Pancakes and Saint Petersburg

Pancake Day in Dmitrov

So all these years I thought that Thanksgiving was my favorite food holiday. Little did I know that moving to Russia would change my mind. Three words. National. Pancake. Day. In Russia this happens once a year and is an excuse to stuff your face with as many of the thinnest, most delicious pancakes you can get your hands on. Well.. that’s what I did anyway. This holiday is about more than pancake eating however and signifies the end of winter and the beginning of spring. On this day, all over the country, towns, and some families build a large woman out of wood and burn it, to represent the end of winter.

In Dmitrov, there was a huge festival, similar to that of a fair in the US, with face painting, people in costumes, music, dancing, and of course, pancakes. This took place in the massive square in what we like to call “downtown Dmitrov.” It was a really cool experience to be a part of. There were kids running around everywhere, the weather was great, and everyone seemed incredibly happy and excited to “burn the lady” and to get rid of the dreary winter days! I of course, took part in the pancake eating, but my cohort Brittany wanted to get more involved. There were men and women walking around the fair with free gifts to give out, if you were willing to sing or dance, or basically do something goofy to draw attention to yourself. Brittany decided, that in the middle of hundreds of Russians, she wanted to sing the Canadian national anthem so she could receive a free gift. So with some help from one of our Russian teammates, she flagged down one of these gift givers and sang her heart out. It was hysterical. On a side note, when she saw me videotaping the event, nerves kicked in and she may or may not have forgotten some of the words. Needless to say, she still got her free gift.

Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood

Shortly after Pancake Day in Dmitrov, we had an off weekend, so Britt, our teammate Iya, and I decided that it would be a great time to head off to Saint Petersburg for the weekend and see the city. It was a quick and easy trip, with just a short hour and 10 minute flight to get us there. We left on a Saturday morning and grabbed a Starbucks as soon as landed to get us ready to go for the day. The names on our Starbucks cups? Beyonce, Madonna, and Shakira.. who else.  The Russian baristas obviously loved our creativity.

We took a shuttle from the airport to the metro and after a couple stops we were in the middle of downtown Saint Petersburg, on its main street, Nevsky Prospect. This street is the gateway to most things in Saint Pete’s and has hundreds of restaurants and little shops. The city is known for having a more European feel that than of Moscow and I definitely found this to be true. From the canal running through the city, to the buildings, to the diverse population, I couldn’t remember if I was in Italy, or Germany, or Russia. It was pretty cool.

Saint Isaac's Cathedral

View from the top of Saint Isaac's Cathedral

Our first stop was to the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. This church is probably the most beautiful building I have ever seen and when you’re walking down Nevsky Prospect, it just sort of appears on a side street. You would never think that it would be tucked away where it is. But it is absolutely spectacular. The church was built in memory of Tsar Alexander II and was built on the site where he was assassinated. This building is one of the main attractions in Saint Petersburg, for obvious reasons.  One of my other favorite places on the trip was Saint Isaac’s Cathedral which was a short walk from Nevsky Prospect. We didn’t go inside this cathedral but we did get to climb 262 stairs and take in a view of the entire city of Saint Petersburg from the top. Even though the weather was a little cloudy that day, the view took our breath away (it was either the view or the 262

stairs.. can’t be sure). The walkway on top of the cathedral went all the way around the building so we were able to get a 360 degree view of the city which was pretty awesome.

The Hermitage Museum

The ceiling in the Hermitage

Our other major stop on the first day was at the Hermitage museum which is one of the oldest and largest museums in the world. I can’t lie, I’m not much of a museum person and my friends aren’t either but the rooms we did go into, in the Hermitage, were amazing. We saw the room where the royal throne was kept, which really made me want to break a million rules and sit in the throne. I resisted. We also saw the library which was pretty brilliant. The best part was the stair case and ceiling when you entered the museum. I could have stayed in there for an hour just staring at all the detail in the architecture. 

The Throne!

After an early morning and a bit of a travel day, were pretty tired and after a great meal back on Nevsky Prospect, we called it a day.

Our new friend at the Fortress

Sunday was pancake day in Saint Petersburg so I was lucky enough to experience the best day of the year twice! After a much needed sleep in on Sunday morning, we headed to the Peter and Paul Fortress on the other side of the bridge from downtown Saint Petersburg and Nevsky Prospect. It just so happened there was a huge celebration happening there including the burning of another wooden lady and more pancakes! Just like in Dmitrov, there was music, entertainment, people in costumes, and a lot of fun things to do. We took a lot of pictures with the different characters and props that they had set up around the fortress and again, we got to climb to the top of the building and walk all around with a great view of the other side of the river in the background.  

On top of the Fortress

We spent most of the afternoon at the fortress and after a snack back on Nevsky, we headed to an exhibit called “Little Russia.” We were told that it was a bunch of tiny dioramas or Russia that showed the different parts of the country, from east to west. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but what was saw was absolutely amazing. The exhibit was huge and more detailed than I could have ever imagined. The tiniest pieces moved, the people moved, the grass and the water looked incredibly real, lights flashed, police sirens made noise, and the lights in the exhibit even went off to represent nighttime. It was one of the coolest things that I’ve ever seen and showed just how much work the builders put in to make it operational and functional.

One of the many parts of the "Little Russia" exhibit

Sadly, after spending a couple hours in the exhibit, it was time for us to head back to Moscow on a late night flight. Our trip to Saint Petersburg was definitely one of the highlights of my time in Russia and I would love to be able to go back in the summer time to get the full affect of how beautiful the city is!

End of February

Well, I took a brief hiatus from blog writing due to the holidays, but now that my time in Russia is winding down, I think it’s about time for some updates! I returned to Dmitrov shortly after the New Year, with a new foreign teammate named Brittany. She is Canadian and played at Providence College and then for the Boston Blades. We had actually never met before the 9 hour plane ride to Moscow together. What better way to get to know each other right? Wrong.. Brittany was nice enough to change seats with a random Russian man who wanted to sit with his friend, so she was stuck in a middle seat between a few people she didn’t know. What a trip that must have been. I was asleep in the comfy window seat. Sorry Britt.

Shortly after we returned to Dmitrov, we started right in with practices, with only 5 days or so until big games against the SKIF 1 team that defeated us a couple months earlier. Unfortunately for me, a few days before we were schedule to play SKIF, I fell in practice during a 1v1 battle drill, hit the back of my head on the ice, and got a pretty good concussion. I spent the next couple days in bed, trying to rest, which only added to the jet lag and fatigue from the concussion. Needless to say, I was a wreck. Couldn’t stand up or walk around without feeling dizzy, couldn’t sleep at night because my body was so confused with the time difference. Anyhow, after a few days in bed, I needed to get out so I walked across the street to the rink and forced myself to sit through the two tough games against SKIF. It was extremely hard for me to sit there and watch my team play (on the one hand because it made me really dizzy) but also because I knew these were games we had to win, and I couldn’t contribute. It was definitely tough, but luckily, my team pulled through in regulation time during the first game, and in a nail biting, pull your hair out, shootout the second game. I was thrilled that my team had won, but I knew that I needed to get some treatment and rest for my concussion. After making sure it was safe for me to fly, I headed home about mid January to see my doctor in the states, and make sure I would be back and ready to play for the Euro Cup in top shape, in March.

After a couple weeks at home, seeing my doctor, and following a treatment plan, I was ready to get back on the ice and to return to Russia. I played some pick up hockey with a group of guys at home that I grew up playing the game with, and felt great. This was the best I had felt in weeks and was really excited to be back on the ice and to be returning to my team in a short period of time.

During all of this time at home, some of my amazing and incredibly talented teammates represented their country in the Olympics for the Russian National Women’s Hockey Team. So obviously, I watched every game they played, which were (lucky for me) no earlier than 730 am. It was really cool to watch my teammates and friends compete in their home country in front of all their fans. They played three extremely good games in the preliminary rounds, winning all three, but unfortunately lost in the quarterfinal game against Switzerland. Throughout the games, my teammate Iya was updating me on the happenings around the Olympic village and was also nice enough to skype me into the opening ceremonies! She also sent me pictures of her with some of my favorite hockey players.. Sidney Crosby.. Patrick Kane.. and even Dan Bylsma, the coach of my favorite NHL Team, The Pittsburgh Penguins. I’m still coping with the jealousy.

As a member of the US National for the last 3 and a half years, I obviously was following some of my good friends and former teammates on their journey throughout the Olympics and had to ultimately root for my home country, but I was incredibly proud of the way my Russian teammates played and represented their country. Women’s hockey in Russia still is not developed even close to that of women’s hockey in North America as far as numbers of registered female players. There are only around 550 registered female hockey players in all of Russia. However, I think this will drastically improve in the years post-Sochi. I was told that for the first time ever, women’s hockey was broadcasted on the first Federal channel in Russia, which is a huge accomplishment for the sport. Many people that normally wouldn’t get to see women play the sport of hockey, became fans, and I think this is something that will really help Russia in the next 10 years as more and more girls will want to play the sport.

Upon returning to Dmitrov a week or so ago, I jumped right back into practices and workouts and have been feeling symptom –free which is awesome. Shortly after I came back, I got the chance to visit a beautiful place called Sergiyev Posad, which is about an hour from Dmitrov. Sergiyev Posad is the

Russian Orthodox equivalent of the Vatican and has dozens of beautiful, magnificent churches and medieval buildings. Brittany and I took the short trip to see the buildings with one of our teammates who doesn’t speak much English. Her parents drove us there, who spoke no English. So that was quite an experience in itself but they were incredibly nice and laughed at us when we put on our seatbelts in the backseat (apparently no one does that here even though the driving is scarier and Boston, Montreal, and NYC combined).  My favorite part of the trip was going inside one of the churches that was literally lined wall to wall, floor to ceiling with gold. This was one of the few places that we were not allowed to take pictures, but imagine the most gold you could ever put into one place, and that was it. It was beautiful. Like a typical North American, I was a little surprised by what we found when we went to use the public bathroom.. you'll see what I mean.

Something else that has shocked me since I’ve been back is that it has actually been sunny for about 3 or 4 days in a row. This never happens in Dmitrov. Usually it’s sunny one day out of 7 if you’re lucky. We have really been taking advantage of being able to be outside and get some sun, including an awesome sunset snowboard trip to a hill about 30 minutes outside of the city. Now.. I haven’t snowboarded since I was probably 12 years old, and I was no Sean White, I probably only went three times when I was that age. But it was a beautiful evening and a few of us were sitting outside and decided.. why not. Two of my teammates are pretty good and have snowboarded for multiple years. Brittany, Iya, and I, had never done it, or had only done it maybe once. We knew it would be pretty hilarious. News flash. I’m still no Sean White. I made sure that I had a helmet because I knew it wasn’t going to pretty, but after spending the first run pretty much completely on my butt, the second and third runs went a little better. The chair lift? Disaster. They don’t warn you that that’s probably the hardest part of the skiing or snowboarding experience. It was a lot of fun though.

We also had a couple games against Arctic University and we won both pretty decisively; 11-0 and 9-2. These were the first games that the Olympic girls had played since their loss to Switzerland, so I’m sure it was tough for them, but they played really well given the circumstances. After our second game, our roommate Zuza was nice to enough to let Brittany and I tag along with her, her brother and his girlfriend, to our first KHL game in Moscow! I wasn’t sure of what to expect from the game because I had never been but it was a cool experience. The rink was smaller than that of an NHL rink, obviously, but it was pretty packed and incredibly loud. There were cheerleaders, massive flags being waved throughout the entire game, and the fans were constantly cheering and yelling for the home team, Atlant. It was awesome.

Now, we have two more away games next week and then the week after that we leave for Germany and for Euro Cup. I couldn’t be more excited to play in these games and be back in Germany!

Look out for the next blog early next week after Iya, Brittany, and I take a fun weekend trip to Saint Petersburg!!