I'm back from Estonia and totally in love.

Hi all! So I’m back from Estonia with a huge update for you all! Last week, our program took us to Tallinn, Estonia and I have come back completely in love with that country. We woke up really early on Friday morning and took at bus from Petersburg to Tallinn (about 8 hours with the border crossing) and spent three days there. We stayed in a really nice hotel that was built for the Moscow Olympics in the 80s, but everything about it was amazing. They had an awesome buffet breakfast and the one day we had lunch there was so good. Our first day there, we did a walking tour of the old part of the city, which isn’t very big, but is super pretty. Tallinn is an awesome mix of Scandinavia, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe. Our tour was in Russian and it was done by this super hilarious guy who told us really funny stories about the city. We didn’t care that it was grey and rainy because this guy made the tour really awesome. Walking around the old part of the city was amazing. It really does feel like you’re in the middle of a fairy tale. The next day, we took a bus to the farther places out in the city. We saw ruins of a monastery, one of Peter the Great’s palaces (which is tiny in comparison to the ones he had built here) and all sorts of other cool things. We got to walk along the coast, which was super pretty. Then that afternoon, I walked around the Old Town again with my friends and we bought some souvenirs and explored. Apparently, there is a Depeche Mode bar in Tallinn, where all they play is their music and there are drinks named after their songs. It was hilarious. That night, we ate at this medieval themed restaurant. Everything was candle-lit and the food was amazing. I had this amazing piece of salmon with caviar and dark honey beer. That dark honey beer was probably the best beer I have ever had in my life, it was so delicious. The next day, we got up early (so I could buy my Harry Potter in Estonia and some Estonian chocolate) and drove back to Russia. Before we crossed the border, we stopped at a pretty little town right on the border called Narmen. We got back kind of late on Sunday night, so I slept in on Monday. But I am so in love with Estonia. It was such a great city. I really would like to go back. Anyway, now that I am back in Russia, my schedule is full once again. I am going to see Carmen tonight and The Magic Flute on Thursday, and who knows what else will pop up this week.

So it's been awhile since I wrote. Sorry guys!! I have developed a bit of a cough that has been slowly draining my energy, so I haven't really felt like dragging my computer to school. I'm going to the Western doctor tomorrow, which will hopefully help my cough. But enough about that. Since I last updated my blog, I have been working really hard on school work and visited the palace where Rasputin was killed. Don't ask me to give you the name of it though. It's impossible to pronounce and nobody on the program has been able to remember it. Anyway, it was a pretty cool palace. One of the rooms had an Arabian Nights theme to it, which was pretty awesome. And I got to see the room where they tried to poison Rasputin. All and all, it was pretty cool, but my favorite palace so far is still Peterhof. That's about all I got for you guys this time. Sorry to be so boring ;)