Here's a day-by-day highlight of my spring break trip (March 8-March 16). 

Saturday
We left bright and early at 8:30am. We loaded up the buses and traveled to Riga, Latvia. Along the way, we stopped at the hill of crosses. As of 2006, there were over 100,000 crosses; 8 years later, I'm sure the count is up!
For lunch, we stopped at some interesting, yummy buffet-like place. 
And then...train time! I had never been on a train before! It was quite fun. There were so many of us that we had an entire car to ourselves! Because of my clumsiness I was not allowed to sleep on a top bunk. But that's okay. I actually didn't get a lot of sleep. I slept for some
time between 11 and 12 and then for some time between 4 and 5. Less than 2 hours of sleep that night. But they fell at the perfect times to act as naps, so I didn't quite feel it the next day.












Sunday
We arrived in Moscow later than scheduled so we quickly found our hostel, dropped off our backpacks, and ran! We saw the tail end of the changing of the guards outside the Kremlin. We ate lunch in a food court, and then we roamed Red Square. I'm not fully sure why it's called Red Square. I know, that's bad. I had my first bit of American fast food (i.e. Wendy's) and my stomach was not too pleased. We had a tour of the Kremlin (now a museum containing relics of Russian royalty) and then rushed to see the circus! Such a good show! Finally, our intern took us to see Moscow lit up at night. It was pretty cool. We also got to see an elite university. Oh my goodness, that thing was massive! Here are some highlights of the day:

A side view of St. Basil's cathedral--a symbol of Russia.

A view from the back of St. Basil's cathedral.

The back of the Kremlin, I think. The Kremlin is at least inside this structure.

Panorama of the gorgeous university!

And of course, Moscow at night!

Monday
We began the day with a tour of the metro stations. Many of them were built to double as war shelters. They are crazy far underground! I've never ridden escalators that long before in my life! Fun fact: I used to be scared of escalators. Thank goodness I've moved past that fear. Otherwise Moscow would have been rough. Some of the metro stations were absolutely gorgeous! After, we went to the market where street vendors sold souvenirs. I got to use my limited Russian language skills and barter. I learned two things. 1. I'm not good at bargaining because I'm too nice. 2. It's insanely stressful! BUT, I came out with souvenirs for many of you, my faithful readers! I'm proud of myself. After, we got to visit the inside of St. Basil's cathedral. Oh my goodness, that place is gorgeous! We then walked to Church of Christ the Savior. And I thought St. Basil's was gorgeous... I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped more than once this week. After this, we headed to the souvenir street (Old Arbat). Lots of American chain restaurants and tacky, overpriced souvenirs. But it was fun to stroll and observe. After that, we went to Gorky Park. It's a fun place in the summer, but we simply walked through. They had a pretty intricate ice skating rink/path/loop meandering through the park. We then walked to Red Square and spent time taking photos (now you can see St. Basil's from the front!) and making memories. Here are some photos from the day:

Bronze statue in a metro station.

Mosaic in a metro station

Example of the intricacy inside St. Basil's Cathedral.

Church of Christ the Savior.

St. Basil's Cathedral from the front!

Red Square at night.

Group jump photo // making memories!

Tuesday
We started the day by seeing Lenin's preserved body. Then we broke up into option groups. I got to see the Russian space museum. It was interesting... After, we headed back to the hostel, grabbed our stuff, and then caught the train to St. Petersburg. The train was nice, but it was nothing great. I was insanely tired by this point and crashed when we got to our hostel. By this point, I had already fallen in love with St. Pete's! The architecture. The rivers and canals. The Baltic. And our hostel was gorgeous. I loved it! As one girl said, "It's like Pinterest threw up!" So homey and quaint. It's called Soul Kitchen Hostel for a reason! There was also a wall with a world map on which people placed push pins symbolizing where travelers had come from. Harrisburg, Hackettstown, and Klaipeda are now marked :)

Wednesday
We began the day with a walking tour. Our guide showed us good places to go and shared some history of the town. He took us to a coffee shop and a delicious, cheap pastry shop. I feel like I was struggling to eat in Moscow, but I was always snacking in St. Pete's! This day we more saw things from the outside, so I'll save photos for future days. We found the St. Petersburg market as well. I think I liked that one better than Moscow, but the vendors were more aggressive. That evening we went to the ballet. It wasn't perfect, but I was in dancer heaven! I had never seen a real ballet before. AND we had seats along the ground-level balcony right next to the stage! After, some of us went out for Indian food (another first). Yum.

Thursday
We began the day by observing 30 minutes of a Russian Orthodox service at Kazan Cathedral. Women have to cover their heads in this tradition. I didn't understand what was going on and my head was bothering me so I had to close my eyes, but I think that helped contribute to the beauty of engaging in another form of worship for me. I won't explain much about Russian Orthodoxy, but it seeks to engage all the senses. And I was still able to connect with God that morning in a much needed way. After the service, we broke up into groups again. I went to St. Isaac's cathedral and then climbed to the top to see the city. It was pretty darn incredible! After a quick lunch, we went to the Hermitage. It was an old winter palace turned into an art museum. The architecture was incredible! There was one room that looked like it was made of gold. There was also a library that made me think of Beauty and the Beast. I walked in and my jaw literally dropped. It was exhausting after 3-4 hours. We recovered a bit in a cafe and then went for a traditional Russian dinner. Eh, I tried new foods. That's something to be proud of. I got to see a bit of St. Petersburg at night as we walked back to the hostel. So pretty! Especially all the rivers! Photos:

That architecture!

Hermitage. And this is *only* one building (of 5!).

View from the top of St. Isaac's Cathedral. Take note.

View from the top of St. Isaac's Cathedral.

Friday
Most of the group went to Catherine's Palace (think Anastasia). I took the day easy and explored St. Pete's with a girl from the other hostel. I had an easy, relaxing morning. We met and went to the Museum of Religion. That's not the real title, but that's the point of the museum. It was cool to see religion from 23,000 BC all the way through today, and all around the world! More inspiration in my passion for neurotheology! We went to a delicious pie place for lunch. When I say pie, it's more like bread with any filling imaginable, both sweet and savory. So. Good. We visited the market again and then simply walked and stopped in random places (like a bookstore) and concluded our day in Starbucks. That was a wonderful taste of home! And I was able to successfully navigate the streets of St. Petersburg all by myself! That evening, we went to a show called "Feel Yourself Russian". It was essentially a lot of folk dancing and singing. But it was fun!

Saturday
Last day. We woke up to snow. I suppose it wouldn't be spring break in Russia otherwise. I'm incredibly thankful for how nice the weather was until that point! We went to Church of the Spilt Blood (which looks an awful lot like St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow). Every single "painting" in there was a mosaic. Again with the dropped jaw. After, I accompanied more girls to the market and then we climbed St. Isaac's again. My goodness, that city is gorgeous when covered in snow! After that, I got the privilege of experiencing an authentic Russian sauna. Mmmm...not sure what I think. I'm thankful to have tried it, though! We grabbed dinner, boarded the train, and then headed home! A bit more sleep, but not till 5am. So...

Church of the Spilt Blood

Part of the Church of Spilt Blood.

Same view from the top of St. Isaac's, this time covered in snow!

Sunday
We made it into Vilnius, rode buses back to Klaipeda, and then I crashed mentally. No homework capacities whatsoever. I had a fun night hanging with friends and baking and laughing. 

Some overall observations from the week
1. The cathedrals are gorgeous. I can't get over the intricacy and detail, especially in light of their age! Unfortunately, most times I was not allowed to take pictures. But I respect the right to keeping these places sacred.
2. Walking. Lots of walking. But I love it! And I'm continuing to walk here. My feet were blistered but they're healing slowly. I was also sick of my pants by the time the week was complete so I wore jeans only once this week (in case you cared).