Minsk

In front of the Palace of the Republic in the center of Minsk

Eugene Falcon in Sofia. He's lost some weight, but not very much.

In front of the Catholic cathedral on Liberty Square

Shelley on Liberty Square

Island of Tears and our hotel (Hotel Belarus) by the Scisloch river

By the Svisloch again with downtown Minsk in the background

Moscow

All of us at Victory Square

Shelley and Brian in front of Moscow State University

Shelley and Brian in front of the shopping center on Red Square at night.

In front of St. Basil's Cathedral at night.

In front of the KGB headquarters on Lubyanka square

In front of one of the churches inside the Kremlin

The Moscow Historical Musem at the entrance of Red Square at night.

On the train to Minsk. It was really hot on the train and we didn't sleep very well. It wasn't as much because of the heat as it was from the body odor of a guy two cabins down.

Brian and Russ in front of the Bentley dealership on Lubyanka square.

Russ and Teresa

Russ and Teresa flew in on Friday to St. Petersburg. We spent that night and all day Saturday cruising around the town.

In front of a statue of Lenin after they flew in. You'll notice that there is only one suitcase for the both of them. Russ' suitcase got lost in Milan but we ended up getting it the next day before we took a train to Moscow.

Both of us on top of the Peter and Paul Fortress. The steeple in the background is the fortress chapel.

Us inside the fortress chapel.

One of the palaces of the Hermitage Museum.

On the train to Moscow. This one was actually pretty nice compared to our Moscow - Minsk experience.

We're some of the very few that braved the boat rides in the cold.

Another hall in the Hermitage Museum.

The Brazen Horseman

This is a really famous statue of Peter the Great riding into St. Petersburg called "The Brazen Horseman." It's kind of the universal symbol of St. Petersburg.

Across the street from the statue runs the Neva river.

Shelley with Peter, St. Isaac's Cathedral, and a bride and groom in the background.

Another panoramic picture. This is the view of Vasilievskiy Island from the sidewalk by the statue. Basically, this is what Shelley is looking at in the picture above.

Construction and Another Panorama

Construction in Russia is hilarious and dangerous and hilariously dangerous. There are no (enforced) safety codes and all the people working are lazy. We've had a good time observing the construction and thought it would make an appropriate post on our blog. Please take time to participate in the survey on the right hand side of your screen. Thank you.

This is how you someone has to get from the road into their apartment's front door. The enormous hole with the pallet over it is about 4.5-5 feet deep.

A large pit with the sidewalk covered up on the left and the road on the right.

Brian actually broke off a lot of dirt and almost fell in while posing for this picture.

Scaffolding

Five guys that were supposed to be working hanging out in the truck. This is at about 11:00 am.

A guy sleeping in his equipment.

Brian enjoys the panoramas a lot. This is the "Summer Garden" not far from the center of the city.

People We've Met Along The Way

Brian with Phillip and Maksim at FHE. Max served in Brian's mission right after he did. Phillip is Max's brother.

Misha, Evelyn, Shelley, Brian and Stanley at Ashan at the MEGA mall. We had a bunch of friends from Taiwan. On Thursday we went with them to a big mall called MEGA that has an IKEA in it.

Shelley's class with her least favorite teacher.

Both of us with the group of American girls in our ward. They are here teaching English to children in St. Petersburg.

Brian and Elder Pylnikov from Voronezh. This kid's ward was in Brian's first area.

Huei-Chiao, Shelley and Yu-Chun. These girls were in Shelley's class. They're both from Taiwan.

Shelley, Brian and Tom. Tom was our "roommate" for the first three weeks here. He was the number 7 pick in the 1961 NBA draft and a really nice guy.

Back to Peterhof and a Few Bonus Pictures

We went back up to Peterhof the other day because we really wanted to see the fountains in the daytime while they were turned on. It was a lot better. The other ones are pictures of stuff around our apartment.

Both of us in front of the main fountains at Peterhof. It was a lot more beautiful during the day when we could actually see the water going.

It turned out kind of dark, but this is us in front of a large fountain at Peterhof with the Orthodox church behind us.

Both of us out at Peterhof in front of the Gulf of Finland.

Brian on the bridge across the Neva by our side of the river.

Shelley in front of a Muslim Mosque that is about 200 yards from the ship and the river by brian up top.

A panorama of the main fountain area at Peterhof.

A larger scale on the back side of the palace. You can see the main fountains on the right side and the Orthodox church dome on the left side by the large verticle fountain.