Weekend #2 Update...

Saturday was a fairly laid back day. The sun was out for most of the day but the temperature was not very warm and there was a lot of wind. We decided in the afternoon to take a walk. John read about a beautiful view from a certain angle at The Hermitage so we walked over to check it out. From there we walked over to our favorite Souvenir Fair and John managed to find and purchase the only Pittsburgh Penguins nesting doll they had. The walk only lasted a couple of hours but it was nice to get out of the aparment.

Alec picked us up today at 10:30 for the journey to Peterhof. We found ourselves in a different part of St. Petersburg and it was refreshing to see some new sights. Once we got to the edge of the city, we reached a region that Alec said is "for sleeping" and it seemed to be one high rise apartment building after another. We commented to each other that after being in Russia a total of 18 days (between trips 1 & 2) we had yet to see a house and wondered where they are. Probably 10 more minutes into our trip, we saw our first house. There were actually a lot of houses from this point to Peterhof and it was nice to see something "normal" and "like home" instead of being surrounded by the beautiful, huge, old buildings that are in the city :)

Peterhof is an imperial estate that was founded in 1710 by Peter the Great. It is a combination of several palaces, a number of wonderfully landscaped parks and an array of magnificent statues and fountains, all contributing to it being known as "The Russian Versailles". The Grand Cascade flows beautifully from beneath the Grand Palace towards the Gulf of Finland (the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea) and is one of the largest fountain ensembles in the world. We were hoping that they would have all of the fountains running on the day we visited Peterhof - we couldn't get a definite answer as to when they started though...some said April, some said May 1 and most said May 9. So, we decided to go today since we thought it might be hard to go there next weekend with the baby and we will be home on May 9 :) Well, the fountains weren't on. There were a few that they apparently were testing, so they were running when we got there but were later turned off. Despite the fountains not being on, it was still a breathtaking site to behold. We took a VERY windy stroll to the banks of the Gulf of Finland, walked around the palace (decided not to tour the inside), and walked over most of the grounds. All in all, we were there for a few hours and it was a great way to spend the day - there was not a cloud in the sky and when the wind wasn't blowing, it was delightful to walk in the sun.

What we saw...
What it looks like in the summer...

On the way back to our apartment, Alec asked if we wanted to stop for lunch. We told him yes and treated him to lunch at a delightful restaurant that is directly across the street from a St. Petersburg residence of President Medvedev (where Alec told us President George W Bush once visited).

Tomorrow will be our last day before we pick him up at the orphanage. We plan to make another trip to the grocery store and just relax a little more in anticipation of the big day on Tuesday!