GW at the 2018 World Cup

Time flies and we are now on the last day of our trip, thanks everyone for having the best memory in the World Cup Russia 2018.

Last night we all took the time to eat a delicious Chinese dinner together! Thankful that our students from China could help us order the best food, but even more thankful to spend time with everyone in this awesome group!

Today my friend Kevin introduced me to his animals. He had one monkey and one raccoon! Scary. People pay to take pictures with the animals. My classmate Giuliana got scared when they put the raccoon on her arm. I would be terrified too!

Loved visiting Peterhof today! Often nicknamed “Russian Versailles”, the grounds are a series of beautiful buildings and gardens from the reign of Peter the Great. A somewhat cloudy day was easily turned around by this lovely visit.

Despite purchasing a Rosetta Stone subscription, I somehow arrived in Russia with very little of the Russian language or Cyrillic alphabet under my belt. (Apparently this knowledge doesn’t just download into your brain automatically when you subscribe — who knew?!) I came prepared with various translation apps, but I still worried about one key thing: the ease of ordering food in restaurants during my 11 days in the country. It’s been a happy surprise that so many of the restaurants we’ve encountered either list an English description of all items or have a picture-book equivalent of the menu to make ordering easier for tourists. Of course, if all else fails, I can always find a bakery and point to a desired pastry. Coffee and donuts are a universal language!

The Winter Palace is a palace in the "Six Palace Complex" of the Russian Museum of the Hermitage. It Locates on the Palace Square in St. Petersburg. After the October Revolution, it became part of the St. Petersburg National Hermitage Museum. It is an outstanding example of Russian neo-classical architecture in the middle of the 18th century. The Hermitage Museum, together with the British Museum in London, the Louvre Museum in Paris, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, are called the four major museums in the world. I used to grow up in all the museums so it was an honor to finally make the tour. Jane told us before that it will take you half years to see all the exhibitions and it is definitely true. I took many pictures here. One thing I have to mention is that the roof of every room is very different from each other and makes it so much fun to look up.

The more we stayed in St.Petersburg, the more intriguing places we found and visited. Peterhof is one of St. Petersburg's most famous and popular visitor attractions, the palace and park at Peterhof are often referred to as "the Russian Versailles". Versailles was the inspiration for Peter the Great's desire to build an imperial palace in the suburbs of his new city and, after an aborted attempt at Strelna, Peterhof - which means "Peter's Court" in German - became the site for the Tsar's Monplaisir Palace, and then of the original Grand Palace. One of the big advantages of becoming an unique palace is the palace near the sea making the air is so fresh. People can see the other side of St. Petersburg by the coast.

St.petersburg is a beautiful city, but summer palace is even more beautiful. Seating by the sea and feeding seagulls is a fantastic way to spend the afternoon. Meanwhile, it’s a good way to relax our body from days of meeting, still got two more days, I’ve already started missing this place.