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Anyway, even at this time of year lots of things are happening in St.Petersburg.

In this issue:

New Trend in St.Petersburg: Le Parkour in the Historical Centre
Events: Concerts, Brit Art is Coming
Russian Language: Gde Ermitage, or How I Can Get To…
Specials: New year in train, Russian for Professionals
Destination Russia : Velikij Novogorod
 

New Trend: Le Parkour in the Historical Centre.

Famous European trend Le Parkour has invaded Russia. Have you seen Yamakasi by Luc Besson? Then you know for sure what I’m talking about.

The founder of Le Parkour, David Belle, describes this sport as "a way of using the obstacles found in one's path to perform jumps and acrobatics... everything must combine speed, fluidity, aesthetics and originality."

More and more people all over the world practice philosophy of a free transportation in a city just by using their body’s abilities. They call themselves tracers. They make their traces along the Historical Centre, which turns out to be a little problem for a militzia (police) but there are no obstacles for a contemporary extreme heroes!

Events: Brit Art is Coming to St.Petersburg.

Till the end of December you have a chance to see Sam Taylor Wood’s exhibition at the Mikhajlovskij Castle. Sam Taylor Wood belongs to Young British Artists group. She is bringing her new video and photo works to St. Petersburg. Exhibition lasts till end of December, you are welcome to visit it during your Russian trip. Besides this, you can have a tour at Mikhajlovskij with RST guide and visit a room where Paul the 1st was killed according to one of the official court legends.

Concerts (Pavarotti, Bartolli, Rammstein, R.E.M.)

November turned out to be loved by famous singers from Italy to Germany. First part of the month was shared between Luciano Pavarotti and Cecilia Bartolli. Russians are big fans of classical music and enjoyed both of the concerts very much.

Luciano Pavarotti

Cecilla Bartolli

Rammstein

R.E.M.

However, the second part of a month was totally devoted to Rammstein. Fiery crazy show from cool German guys in Saint-Petersburg again!

On 26th November St.Petersburg’s Sport-Concert Complex shuddered from the indomitable energy of German pop-industrial music. Rammstein will present their new album “Reise Reise”. But their old well-known songs won’t be forgotten for sure!

And just in case not to be late… on the 27th of January 2005
R.E.M. are performing in St.Petersburg!!!

Russian Language Essay: Gde Ermitage, or How I Can Get To…

As you all might know St.Petersburg is a cultural capital of Russia. So, how you can find your way to this cultural heritage and stay cultured yourself.

Let’s start from the basic things: Hi/ Hello / How are you? – Privet/ Zdravstvujte.
If you say “how are you” to a Russian person, it’s more likely that you get a synopsis of the last 3 days of his life. Another polite word that you can use several times in a sentences is Pozgalujsta, in English it would mean “please” and “you are welcome”
at the same time. And the last word for a question would be “Gde”, meaning “where”. So, the whole phrase would be. “Zdravstvujte, skazgite, pozgalujsta, gde Ermitage?” Sorry, you need on more word “skazgite”, which is “say to me”. And Ermitage is a Russian, actually French, for Hermitage.

The other sightseeing places in Russian would be:
Russian Museum – Russkij Muzej
Palace Square – Dvortzovaja ploshad’
Peterhof – Petergof/ Petrodvoretz
Pushkin, Pavlovsk – the same
Summer Garden/Palace – Letnij Sad/ dvoretz
Kazanskij Cathedral – Kazanskij sobor

I think, this is the endless list, so if you want to know any specific places, I’ll be happy to translate it for you. After finishing with sightseeing you might want to get some food. I guess there’s no need to mention McDonalds…but you can just ask “Gde restoran?” (where is the restaurant) or kafe (cafeteria) or bistro (bistro). If you want just to get some drinks, then it’s better to repeat our fist lesson from the previous newsletter :).

And the last think you might ask “gde” is a taxi. Like in any other city, you don’t have to ask for a taxi, it will find you anyway. But if you’re brave enough to take a public transport, you should ask for a bus (avtoboos), trolleybus (trollejboos), tram (tramvaj) stop (ostanovka). Or if you want to experience St.Petersburg underground, which is considered to be one of the most beautiful undergrounds in the world, you should ask for metro. I hope this information will be enough to do sightseeing in St.Petersburg. Enjoy!
And the last thing I’d like to ask you, what would be your preference for the next topic of our Russian lesson?

News From RST/ EducaCentre

Have you ever celebrated a New Year Eve in a train? Have you? Well, you can experience it one more time in a Russian train. If you haven’t, you can still use a New Year’s special offer from a Russian Railroads Network. 50% OFF from any Night Train purchase during a New Year’s Eve.
RST can help you in booking the tickets, write us at travel@russian-st-petersburg.com

Russian For Specialists

Do you want to work or to study in Russian language? Your strong point can be Business, Marketing, Tourism, Politics, History, Culture, Literature and Teaching. Russian for Specialists is a tailor-made course; you can schedule it according to your needs. Our teachers are highly professional and experienced. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have more questions or want to get more details about it! Be able to talk about Politics and Business in Russian! Write us at rus@educacentre.net for details.

Velikij Novgorod

What is it famous for?
Velikij Novgorod is one of the oldest Russian cities. According to the chronicles it exists since the 9th century. Most of the remained buildings belong to the XXth century. However, you can find some historical places like the Kremlin (C12th) - the oldest medieval castle in Russia; the Cathedral of St Sophia (inside the Kremlin); churches of the medieval Trade Guilds of Novgorod, where you can enjoy the oldest ikons. You can also take a boat trip on Lake Ilmen, birth place of some Slavic people.

Where is it?
Novgorod is about 3 hours from St.Petersburg, so if you are in St.Petersburg take a chance to make a day trip to this authentic small Russian town.

How can I get there?
You can take a regular bus from the Bus Station in St. Petersburg. It's easy if you speak Russian. If not you might have some problems with the tickets and getting around. Of course, it can be part of you exotic Russian experience, BUT I would suggest another option. My colleagues from RST can help in organizing your trip, to make it more adequate and interesting. Since the 15th of January they start forming one-day group tours from St.Petersburg to Novgorod for the students and other people who are interested in Russian culture. You can sign up to one of these groups for summer 2005. Let me know if you want to join it and I will send you the schedule.

P.S. I guess it took me a while to finish this letter. We got snow every day now!
And it’s already -10°C (14 F). So, come and check it out!

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Best wishes from St. Petersburg, Peter will return ... in December 2004 issue of St. Pete, Russia Peter,  EducaCentre/Russian St.Petersburg Tours Team e-mail : peter@russian-st-petersburg.com Web : www.russian-st-petersburg.com Phone +7-812-974-0373  Fax +7-812-320-0181 87 Maly pr., Petrogradskadya storona, St. Petersburg, 197022, Russia