From Russia With Love

So allow me to begin with Russia:
* first thing that comes to mind is the taxi cab experiences. Anyone who drives around the streets of St Petersburg (they are all looking for a little extra cash) will pull over and offer you a ride. For obvious reasons, some of these drivers are skechy. This one guy who I rode with was driving like a bat out of hell - speeding, skidding around turns, taking us away from out destination, etc.. Honestly terrifying

* The Hermitage Museum has the second largest collection in the world. My friends and I arrived a bit before it opened one day, hoping to be the first in line. What we saw was terrifying - a line that would rival a new theme park attraction at Disneyland. The six of us then decided to sneak into the "group entrance" on the other side of the building, and we somehow managed to blend in with a group of 100 Japanese tourists. Once inside, I saw the likes of some of the most famous painters to ever live: Picasso, Rembrandt, van Gogh, da Vinci, and many others. Absolutely incredible.

* One day was spent almost entirely at a Russian Banya, which is their pervy euro-version of a spa. In a nutshell, the Banya involved 25 nude Semester at Sea students in a small room with a pool and a steam room. Hilarity and awkwardness ensued.

* St Petersburg has countless landmarks embedded within the community around every turn. Some of the most famous churches in the world were within walking distance from the church. This is virtually how I spent my days while in part - my nights were a bit different. In a country where vodka is cheaper than water, the my Russian nights were a blur. Staying out all night is not a difficult task when the sun never sets (they call this time of year White Nights)

* I had the honor of attending a ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre - one of the most famous in the entire world. I never thought that I would be able to put my knowledge from History of Dance (a class I took freshman year at UCSB) to use, but alas, I was actually able to thoroughly enjoy the entire performance. A group of us got fancied up and had our own box seats, and I was able to get a drink with the lead performs after the show. Afterwards we found a bar owned by some American guy who purchased drinks for all the SAS students - the best cheers for USA Freedom! (Technically, it was already the 4th of July in Russia at that time)

* On our last day in port, SAS held a large 4th of July BBQ on the back deck of the ship. It was the most amazing (and bizarre) experience to celebrate Independence in a country like Russia. Plenty of hamburgers, hotdogs, ribs, ice cream sundaes, corn and beans to go around for everyone.

All in all, I had a great time in Russia. I would be lying if I said that I truly wanted to spend an extra day in St Petersburg, though. Everyone spoke English in Norway. Nobody spoke english in St Peter, which made nearly every task 1000x harder. I guess thats the just part of the experience of traveling to foreign countries, but I am spoiled on my own language. We arrive in Denmark tomorrow, where communicating with the locals is going to be a breeze! Might even make it over to Sweden for an adventure or two.

Ambitiously yours,
Capt. Mark W. Finster