St. Petersburg: My New Home

One week ago, I came back from visiting and seeing St. Petersburg--my new home in 3 months. It's a beautiful city and huge compared to what I've lived in before! I'm trying to get used to the idea of being a "city-girl." 

 St. Petersburg is a city of about 5 million people and is situated around the Neva River which flows into the Gulf of Finland. It is made up of many islands, with bridges and metros connecting them. Canals line the streets and I love them!

 

I got to see the Winter Palace, where all the tzars and tzarinas used to live. I saw numerous palaces that used to hold the princes and princesses of Russia. Big Orthodox cathedrals were scattered about the center of the city. I saw Church of the Savior on Spilt Blood--something I've always seen pictures of and looked forward to seeing it myself. 

{The Winter Palace}

{Church of the Savior on Spilt Blood}

We walked, we rode marshrutkas, we took buses, and enjoyed learning the metro system. Renée basically screamed every time we went "underwater" when riding the metro between the islands. We walked almost a whole marathon--23 miles to be exact.

We went to the school that my sisters and I will go to next year. Signed up for classes and I can't believe I'll be a SENIOR next year. I don't even want to refuse to talk about it. I met some of the kids there and can't wait to get to know them all better next year. I'll have a class of five--including me! So exciting because I'll be multiplying my current class by 5. :D I can't wait for them to show me St. Petersburg. I can't wait to be the class of 2014 with them! 

On Sunday we went to a Russian church which was awesome. I loved the Russian worship and the song "I Am Free" has been running through my head in Russian all week. Everyone was so friendly there and they can't wait for Renée and I to come back in August to go to their youth ("youth" running from ages 16 to 30). 

We spent time looking at apartments and have found the perfect one. We are now praying that it will all work out for us to live in it. We all love it and are dreaming about what we could do with the place already. My sisters and I are all dreaming of window seats to read books on cold winter days. 

I'm excited to live in St. Petersburg come August. I am nervous, but ready for the new adventure. St. Petersburg...watch out! The Raatzes are coming!