I just feel that I have woken up from my dream and all the memories are flashing in my head… The epic, beautiful buildings, the endless twilight, the colorful programs, the marvelous nightlife, the wonderful city lights and of course the most important thing: the unforgettable people I met there.
Same old story… if you want to experience the full movie, you have to see it with your own eyes on the screen not just watching the movie trailer at home. Therefore, now it will be hard to give you the same experience I had, but I will try to give an insight to this 12 day long, unforgettable holiday in Sankt-Petersburg for Summer University.
Day 1: When our plane landed in Sankt-Petersburg, I had no idea what to expect. Our organizers came to meet us and when we were going by car to our hostel, I was already impressed by the wide roads of the city. We arrived to our accommodation which was really nice, and especially I was glad it was in the city center where we could reach everything easily. We got to know each other on the first day and we started to discover the nightlife of Sankt-Petersburg. At night I was fascinated how bright the sky was at 1 am.
Day 2: We discovered the city with our well prepared tour guide who gave us many interesting facts and information about Sankt-Petersburg. After the long walk we played together in groups, and completed tasks in order to gain points. The topic of our SU was “SpySchool”, therefore each group secretly contained one spy who had to prevent the group from going forward. This thing really spiced up the team. On the same day we had Russian workshop as well, where we could get familiar to Cyril alphabet and the Russian survival dictionary kit. We closed our second day with a funny thematic spy dress up party.
Day 3: We went by bus to Peterhof which is a series of palaces and gardens laid out on orders of Peter the Great. We continued our group games as well. For extra points for example we could manage to take photos with a bearded man and a kissing couple, and we learned Russian songs too. At the end of our long walk we had a picnic in the shadow of the trees. To increase the funny moments, at night we did pub crawling, where groups not only visited many pubs and bars and tried out traditional Russian drinks, but we had to complete many tasks such as asking a foreigner for his/ her telephone number, making the cancan dance with a stranger, taking funny group pictures. It was really enjoyable, and the group spirit was awesome.
Day 4: We visited a beautiful island where was the ElaginPalace. Here we experienced how it must have been in the time of Peter the Great. We tried out those beautiful 18th century traditional hoop dresses, hats and tail coats. We learned traditional dances as well. For one hour we felt like we were also in the royal family. At night, we visited Maza Park, where we had the opportunity to discover different kind of games during the whole night. It was an incredible big building full with different kinds of games, such as billiard, bowling, darts, and many video games. We could also try out roller-skating in a big field. I really enjoyed it. There was the Word Cup semifinal, and we could see it on a cinema size screen as we were skating. We tried out laser force also, where we were divided into two groups fighting with each other, like real spies.
Day 5: We had Russian language, youth mobility and traditional Matreshka (wooden doll) workshops. In addition we went to a dance school where we tried out our sense of rhythm and we learned many traditional Russian dances. It was really hard, but we had a lot of fun. In the evening during the European Night, each nation not only prepared their drinks, but also gave a small presentation about their country and showed their food as well. It was very good that we had food also, to absorb the drinks what we drunk. It was an amazing night full with joy, dancing together and singing the songs which everyone knew.
Day 6: We made metro rally where we discovered the metro system of Sankt-Petersburg. It features exquisite decorations and artwork making it one of the most attractive and elegant metros in the world. In the afternoon we visited Petropavlovka district where we saw many beautiful places and enjoyed the scenery near Neva River.
Day 7: Our sport challenges continued and we took part in a real boot camp training and we played games too. After that we learned to shooting, running and lying with Kalashnikov.
Day 8: Beside Sankt-Petersburg we had the opportunity to see another city: Novgorod. After 3 hour long bus journey we ended up in a beautiful monastery, which is among the oldest monasteries in Russia. It was such a beautiful city and we visited the riverside where we swam a little bit and sunbathed on the sand. In the afternoon we watched the Word Cup final. Our German participant was the happiest this evening.
Day 9: We took part in a very interesting competition in Pushkin. We had a guided tour and as real spies we had to find some signs. It was not easy, but finally we could manage it. We saw many beautiful places during this trip. After this long program, some of the participants went to ballet to watch Swan Lake. The play was such a pleasure and the theater presented us with a wonderful environment. After the performance we had a night boat trip. We were the only people on the boat, therefore we could sing, dance, and of course enjoy the lights of the city. As the music was surrounding us we could enjoy the view of the opening bridges.
Day 10: This day Hermitage and Isiakievski were waiting for us. The museum was incredible huge, full with beautiful pictures. One week is not enough to watch all the things, but I was happy to visit this museum. After dinner we went to karaoke party, where we tried out our voices. I think many of us were very brave, but anyway it was fun and groups competed with each other in singing different types of songs.
Day 11: On the last full day we had intercultural dialogue session and of course we had our farewell party with a cocktail night.
Day 12: Unfortunately we had to leave Sankt-Petersburg, but I know that these 12 days will stay in my memory and my heart forever. A huge thank to all of our organizers for being friendly, energetic, cheerful.
My summer was unforgettable because I did not just “watch the trailer”, but I “saw the full movie” and I participated in this wonderful adventure.
Written by Diana Ludanyi, AEGEE-Budapest