Another Sunday

With only one free day each week, I don't have a whole lot of free time at my disposal. I want to make the most of my year in Saint Petersburg, so I'm doing my best to pack as much into my Sundays as I possibly can. As such, today ended up being a very full day. It was a very good day, but I'm entirely certain that I was more well-rested last night than I am right now!

I began my day in a very tasty manner with a breakfast of блины (blini), the Russian version of pancakes or crêpes. Jane and I ventured out into a quiet drizzle of rain to a nearby restaurant to buy ourselves some of this delicious food. I ended up having two, one filled with mixed vegetables and topped with sundried tomatoes...

...and the other covered in a generous dollop of sweetened condensed milk.

We wandered back to the academy by a different route, just a little bit out of our way and somewhere I had never walked before.

Later, I decided to go see a bit of the Hermitage Museum, somewhere I hadn't been yet. I meandered down Nevsky Prospect, looking in the windows of bakeries and shops. I found the Bosco store and went inside to look at the official jackets and other gear associated with the coming Olympics. I was almost at the Hermitage Museum when the things inside the window of this shop caught my eye.

It ended up being a little gallery/coffee shop/art supply store all rolled into one historical establishment (the sign says that it's been around since 1908). I have done essentially no art while I've been here, due in part to having little time, in part to not having very many art supplies available to me, and in part to not feeling much of any inclination to make any art. I guess that I was more art-deficient then I had realized, because going inside the store made me realize that I really did feel like doing some drawing or painting.

I started looking around the shop. Due to size constraints, there wasn't a large selection of supplies, but what they did carry was extremely satisfactory. I love color, and I love when I am able to choose and buy individual colors of paints or pencils, so I was happy to see markers, paints, pencils, and paper that were all sold separately by color. I noticed some small boxes of little rectangular objects that almost could have been individually wrapped chocolates. Closer inspection revealed them to be small pans of watercolor paints, each one protected by a layer of metal foil and labeled with the color of the  paint. 

I decided to buy myself some, since watercolors are relatively mess-free (provided that you don't spill your colored water all over yourself) and small (so I won't have a lot of extra bulk to carry back to Denver with me). I happily chose some colors for myself, balancing taste and utility by allowing myself to choose the nicest hues provided that the end result would be a useful set of paints, picked out a brush and small pad of paper, paid, and left the shop. I was happy to discover later on that the paints are made by a company that is based in Saint Petersburg.

I did finally make it to the Hermitage Museum, though not for very long. However, I was there for enough time to decide that I will be back many times in the near (and chilly) future.

This evening found me at the Mariinsky Theater (again), this time to see Don Quixote. I had forgotten just how much I like that ballet. The performance was extremely well-done and I enjoyed it a lot. Federico and Eleonora, who came with me last time, came again tonight, along with Jane. It was Jane's first time at the Mariinsky (she arrived only a couple of weeks ago).

I have just two more things to say. First is that I am terribly sorry that I continue posting terrible pictures like the one above (that I have taken of myself and my friends using my cell phone). I prefer taking pictures that way to the alternative, which would be to ask somebody standing nearby to take the photo for us, because doing so would require that I hand over my camera or phone to someone I don't know, thus making me feel uncomfortable. So... the bad pictures will probably continue :)

(But, hey, the picture above isn't even that bad... How about this one?)

The second thing that I want to say is this... On three separate occasions in the past two days, I was asked for directions by people I passed while walking down the street. There are a few reasons that this feels significant to me. I actually understood what I was being asked on all three occasions, and twice I actually knew where to tell the person to go and was able to direct them there. I feel like each occasion was a tiny little victory for me, even if only because it means that I've stopped looking completely lost and confused, which I am certain is how I looked for at least a month after I got here.

:)