A Journey into the Winter Wonderland Russia

What could be better than to visit the enchanting cities of St. Petersburg and Moscow in their entire winter splendor? In December 2018 we drove to Russia with a group of students. We had chosen the time well, since we were there before the Christmas time, but the cities were already shining in the most beautiful Christmas lights and everything was beautifully decorated for Christmas.

In St. Petersburg we spent half a day in the huge Hermitage Museum. One says: it takes 8 years to look at every work of art in this museum. The excitement continued, because we were introduced to the mystery of the Amber Room in the Catherine Palace. This palace is located outside of St. Petersburg. Not only we enjoyed this beautiful palace, but we also were astound by the palace park, where we had a fun snowball fight! Of course, we also visited the main theater in St. Petersburg, the Mariinsky Theater, where we wached a splendid ballet performance.

From St. Petersburg we took an express train to Moscow. We stayed in a very posh place, in Moscow City. It is a new district, which is located in the center of Moscow and it consists only of skyscrapers. From our hotel room we had a beautiful view, and enjoyed the food in the restaurant on the 60th floor. It was terrific! Of course we visited the impressive Kremlin Square in Moscow. What we all liked very much was a tour in the metro, where we got acquainted with the Russian metro history, architecture and art. The Bolshoi Theater was fantastic. Some of us enjoyed a beautifully staged opera; the other part of the group saw the ballet Swan Lake.

On our trip, we only spoke Russian. Our students were confronted daily with speaking Russian: in restaurants and within the group. Besides some gifts and Russian books, our participants brought home great impressions from Russia.