Welcome to Durango

After a wonderful holiday and getting to spend some quality time with family and friends, I packed two pairs of gloves and headed west to the state where beer flows like wine.

The nordic center got two feet of snow in the last 48 hours so the track was a bit soft, but the views were amazing.

What's This?

I'm home visiting friends and family for the holidays, and people are asking about the whole not blogging thing. Right, well, I'm not going to make excuses; I just haven't updated this thing in a while.

I'll just mention a couple highlights of the last few months.

Fall in London was really lovely.

(View from my building's roof)

Once November rolled around, it started to rain and get a little bit muddy.



Then in December, a bunch of us from school decided to run around London singing Christmas carols in Santa suits.

Bike Lane

Ok, so maybe it is just me, but I’m constantly shaking my head at bike lane signs here. They are pretty much the same vintage all through this side of the city. Each one has its own bit of erroneous character, which suggests that they were painted by hand, a classic sign of British efficiency.

Temporary Residence #3 – School Hotel

Ok, it has been a while, but it has been hard work getting settled into London. I now have a UK bank account with pounds in it and a mobile phone with a funny number. I have made two successful attempts at riding my bike on the wrong side of the road. And after hours of walking around, I have a much better feel for the neighborhoods around the school.

Being based out of the school for the first few days made everything a little bit simpler. I knew it was only short term when I booked it, but I wish I could have stayed until my flat search was completed. It was a nice room, and the student rate was more than fair.

In other news, watching the Olympics from a British perspective has been quite lovely. The coverage I've watched has been on the BBC, which means that it is pretty much commercial free – try that NBC. It also means that I was able to watch all 200 laps of the men’s Madison with no interruptions. Additionally, the medal tables are sorted by number of golds, rather than total number of medals won, to bump the UK up a few places.

Metro Stations

For a while I have had plans to document the different metro stations that I have been visiting on a regular basis, as each of them is unique and the diversity is makes it something worth trying to share.

At the one of the stations I pulled out my camera at, a uniformed man walked toward me not looking too happy. He had me to pull out my camera back out so he could watch me delete the photos that I had just taken. Even though it was a true militsiya, more a traffic cop type, the experience of getting yelled at in a foreign language by someone in a uniform was somewhat unpleasant.

Apparently you can’t take pictures in the metro stations; and upon a much closer inspection, there are very small no camera pictures near the entrance of the stations. I wouldn’t have seen the sign unless I was looking for it. As with everything else, the Wiki on the metro is pretty good and has a few photos: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg_Metro

I did manage to take a few photos though:

General Trip Update

So at this point, my trip to Russia is half way over. I feel like I’ve done enough of the touristy things that I thing that the trip can be called a success on that front. I’ve been to churches, museums, parks, and done a fair bit of just plain walking around. Using the metro has become second nature. I’ve successfully negotiated calling a car from the street and actually got to where I needed to be. As I write this, I’m sitting at a local bar just waiting for a few friends to show up. I’m starting to feel a little bit less like tourist (as long as I keep my mouth shut).

I do have a few things remaining on the must do list. The first is to go back to the Hermitage and go through a few of the exhibits that I missed the first time though. I fundamentally like the idea of going to a ballet while I’m here, but I’m not sure if I can pull it off. The thought of going alone isn’t appealing, and I also don’t want to have to pay an arm and a leg. We’ll see how it goes. A trip to a Russian banya was moved to the tentative list; kind of like the foot massage in China, this one could backfire quickly if I’m not careful.

From the original wish, I’ve been able to pull a few of them off, but others are proving harder. I went to a Zenith football match and made it to Peterhof. A friend and I have found an alternative art exhibit that we’d like to visit, which I’m looking forward to. I’ve seen some live music at a few local bars, but none of it is something that I would listen to on my own. And regardless of how much vodka I drink, it seems that I’m still not able to pull it off without a wrenching expression on my face.

Temporary Residence #2 – St. Petersburg, Russia

A homestay was arranged for me by the language school for me while I am here in St. Petersburg. The flat has two bedrooms, kitchen, toilet, and shower.

Kitchen

The homestay package includes breakfast and dinner every day, which has been a great opportunity to eat some home cooked Russian meals.

My Bedroom

The TV is key as I can watch the tour live on Eurosport with Russian commentary. I understand way less than 25% of it, but I’ve convinced myself that it is good practice.

Toilet and Shower

Having separate rooms for the toilet and shower/sink is pretty standard in Russia.

Second Bedroom

The door is all I’ve ever seen of the mysterious second room. I often hear a television on the other side of the wall, so I assume that there is one over there. Other than that, I’ve got no clue. Given that the styling of the bathroom and coffee mugs has strong Egyptian influences, maybe she has a full scale sarcophagus in there. (This aside may have been somewhat influenced by a visit to the Hermitage’s Egyptian arts exhibit.)