Russia.

How do I possibly sum up a week in Russia in one post and only a few pictures.
It was just as wonderful as the first time. It all started with a 5 hour bus ride to Riga, but before arriving in Riga we stopped at the Hill of Crosses.
Then the trip began with a 17 hour train ride to Moscow.
The first day was spent touring Red Square and a 3 hour walking tour of the Kremlin. Putin was so close... yet so far. The Armory in the Kremlin is honestly amazing. There are coronation dresses worn by Catherine the Great, carriages from the time of the royal family, and gold is everywhere. Literally.
We ended our first night at the circus which was a lot of fun.
We had comrade groups for the week and had to name them. The group I was in was called Battlesheep due to one of the interns accidentally mispronouncing battleship which gave everyone a good laugh and us a name for our group. Our group toured the metro the first day. Sadly I have no pictures because it is illegal, but if you ever go to Moscow take your time in the metro. They have taken great pride in this form of transportation and each station is an absolute beautiful work of art. We ran to Old Arbat street and had Starbucks for the first time since leaving the states, and went to a Symphony Orchestra to end the evening.
The last day in Moscow was my favorite. We were able to go see Lenin in his tomb which is definitely a crazy experience. I was also able to see Nastja my interpreter from the first time I went to Russia. She took the train in and spent the last few hours we had in Moscow with us. After a quick last day in Moscow our group and another raced to our train to St. Petersburg with only a few minutes to spare. Thankfully we made it and took a relaxing 6 hour train ride to St. Pete.
Our first day in St. Petersburg involved a 4 hour walking tour, lunch at a pie shop, and a fun evening event at a show called Feel yourself Russian. The show involved Russian folk dance and beautiful singing. Some of the guys from our group were pulled up on stage to dance at one point which gave us all a great laugh.

Day two in St. Pete involved a 2 hour trip to the closed Political Museum, a 1/2 an hour on a battleship, and sadly only 45 minutes in the Hermitage. I wish I had had more time in the Hermitage because it was breathtaking and I appreciated the art so much, but it was a short lived. That night we went to Swan Lake. Words can not describe how beautiful the ballet was. I just loved it.
Day three in St. Petersburg involved a more relaxed day of going all the way up to St. Issac's Cathedral's colonnade and seeing a bird's eye view of the city, sitting in cafes, and painting faces for halloween.
Day four was another quick day at Spilt Blood cathedral, the Abnormal museum, experiencing an Orthodox service at Kazan catherdral and a late night 12 hour train ride back to Riga.
The trip was amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to go with and to experience it all once again. Out of the two cities I definitely love Moscow better. It feels much less touristy and there is a special place in my heart for that city. St. Petersburg was lovely, but it rained everyday and there is construction everywhere, but the richness of the history is still so alive.

Hope you were able to enjoy it through my words and hopefully the few pictures did the trip justice.