My last day in Moscow. Tonight, we go to the train station and board the 5-night train. Hopefully, the tickets will be the right ones.

This is my last night in Moscow, Russia. I must say, Moscow is a really cool city. I would have to say I liked it more than St. Petersburg, but I still liked that city a lot. Although, arriving in St. Petersburg was more of a culture shock that arriving in Moscow. Here is why: -> When we left the airport in St. Petersburg, we saw just about nothing. The airport seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere.

I am in Moscow now. We arrived here yesterday around 9am. Our last day in St. Petersburg was eventful to say the least! In a nutshell, my glasses fell in a canal and the train tickets (St. Petersburg to Moscow) that our travel company in Moscow sent to our hostel in St. Petersburg happened to be for a train from Moscow to St. Petersburg! This was a problem. The tickets are hard to read.

Yesterday, May 9, was Victory Day in Russia (and I imagine in other places, too). Victory day is the celebration of the end of WWII when the Nazis surrendered to the Red Army in Berlin. Matt, Sid, and I heard there was going to be a military march in Palace Square next to the Hermitage (the Winter palace and art museum in St. Petersburg). We,, we got there at the tail end of the parade, at about 10:20 in the morning.

I am now in St. Petersburg. It is a very beautiful city! I will definitely post some pictures when I get a chance. I am currently in an Internet cafe. It is actually a sunny day - St. Petersburg is known for having ~200 days of cloudy weather. Tomorrow (May 9) is the end of WWII celebration in the city. This should be interesting. All around town, you see murals related to WWII, also the soviet flag - this I thought was interesting…

Sid, Matt, and I are currently in Budapest, Hungary. We have been here since Monday morning, local time. Today, we are flying to St. Petersburg, Russia. Our flight is at 12:30PM. We are flying on a Russian airline (Pulkovo) on a Russian airplane (Tuplov)! This should be exciting! This is where the real trip will begin for me – I have been to Budapest 3 times before, so this segment was more to visit my parents for me, and a sightseeing trip for my friends.