I LOVE Pskov!

So, as it says in the title, I absolutely LOVE the city of Pskov! I got to travel there this past weekend with 3 friends. I’ll tell you about it, probably with more detail than you want, but that’s ok because this is pretty much my only communication to the outside world for now.

P.S. Even if you don’t make it all the way through reading this, there’s pics at the end!

Pskov’s a great old little Russian city near Estonia. It’s got a ton of old little churches and many parks and statues. Our train left from St. Petersburg around 6pm on Thursday. I had no clue what the train was going to be like, but I loved it! In class this week, one of my Russian professors asked me if we were scared on it, so I get the impression that most westerners aren’t ok with the Russian trains. But oh well, I liked it. There was an area for the 4 of us big enough where we could all lay down if we wanted and we had a table. Then the benches opened up and you could stow your stuff away under them. It wasn’t a private room – “berth” might be the correct term. Like anyoen can walk by. But it was great! Halfway through the trip, the little kid came wandering by and we waved to him several times and said “privyet” or hello. Not much later, he came back and brough his bag of toy cars and we played with him and talked in Russian. Jessica kept putting her random plastic cat on top of his car and he kept picking it up and throwing it at her and telling her in Russian “Get lost! I don’t need this!” haha. It was great. He was 3, and we were laughing pretty much the entire time.

We arrived in Pskov a little before midnight. We didn’t have a hotel booked, so we just kind of wandered around town until we found one. Over an hour later, we found the October Hotel. Because we got there later than midnight, they didn’t charge us for that night, apparently that’s how it works there. So we got 2 rooms and the total came out to be around $14 per night per person. Which is amazing, especially considering that we even had 2 rooms! There was only one bathroom on each floor, and a word you could use to describe ours was “shady”.

We had to ask for directions many times, but everyone was really helpful and kind.

We spent all day Friday walking around the city… it was so great! We walked into the old city (the old walls are mostly still standing) and got to go into the old Kremlin. **A little history – in the middle ages, the Kremlin was basically the government and religious center that was fortified. It was also a safe place if the city was attacked. So there were administrative buildings, churches, markets and such. ** Anyway, it was so awesome!

We got to walk across the frozen river! It was so great! I’m probably more excited about it than anyone else probably was, but I’m ok with that!

After we crossed the frozen river, we were in this tiny little town… We passed by a little hill where there were several mothers and probably grandmothers with their kids and they were all playing together (the kids that is, the mothers were watching from the top of the hill). Everyone kept taking turnes sledding down the hill! It was so fun to watch! I asked them if I could take pictures of them… they said no, but they were really nice about it, which was a different attitude than in the city.

We had dinner at a little Russian cafe. I tried Russian toast topped with chicken, some kind of sauce, very thin sliced cucumbers, and cheese. It was… interesting. Not my favorite food ever, but definitely not bad. I’m still not always 100% sure what I’m ordering sometimes… I know the main things, but I still don’t know the names for a lot of foods that I don’t eat often or that you just don’t really see. Like, I didn’t know my sandwich came with cucumbers, and I still have no clue what kind of sauce that was. But, it’s whatev, I guess.

Then it started snowing Friday night! It was wonderful! I just love a fresh snow! It makes the cold so much more exciting! We went to bed early, only to wake up in the middle of the night sweating. It was SO hot in our room. In a lot of Russian buildings, you don’t have control of your own temperature, so you just have to be prepared for whatever they set it at. But it was BAD… Like, at first I thought I was sick with a fever. We finally figured out how to open a window.

Saturday morning we went to the market. Not the supermarket, but the market. And you see, I realized something…. I’m terrified of markets! I was tense the whole time going through and walked really fast. I think this fear comes from my experience in Jamaica and Korea. I get suckered into things and feel bad saying no. The guilt that maybe my purchase could have bought them dinner follows me for hours afterwards. But if I do buy something, I get the kind of guilt that says I was suckered in to waste my money on something I didn’t need. AHHH. In Jamaica, they told everyone stories of how they want to save money to bring their family to America to get new opportunity. In Korea, in this one town, people were lined up on this street pulling you in the direction of where they want you to go – and I didn’t understand anyone, and we got suckered into buying some really questionable corn. Luckily, the here people didn’t seem to be that into chasing you down. I’m not sure if it was because I was walking so fast, or if it was just this particular market, or if it’s a cultural thing. I haven’t figured that out yet. But needless to say, I was really relieved to be out of there!

Then we went to eat at this place where I tried plov. Apparently it’s like a Russian traditional type of fried rice, from the more southern parts. It was – mm, I would say, interesting. Not awful, but I probably wouldn’t order it again if I had a choice.

Then, the best part of the whole day… we bought these little plastic things that you sit on and you can sled down the hills! In the parks, they usually have at least one place that’s basically an ice slide. I don’t know if the make it like that or if it’s just cuz kids slide down in the same spot all day. But we bought some plastic things and went sledding! Or sliding… whatever you want to call it. It was so much fun! We met these 11 year olds. And they were sliding down using big squares of cardboard. So we asked if they wanted to come and try our plastic ones. And they did. And we cheered them on. It was so much fun! Then we had a snowball fight with them and it was pretty intense. And yes, there is video footage, I just don’t have a cord to put it on the computer right now. Anyway, sledding was awesome, I ended up a little bruised. And I love talking to kids, because they’re usually pretty patient with my bad Russian.

Then, the other excitement of the day, was that we went to the grocery store and spend only $8. And let me tell you everything we bought with it… Vanilla coke 2 liter, water 1.5 liter, loaf of bread, pack of pita bread, 2 different kinds of chocolate cookie desserts, 2 bags of chips, 3 kinds of juice. It was great – we brought it all back to the hotel, and had “dinner”. And, we had hot tea as well… In most Russian hotels, or at least traditionally, and we have it in the dorms too, on each floor they have a lady called a dezhyornaya. Basically her job, from what I understand, is to keep order, sometimes she cleans the rooms and stuff, and if you need anything, like a glass of boiled hot water, you can go to her and she’ll bring you some.

Sunday, we came back to St. Petersburg. I think I could write so much more, but basically I loved Pskov. So much more than the city. St. Petersburg is great, but I loved the smaller town folk.

Here’s some pictures:

me sitting on the frozen river