Volga, Volga, Mother Volga

Certainly the tastiest hedgehog I ever ate!

So, we just got back from our big trip down the Volga River on Sunday. We saw and did alot of really cool stuff. First we took a train to the city Nizhny Novgorod. We took an overnight train because it was about a 14 hour trip. I was actually pretty impressed by the Russian train system. We were on time and the train was pretty clean and modern. We did a bit of touring around the city and then that evening we got on our boat for our cruise down the Volga. The ship was really nice and we got some pretty tasty gourmet meals (see hedgehog above). Mosque in Kazan

The first day we sailed to Kazan. Kazan is the capital of Tatarstan, and alot of Muslims live there. It is home to many beautiful mosques and churches. Unfortunately, because we were delayed in the morning by fog, we didn't get to see Kazan until nighttime. By then it was so dark out that it was hard to see everything. It was still pretty cool though.
Monument to the Cyrillic letter "ё" in Ulyanovsk.

Our next stop was Ulyanovsk. Ulyanovsk was the city where Lenin was born, and therefore basically everything in the city is centered around Lenin. It's even named after him! (Ulyanov was Lenin's last name until he changed it to Lenin) We saw his school and several of his houses in the city. We also got to see the monument to the letter "ё". Oh, Russia is so weird sometimes. Then we were back to the river.
Me sitting at Stalin's desk.

The next day we saw Samara, home of the Stalin bunker. Samara was the city where the government planned to evacuate to during WWII in case the Nazis got too close to Moscow. Therefore, they built a secret bunker for the government officials there. It was pretty cool. We got to sit at Stalin's desk there and visit the war room!
Clearly Stalin thought alot of himself...

Next was the city of Saratov. We really didn't do much there. We saw a few monuments and things, but nothing too exciting. "Death to the fascists!" Russians really don't like fascists...

The cruise ended in Volgagrad (formerly known as Stalingrad). This city was probably my favorite. Because the whole city was basically leveled during the Siege of Stalingrad in WWII, everything in the city was really nice and modern. Me at the memorial in Volgagrad. The Mother Russia statue is the one way in the backgroound.

There was also this really awesome memorial to the siege. It's really big, practically the size of the National Mall, and it's on a hill and on the top of the hill is this enormous statue that is supposed to represent "Mother Russia". It's apparently the tallest figure statue in the world, meaning it is taller than the Statue of Liberty.
The Mother Russia statue from behind.

After Volgagrad we hopped on a train back to Moscow, this time it was for 18 hours. Most of the other students and I decided to stay in Moscow for the weekend. We stayed at the Godzilla Hostel there. It was by far the nicest hostel I have ever been in. It was really clean, had a great location, and lots of perks like free wi-fi. While in Moscow we saw lots of sights. We visited Red Square and saw St. Basil's Cathedral. St. Basil's

It was nice, but I would have to say that I like the Church of Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg better. We also went to the Kremlin and visited the Armory. They have tons of cool old stuff there like suits of armor, thrones, and really neat metalwork. We also got to see Lenin, which was a very odd experience. For some of you who may not know, Lenin has been on display in a mausoleum in Red Square since his death in 1924. He is only open to visitors a few days a week for a couple of hours. So, we had to wait outside in the cold at 9 in the morning to make sure we were able to see him. Lenin is very carefully guarded. You're not allowed to take anything into the mausoleum, and once inside you cannot make any noise, put your hands in your pockets, stop walking, or walk too fast. He looked alot different than I expected. He was not quite as old looking as I had thought he would be. Some people say that it's not really Lenin's body that's in there. That could be the case because he does look kind of waxy and fake, but on the other hand, how does anyone know what a body preserved for 86 years would look like? Either way it was a pretty cool experience. I came back to St. Petersburg on Sunday morning. A couple other students and I rode the Sapsan train. The Sapsan is a high-speed train which goes up to 200 km/hr and cuts down the travel time between Moscow and St. Petersburg from 8-10 hours to just under 4. It was by far the nicest train I have ever seen. The economy class section which we were in was as nice or nicer than most business class sections I've seen in other trains. I was really impressed, and it only cost about $45, which was pretty cool as well.
Red Square: St. Basil's, Lenin, and the Kremlin.

Now I'm back in St. Petersburg just going to school and hanging out. Today we are going to a hockey game to see СКА from St. Petersburg play ЦСКА from Moscow. It should be a pretty fun time. I'm very interested to see what a Russian hockey game is like. Well, I'll update you guys more when I have some more to talk about. That's all for now!