stockholm)

Again thanks to these great hosts we got settled into Stockholm life before meeting up with my folks. They showed us around Stockholm and we definitely shared their love for the city. We even had an R&R day where we ransacked their computer, had our first access to news in a month and got caught up on emails and Internet phone calls.

Ida is working for the Swedish education system and worked with Mariah at Barretstown in Ireland. Anders, if I understand correctly, is working for the Swedish university system doing statistical analysis for the admissions department.

III. Timo & Family (Helsinki)

We were recently connected with Timo and his family by the Schlaepfer's (a good friend of Mariah's Professor Dr. May) - Mariah's ability to stay in touch with everyone has definitely paid off. Timo helped us all lug our stuff from the train station to the hostel when we arrived. I will say that the two hostels I booked in Stockholm and Helsinki have worked out great and have been in walking distance from all the major sites in each city. (Mariah's hostel choices haven't been too bad either :) - edited by Mariah)

Timo also took us out to explore the outskirts of Helsinki to get a more accurate feel for what life is really like, and he gave us a better understanding of Finnish architecture, which is more new age and natural. He also treated Mariah and I to a very nice dinner out with his family where we sampled some traditional Finnish food and had great conversation.

We were grateful to have such wonderful hosts in Goteborg, Stockholm and Helsinki!

We've covered a lot of ground in the last two weeks with my family and will try to blitz through it in about a paragraph, but please check out the photos and ask us questions.

Inlandsbannan Railroad - A full 14hr journey up the center of Sweden that took us by reindeer, past the Arctic Circle and gave us plenty of time to play cards, read and check out the ever changing Swedish scenery: lakes, forests, villages & mining camps.

Hiking in Abisko - I think we all agreed this was one of our favorite parts of the trip hiking near this lakeside town. The area was gorgeous and we lucked out with having a dry hike. I don't think mom Cherniss would have survived the 8km hike if it poured the whole time. We hiked up a "glacial" stream for half the hike and had fun just catching up (like we didn't have enough on the train, but there is something different about hiking where you are immersed in nature and feel more philosophical). We also saw a cool Sami exhibit (Sami are the indigenous people of Lapland, Northern Sweden and Finland).

Enjoying the Ice Hotel - OK, this is a place that is worth the $300-500 price tag per night. The Hotel melts each year, but they have a mock up and an exhibit on display year round. The -5C temp of the hotel almost took my dad's toes as he decided that it would be a good idea to wear sandals. During the winter the hotel at -5C is nice and warm compared to the -30C outside. We all enjoyed a nice Vodka at the original Ice Bar. It would be cool to go here for an anniversary (they just opened a new flight from London to Kiruna specifically for guests, I guess you only stay one to two nights in the hotel and then a few next door in the warm hotel).

Helsinki - Definitely a cultural change from Norway and Sweden, a bit more punk rock. We've had fun learning some of the history and relationships with Sweden and Russia, and are now getting psyched to go to Russia... a little nervous though.

We're currently in Helsinki and kickin' it. The time with my sisters and folks has been great, but we are ready to continue on our adventure and we both know that Russia will be a whole new animal. Scandinavia has been fun, but the transition from the States has not been too challenging as our cultures are similar and the language barrier doesn't exist because most have taken English for close to 8 years in school.