First Full Day in Russia

On our first day in Russia I learned that neither of my power converters worked and thatthere was no internet in our dorms, which is going to make this blogging project a bit more difficult than I had anticipated. Our little group from A&M went on a short walking tour of the area around St. Petersburg Polytechnic University and around our hostel. We found grocery stores where we could shop, the metro, little 24 часа (hour) stores that mostly sell alcohol and this mall type metroplex where there is a movie theater. I thought you'd be interested in the latest in "Russian" cinema. Sorry, I don't seem to be able to flip my pictures the right way right now, the picture program I'm using is in Russian! We also went on a tour of the city where I got my picture with the Smolny Cathedral and a real Egyptian sphinx which was taken from Egypt by Napleon but captured by the Russians when they drove the French army out of Russia. The sphinx now guard the Neva river, the main river of St. Petersburg.