Boats and Moats

So, we wake up at 11 for class, and not minute before. We walked to school and talk about assessments. It wasn't boring, but we're all still pretty sleepy, so we only have class for an hour and a half.

Then we return to the hostel to prepare ourselves for a boat canal tour! We decided to go today because the weather was warm and it can be chilly on the boats. It wasn't chilly, however. I roasted on the 1 hour tour because our boat wasn't open to the air! It was still fun, though, to see the city from the canals. Fun fact: Peter the Great originally wanted St. Petersburg to be just like Venice, with canals instead of streets. He didn't consider, though, that Venice is in a Mediterranean climate and St. Petersburg is pretty much Polar. Unsurprisingly, the canals froze the first winter, foiling his plans.

After the boat tour, we walked one block to Mikhailovsky Castle, home of Tsar Paul. Paul was the hated son of Catherine the Great and a conspirator in her death. He only ruled for 4 years before his own assassination, maybe at the hands of his own son, Alexander I (makes you thankful for me and Dave, eh Mom and Dad?)

He built this palace in the name of Saint Michael and surrounded it by a moat, making it a castle. He was a weirdo, take my word for it. He had the castle painted a pinkish color because that was he color of his favorite mistress's gloves. He wished to build back up the Russian military, so he adopted German methods. This was in the 19th century. He also instituted a mandatory, city wide bed time of 8 pm. EIGHT. If there were lights on in your house, you had charges brought on you, and some people were banished to Siberia. For not obeying their bed time. He also had all the troops arrive at his castle at 5am (they'd probably be well rested by then!) to do drills in his courtyard. Weirdo.

So, we walked around the grounds of his house and then walked through a park and got some (surprise!) ice cream. Mine had walnuts this time. Mmmm.

Then, we took the metro back to Sportivnaya and I commenced updating all of you on Moscow!

Today we have class and then a mystery adventure. It's supposed to rain. :/

I'll make a post tonight, and then I'll be back on schedule!

P. S. Fun fact: in Russia, you can't flush toilet paper. You have to throw it in the trash can. It took a little getting used to.