(no subject)
I write this from an internet cafe in the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. This is easily the most stunning art gallery I have ever seen and one of the biggest, too. It is totally overwhelming. I spent a few hours here yesterday and have returned today to see the third floor, which features an enormous collection of Matisse, Picasso, Kandinsky and Gaugain to name but a few. It's so inspiring. I can't wait to get back to my life drawing classes.
The past couple of days have seen some violent contrasts. My Moscow misery has been replaced by an intense infatuation with St Petersburg. While Moscow was surly and sinister and intimidating, St Petersburg is elegant and bohemian and somewhat more relaxed. It's definitely more beautiful than Paris or Hanoi. You can't walk down Nevsky Prospeckt without being amazed. I feel much more at home here, and I have already resolved to return in the near-ish future. It would be a wonderful place to study, for example...
There's talk of visiting the erotica museum to see what is purportedly Rasputin's 30cm penis. I hope they don't expect you to keep a straight face like they do in the Lenin Mausoleum. I keep on having flashbacks to hilarious moments at school in my history 'A' level class...Mr Penna, Miss Van den Broek, the endless Lenin/Rasputin quips. We had such a brilliant time in that class. I'm pining for academia.
I'm going to try and write some more later. I want to make at least one more entry before I fly home tomorrow evening. Wow. That sounds so strange. I'm going home...tomorrow.
PS. New pictures of Moscow (shudder), Siberia (pictures through dirty train windows) and Mongolia (Grace on horseback) on flickr...
The past couple of days have seen some violent contrasts. My Moscow misery has been replaced by an intense infatuation with St Petersburg. While Moscow was surly and sinister and intimidating, St Petersburg is elegant and bohemian and somewhat more relaxed. It's definitely more beautiful than Paris or Hanoi. You can't walk down Nevsky Prospeckt without being amazed. I feel much more at home here, and I have already resolved to return in the near-ish future. It would be a wonderful place to study, for example...
There's talk of visiting the erotica museum to see what is purportedly Rasputin's 30cm penis. I hope they don't expect you to keep a straight face like they do in the Lenin Mausoleum. I keep on having flashbacks to hilarious moments at school in my history 'A' level class...Mr Penna, Miss Van den Broek, the endless Lenin/Rasputin quips. We had such a brilliant time in that class. I'm pining for academia.
I'm going to try and write some more later. I want to make at least one more entry before I fly home tomorrow evening. Wow. That sounds so strange. I'm going home...tomorrow.
PS. New pictures of Moscow (shudder), Siberia (pictures through dirty train windows) and Mongolia (Grace on horseback) on flickr...