Trip part 3 Helsinki, Talinn and Ferry1

Day 8

Drive to Helsinki

This day was a lot of driving.

First we made a last stop in Russia at Vyborg so that people could spend the rest of their Rubles. And get a snack. I bought some bread, candy, and honey.



Then we went through the border, it was a lot more difficult to get through the border driving than it was at the airport, but it only took us about 90 minutes to get everyone and the bus through customs. Then we had to go and be allowed into Finland but that only took like 20 minutes. After that we stopped right across the border for lunch. You would've thought we hadn't eaten in days by the way we all ran for the food. But I think it was just because we were now in a country where the majority of the citizens speak English and we could order food much easier.



Then we drove until we got to Helsinki. It is very pretty there. The rest of the tour went on a walking tour of the city. I was tired and not feeling so good so I did some laundry and went to bed early.



Day 9

The next day I had to be up by 6 to go on the day trip to Talinn in Estonia. We went on a ferry and had a lot of fun. Louise was demonstrating how she was "gangsta" enough to come to LA and visit me.



In Talinn we went on a tour of the LinnaMuseet which means city museum. Louise, Connie, and I were the only ones to go and that is because Louise's travel guide promised us lots of communist propaganda. The travel guide lied. There wasn't very much and the lady who worked there was really rude to Louise.



After that we did some souvenier shopping. And then we had lunch at an Italian restaurant where they didn't tell us that if you were ordering pizza the wait was an hour. Connie and I had lasagna and ours came out seriously like 45 minutes before everyone else's.After we ate lunch it was almost time to go. So we went looking for a way to get rid of our Estonian Kroner. And I found Dr. Pepper! I was so excited. Ollie, the tour manager told me that if there was any doubt before, my love for Dr. Pepper sealed it, I am TRULY American, even though the Canadians had been trying to convince him otherwise for the whole trip.



After that we went back to Helsinki and on the boat everyone in OzCan except for Connie fell asleep and so she took pictures of all of us as punishment for leaving her sitting there bored for an hour. After we got back we were on our own for dinner, So we went and got stuff for a picnic by the water. I had McDonald's and was very happy with my choice. The boys got some Asian food, and the girls actually went to a grocery store and got their food.



Day 10

We got up early to load the coach and then spent the day wandering around Helsinki.
At 2 we had to be back for one last meeting and then we got on the overnight ferry to Stockholm. On the boat we had dinner, and then I read a book and went to sleep. I slept well with the rocking of the boat.


In the next installment Stockholm, Goodbyes, and Hellos

Trip Post 2 Days 5-7

Day 5 Drive to Novgorod!

On the Way to Novgorod we stopped at the House where Tchaikovsky was born.



Then we stopped and bought groceries and ate McDonald's!



Later we stopped at a truck stop where it was pouring down rain and we had to wait for the driver's break to be over.




Later when we actually got to Novgorod we went on a guided tour of the Kremlin and then we checked into our hotel and had dinner.





Day 6

We drove further North to St. Petersburg and saw a tight church that I especially love because I had already purchased an ornament that looked like it.



When we got to St. Petersburg, the first thing we did was go to the Siege of Leningrad Museum. I was looking forward to this because I really wanted to see the memorial to those who died during the 900 day seige of Leningrad where the city was cut off from supplies and it was bitterly cold and people were literally dying in the streets. The fact that they kept the city from falling into Nazi hands is a testament to the resiliency of the Russian people.



Then we went to The Summer Palace of Peter the Great. It is beautiful and is probably the moment when I fell in Love with St. Petersburg. It is featured often in the documentary, Russia: Land of the Tsars by the History Channel. I love it and was like I am in Russia: Land of the Tsars! the whole time.




Then we did a mini city tour, met Serge the "legitimate businessman" who sold us some awesome souveniers, and had a Champanski toast on the waterfront.



Then we went to our wonderful hotel of horrificness. It was not the worst place I have stayed in but it was the worst place on the trip and it was pretty bad. Only half the people's plumbing worked and there were rooms that couldn't open or close their doors. This hotel was an adventure to say the least. We had an okay room and then we got dressed and ate dinner.



Then we went to the ballet. On the way to the ballet, I "made friends" with my Australian friend who had had WAY too much to drink. He wanted to be more friendly than I was prepared to be...The ballet was alright, I ended up falling asleep because I couldn't see the stage and was really tired already.





Day 7

A longer City Tour including a visit to St. Peter's and Paul's Fortress and Cathedral. This is where the Romanov family from the time of Peter the Great is buried, including the last of the Tsar's Nicholas II and family so, yes, I went to Anastasia's grave.




Then we went to the Hermitage which I loved. It is a giant art museum of amazingness.



Then we went on a canal cruise where we were served champanski or vodka, and this is when the evening started to go majorly down hill. The boys all bought 5Euro bottles of Vodka and they had way too much to drink.




After the Canal Cruise we went to the Faberge Egg store where their idea of brilliant marketing is to provide unlimted free shots of vodka to tour groups who shop there. The vast majority of people who were sober before entering the shop weren't anymore after the shop. I think that there were 7 people still sober after shopping there. Then we went to dinner at Mumu and had Beef Stroganoff, which was good. Then the group that was in a partying mood went out more after dinner. I went back to the hotel to pack and get ready to head to Finland on day 8!

Trip Post 1 Flight and Moscow

Well here is the first few days of my trip...These posts take a while so I don't know when the next few days will go up!

Day 1 (July 23rd)
Depart for Europe:

I flew from LAX where they told me to be by 3:30 then didn't even open up the desk until almost 5 am to JFK where weather and air traffic patterns delayed my landing. Then by the time we had gotten to the gate and off the plane I had 25 minutes to get to my next gate which was, of sourse, all the way across the airport. By the time I got there they were on final boarding call. Then the lady didn't want to let me on because my visa exit date didn't match my return flight. Both her co-worker and I were trying to get her to realize that I was flying back from another country and that I would be leaving Russia via bus before my visa expired. But this woman was either dense or just enjoying causing stress, so she made me show her my itinerary and all sorts of nonsense. Meanwhile I am stressing thinking that they are gonna fly without me. I shouldn't have stressed about that because we were delayed by two hours waiting for permission to take off. The flight was okay but everytime we hit turbulance I was kind of freaked out. The food on the plane was better than I was expecting, which was a relief because I was starving. Eventually we landed in Moscow on

Day 2 (July 24th)
Arrive Moscow (Yay!)
And go through customs which took about 5 minutes max. I so thought it would be more hardcore. But then the guy who was picking me up scared me and I was freaked out that I was being kidnapped by this man who had grabbed me and my suitcase and threw me into his car and started driving off into the Russian countryside. The hotel was like 45 minutes from the airportand there are trees everywhere in Russia. I was praying the whole time that I not become a statistic. Then he dropped me at the hotel and I went to check in but my Russian isn't so good and the reception ladies knew zero English. I was so tired and stressed at this time I just burst into tears. Then some guy who knew a little Englkish came and helped me to check in to the Hotel, at this point I took a shower and a nap and waited to meet my group. At six we were supposed to meet down in the lobby with the whole tour and have dinner. I went down there and there was no one there. Eventually some lady asked if I wss with COntiki and I said yes and she joined me with about 5 other contikis who were waiting for the larger group to join us. I was so excited to see people who spoke Engkish, it was the first thing I said to them. We all had a good laugh and then sat around until some woman about whom there was no doubt she was Russian came up and said "Contiki I am your guide. Oliver is running Very late. You want to eat dinner. We go NOW!" And this was our first experience with Galena. SO we went and ate dinner. After dinner we sat in the lobby until about 9 when the tour finally got to the hotel. All the contikis went to eat while Ollie and Hans got them checked in. Then he handed out rooms and introduced himself and we got the first night speech.

I originally was supposed to room with this girl from Santa Monica, but it worked out that she wanted to room with someone else so I got to room with Louise this amazing Australian girl who I had loads of fun with.

Days 3&4
Day 3 We did a tour of the Moscow Metro and got to see some of the prettiest public transportation in the world. It costs 4 kopecks to ride the Metro and that is equal to 0.0016 dollars. So it is an affordable system too. It is very beautiful, but they are in the process of removing all the icons of communism, so we were able to see them befor ethey are all gone.



Me with My Canadian Friend Connie

We went to the Military Museum where we saw random things and were told stories of the horrors of Communism. It was a lot like my last semesters history class rolled into an hour or so, so I was bored, but the stuff was fun to look at.



We went to Statue Park and saw the only remaining statue of Stalin in Moscow (he is missing his nose) There were some other statues there that I liked better.



And then we went to Red Square where we had a picnic outside of the Kremlin (I had Sbarro)It was a very pretty park with a huge fountainy river type thing with a mermaid fountain that I forgot to take a picture of.





and took pictures in front of St. Basil's Cathedral. (The thing that everyone takes a picture in front of and u know they are in Russia!)




Then we went to an optional dinner where we had good Chicken Kiev and cheesy mushroom goodness. And this dinner was the birth of OzCan: A group of crazy friends who are roughly comprised of half Aussies and Half Canadians (as odd-girl out, the Canadians adopted me)




Then we got lost on the metro and ended up treking through Moscow at 9 o clock at night. It was still light out so it wasn't that big of a deal, but I did get horrible blisters from the exceedingly long trek. Then we got back to the hotel where we bought sprite and juice and hung out in the Canadians room until I was practically falling asleep sitting there. We could've hung out in the lobby or bowling alley, but our hotel was pretty dodgy and we were warned about the prostitutes and mafia men so we opted to stay upstairs.

Day 4

We went on city tour. It was a whirlwind of look at this and that.



Stopped for souvenirs, I did not buy this hat although the lady really wanted me too.



Took pictures by a church (it is famous but I forget why)But I could always wiki it I am sure.



Ate another picnic outside the Kremiln (Sbarro again) (The McDonald's line was too long)Bought Souvenirs (including a bag that became essential for the rest of the trip. It is MASH status. the best souvenier places are outside Red Square in Revolution Square.

Went on a tour of the Kremlin and the ArmouryL I got to see stuff out of Russia Land of the TSars and was very Excited. We also got to see Faberge Eggs that Nicholas II gave to Alexandra



Ate dinner at some restaurant. The food was alright, but the decor was better



And went to the Moscow Circus, where I watched the first half and slept through the second. I was really tired at this point... The acrobats were amazing though!






Novgorod and St. Petersburg up next!

The soundtrack to my heart lately...

Is an awful lot of Jeff Deyo Songs.

I am trying to juggle all of my conflicting thoughts and emotions into a sensible post because I can feel the pressure building and I know if I can't get them all out soon, I will explode into a gooey mess of emotastic-ness. I've been having weird trippy dreams that are so vivid that I can't shake them after I wake up, I am getting ready to go into a schedule overload and I really don't want to. There are things I need to get out, but can't because I don't want to hurt those I love. I really, really need a hug, and not just a hello hug, but don't like being touched by most people. And even if I was hugged I would probably collapse into a puddle and that's the last thing I want...

I know that the next few months are going to be a challenge and a struggle, but I also know that God would never ask me to do anything I was incapable of. If nothing else, I can already declare that these upcoming days are going to require me to rely on God more than ever before. This is both exciting and frightening.

Aaaarrrrrgggghhhh!

I wish I has a depressurization button somewhere!

Lyrics Running through my head...

"You are God
You command the oceans
You ride on the heavens
You restore my soul"

"Together we will seek You
Forever we will praise You
You are the Father of our hearts"

"There's not one thing
That means as much to me as
You my God, as You my King"

"Here in the darkness
I lift my eyes to You
Your light comes shining through"

"Master, be my Savior
Be my shelter, be my God"

"Here in this silence
I hear You speak my name
And I cry out to You"

"Unveil my eyes
So I can know You’re here
You’re here"

"Your love, it overtakes me
And makes me who I am
As I am undone
In light of Your glory"

"Take apart this world
That I have made
Make this heart aware
Of more than me
Reveal to me the depths
Of who You are
And come and teach me like a child
To trust Your heart"

"Saturate my life,
Fill every part of me with You
Drown me in Your love,
Let me lose myself in You."

"I gladly come to You,
I want no place to hide
I'm pouring out my heart
To give You room."

"Welcome sweet Spirit
Come stir me with Your fire
Whisper Your secrets
Your deepest hearts desire"

"I will obey
I will be true
I will be poured out
Just for You"

"Fill me with Your purpose
Place Your Kingdom in my heart
Let Your Holy Spirit
Fall on me"

And not Jeff Deyo but also in my head...

"Open up the sky
Fall down like rain
We don't want blessings
We want you"

Moscow

Here is the first of many pictures... This is me in Moscow at the Military Museum...

Ponderings

So, is it so much to say that I feel really different now that I have come home? Not in a bad way, but just different?


I am not worried about being out of "the loop" like I was before I left, and I am not worried about being distant from God, nor do I feel like I have dissappointed Him. Because in reality how do you dissappoint one who knows what is going to happen in the first place.


But I feel foriegn to my surroundings...


This is HOME but at the same time it feels different...

Hmm. I wonder if this feeling will pass or if it is me being prepared for change...

Home Sweet Home

I made it I am home!

I had a really good time.

Photos will follow shortly I am sure..

Fighting to swim

I have so many things to tell everyone about my trip, but there is one that I just can't wait to get off my chest.

I had so much stress and anxiety about this trip and had words spoken over me about how this was not just a vacation but that God was going to use me during it. I don't really see how, but part of that is because I kind of went crazy during the first half of the trip, and I feel like I messed things up. One of the things that God has spoken to me when praying about what happened and what is going to happen is that I can't be like Annanias and Sapphira and pretend that it is more than it was. I would love to be able to come home and say that I lived a hardcore sold out life amongst the contikis but in reality I didn't. I lived a mostly normal kind of shy Stacey sort of life with a few missteps along the way. I didn't commit any major sins so don't worry I am not coming home pregnant or anything, but I didn't grab this opportunity to live big for God by the horns and I am feeling some regrets.

I am fighting to finish this trip, I have wanted to leave for about a week now, but have stayed. I don't want to get all emo in the hotel lobby and my time is almost up so I will try to explain further later...

I may not be online again until I get home on Monday! (it is Sat. morning here)
two more nights and I come home!

Norway

I am here.

I tried moose last night. I didn't like it.

Can't wait to get home!

Sweden

I am in Stockholm today and I leave for Norway tomorrow. I am excited for Norway because it means I am that much closer to coming home, and because we won't be in huge cities the whole time, which is better because all of the big Scandinavian cities look and feel the same to me... I am kind of over the shopping mall experience. I didn't come all the way to Europe to go to the mall, I could've done that at home. But Norway has some better less mall based things to do....

I have had some adventures of the dodgy sort but I'll save those tales for when I get home...

I gotta go someone wants the internet....