Bye from everyone and Delara and Ben(The bloggers below:)
Friday, 21 February 2014
Afternoon England!
Hello everyone, we're back and waiting for the coach, been a great trip and many thanks to the teachers.
Thursday, 20 February 2014
Day 7
Yes, all good things do come to an end. Yesterday was our last full day and just as packed as the others, so on we go:
Our day started with a stop at Finland Station to see the sealed train carriage that Lenin arrived in, when he returned to Russia 1917 from Switzerland. Then, we all went to a massive statue of Lenin doing a rather interesting pose, and the keen eyed among us spotted that Ethan Stacey looked uncannily like the Communist leader himself in the photo.
Another short journey on the coach took us to the Russian WW2 memorial for those who died in the 900 day German siege of St Petersburg. Once again Mr Dickens was there to give his blend of intensity and respect which had us all stunned, especially when we saw the kilometre wide park of mass graves full of just some of the 670,000 that died during the two and half years.
Very frantic lunchtime with everyone running around Nevsky Prospect looking for souvenirs to take back to England. The Winter Palace was next on the agenda with its massive, spectacular golden visuals and its fantastic Hermitage museum of art was a wondrous sight to behold. Spanning three building - every single exhibit that was there would have taken someone seven years to view all of it.
On our way to the Folklore show, we made a quick stop at a statue of Peter the Great, the founder of St Petersburg. The show was great fun with a Russian version of a barbershop Quartet. Much to the delight of everyone, Dickens' recommendation of sitting on the front row because 'that was where our seats were' lead to three of our boys, Harrison Costi, Elliot Ward and Lucas Crumb, going on stage and strutting their stuff with some Russian women.
To end a great trip, a classy five course dinner at the Palace where the show was held had been organised for us with live music, decorated chairs, the works! The food wasn't quite to everyone's taste but it was the experience that counted. The coach back was full of high spirits with sing-a-long chants such as 'One Pint Wardy' just as earlier in the week when we were singing Jerusalem.
Drinks back at the hotel finished a good day, along with Rob Parker, Jacob Sparrow, Ethan Stacey and Sam Grants own makeshift rendition of a ballet back at the hotel. And now we have half a day left then journey to England, see you there! We are going to miss you Russia!
Our day started with a stop at Finland Station to see the sealed train carriage that Lenin arrived in, when he returned to Russia 1917 from Switzerland. Then, we all went to a massive statue of Lenin doing a rather interesting pose, and the keen eyed among us spotted that Ethan Stacey looked uncannily like the Communist leader himself in the photo.
Another short journey on the coach took us to the Russian WW2 memorial for those who died in the 900 day German siege of St Petersburg. Once again Mr Dickens was there to give his blend of intensity and respect which had us all stunned, especially when we saw the kilometre wide park of mass graves full of just some of the 670,000 that died during the two and half years.
Very frantic lunchtime with everyone running around Nevsky Prospect looking for souvenirs to take back to England. The Winter Palace was next on the agenda with its massive, spectacular golden visuals and its fantastic Hermitage museum of art was a wondrous sight to behold. Spanning three building - every single exhibit that was there would have taken someone seven years to view all of it.
On our way to the Folklore show, we made a quick stop at a statue of Peter the Great, the founder of St Petersburg. The show was great fun with a Russian version of a barbershop Quartet. Much to the delight of everyone, Dickens' recommendation of sitting on the front row because 'that was where our seats were' lead to three of our boys, Harrison Costi, Elliot Ward and Lucas Crumb, going on stage and strutting their stuff with some Russian women.
To end a great trip, a classy five course dinner at the Palace where the show was held had been organised for us with live music, decorated chairs, the works! The food wasn't quite to everyone's taste but it was the experience that counted. The coach back was full of high spirits with sing-a-long chants such as 'One Pint Wardy' just as earlier in the week when we were singing Jerusalem.
Drinks back at the hotel finished a good day, along with Rob Parker, Jacob Sparrow, Ethan Stacey and Sam Grants own makeshift rendition of a ballet back at the hotel. And now we have half a day left then journey to England, see you there! We are going to miss you Russia!
Wednesday, 19 February 2014
Day 6
Day 6 was pretty awesome, nice and relaxed tours for the day were just as much fun as they were insightful.
To start off, our school group was split in half and taken to two different locations for tours. First stop, museum of Political history. A very important building to our school course as it was the Bolshevik headquarters for a time including 1917. As well as this, we went inside and saw the offices of Lenin and the balcony from which he gave speeches to all his devoted followers. Dr Coke-Woods underestimated the delicacy of the rooms, setting off the 'do not touch' alarm a few too many times.
Meanwhile, the other group boarded the battle ship Aurora, and soaked up the enormity of both the ship and it's significance in Russian history. It managed to be one of the only surviving battleships from the Russo-Japanese war, which played a big role in the 1905 revolution - and also fired the warning shot in October 1917 to signify the beginning of the Bolshevik takeover of the Winter Palace and Petrograd (St Petersburg).
We had some free time at lunch which was expertly used for some Russian pancakes and souvenir shopping to give to the parents. Unfortunately for Lucas, it was too late before he realised that his 'traditional' Russian vinegar that he wanted to give to his mum was, at a second glance, italian balsamic vinegar.
After this, the building which hosted the murder of Ra-ra-Rasputin in its basement, Yusupov Palace. Much to everyone's surprise, there were freeze-frames in some rooms of plastic dummy's depicting scenes from the night of the murder which were particularly unnerving.
Once it got dark, we headed to Nevsky prospect, the main street in the city for a very well told story telling tour from Mr Dickens and Dr Coke-Woods. With as much passion and vigour as Lenin in 1917, the Doctor's words rang in our ears, raising spirits and saying 'All power to the Soviets!', which at one point had us convinced that Lenin had been reborn. In sharp contrast, Mr Dickens spoke softly and intensely about the tragic affairs of Bloody Sunday, which took place outside the Winter Palace which we were in. We thank both teachers for their awesome tours and also to Mrs P and Miss Morris for our pleasant wake up calls every morning.
Off for a folklore show tonight, exciting stuff, see you tomorrow.
To start off, our school group was split in half and taken to two different locations for tours. First stop, museum of Political history. A very important building to our school course as it was the Bolshevik headquarters for a time including 1917. As well as this, we went inside and saw the offices of Lenin and the balcony from which he gave speeches to all his devoted followers. Dr Coke-Woods underestimated the delicacy of the rooms, setting off the 'do not touch' alarm a few too many times.
Meanwhile, the other group boarded the battle ship Aurora, and soaked up the enormity of both the ship and it's significance in Russian history. It managed to be one of the only surviving battleships from the Russo-Japanese war, which played a big role in the 1905 revolution - and also fired the warning shot in October 1917 to signify the beginning of the Bolshevik takeover of the Winter Palace and Petrograd (St Petersburg).
We had some free time at lunch which was expertly used for some Russian pancakes and souvenir shopping to give to the parents. Unfortunately for Lucas, it was too late before he realised that his 'traditional' Russian vinegar that he wanted to give to his mum was, at a second glance, italian balsamic vinegar.
After this, the building which hosted the murder of Ra-ra-Rasputin in its basement, Yusupov Palace. Much to everyone's surprise, there were freeze-frames in some rooms of plastic dummy's depicting scenes from the night of the murder which were particularly unnerving.
Once it got dark, we headed to Nevsky prospect, the main street in the city for a very well told story telling tour from Mr Dickens and Dr Coke-Woods. With as much passion and vigour as Lenin in 1917, the Doctor's words rang in our ears, raising spirits and saying 'All power to the Soviets!', which at one point had us convinced that Lenin had been reborn. In sharp contrast, Mr Dickens spoke softly and intensely about the tragic affairs of Bloody Sunday, which took place outside the Winter Palace which we were in. We thank both teachers for their awesome tours and also to Mrs P and Miss Morris for our pleasant wake up calls every morning.
Tuesday, 18 February 2014
Day Chitri (4) & 5
Hello again! Long time no see, lots of stuff to get through so here we go...
Bowling in the evening of Monday was great fun, special mention to Ed Palmer for the highest score out of everyone over the hour. Split into teams of roughly six, everyone liked the slower pace of the bowling to the intensity of the holiday so far.
Then came the overnight train. And it was definitely just as cramped as everyone had anticipated. The corridors for each room were half a human wide - especially coupled with the distinct aroma (stench) of many boys in the same area... Luckily, sleep came easier than expected and no one was left in the train.
Then, a drowsy 40 students had their first breakfast in St Petersburg and to everyone's delight the city was slightly colder yet just as spectacular visually. Although as much as he wanted to say this, Josh Lloyd's voice cracks and lost voice rendered him incapable of such a thing.
After breakfast, a relaxing sightseeing tour followed with our new guide. We even got to see 9 bridges in one spot! (-.-). A much rushed lunch meant that we could have some time at the hotel after stopping by the Smolny Institute.
Showers at the hotels were a welcome relief compared to those at the Cosmos in Moscow. At dinner time everyone was in much higher spirits and some pretty classy clothing as we were off to the ballet. The storyline wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but no one could deny that the music and dancing were amazing.
Looking forward to our first full day in St Petersburg! Sorry it was a bit rushed - breakfast is a very important meal!
Ben and Delara signing out
Bowling in the evening of Monday was great fun, special mention to Ed Palmer for the highest score out of everyone over the hour. Split into teams of roughly six, everyone liked the slower pace of the bowling to the intensity of the holiday so far.
Then came the overnight train. And it was definitely just as cramped as everyone had anticipated. The corridors for each room were half a human wide - especially coupled with the distinct aroma (stench) of many boys in the same area... Luckily, sleep came easier than expected and no one was left in the train.
Then, a drowsy 40 students had their first breakfast in St Petersburg and to everyone's delight the city was slightly colder yet just as spectacular visually. Although as much as he wanted to say this, Josh Lloyd's voice cracks and lost voice rendered him incapable of such a thing.
After breakfast, a relaxing sightseeing tour followed with our new guide. We even got to see 9 bridges in one spot! (-.-). A much rushed lunch meant that we could have some time at the hotel after stopping by the Smolny Institute.
Showers at the hotels were a welcome relief compared to those at the Cosmos in Moscow. At dinner time everyone was in much higher spirits and some pretty classy clothing as we were off to the ballet. The storyline wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but no one could deny that the music and dancing were amazing.
Looking forward to our first full day in St Petersburg! Sorry it was a bit rushed - breakfast is a very important meal!
Ben and Delara signing out
Monday, 17 February 2014
Sunday, 16 February 2014
Day tri (3)
Although we had a "lie in" yesterday, it was still a difficult morning at the history museum reminiscent of those first school periods on a Monday. Our completely fascinating guided tours, which gave us a completely fascinating deeper insight into the February revolution 1917, was the part of this trip most relevant to our course, which was completely fascinating.
Next, was lunch at the manège shopping centre just by Red Square. This was our first real taste of Russian food (well, Russian fast food).
Next, to the boiling anger of many Russian art enthusiasts, we managed to queue jump around 500 places into warmth of the New Tretyakob art gallery where we examined te changing cultural art that came with the commencement of Communism. Many of the pieces had very inspired titles, such as "woman with red hat" or "a glass of milk".
Dinner at the hotel followed, then a walk around the park of economic achievement. Although morale was low, everyone feeling lethargic, all that was needed was a inspirational speech from the almightey Dr Coke-Woods. Violent fist movements and changing tones of voice added with the soviet rocket were used to spur up the troops reminiscent of Lenin, next he'll be asking to be buried in the Kremlin wall. We salute you sir #cokewoodsarmy #beepbeepbeep.
Lucas also got the chance for some traditional Russian dancing in the square.
Signing off, See you in St Petersburg, bye!
Saturday, 15 February 2014
Day 2
Hello again,
Busy day yesterday but here are some of the highlights:
Returning to Red Square, all got the opportunity to enter Lenin's Mausoleum, which all thought was spectacular yet creepy. Lying in a glass coffin, at 16 degrees celsius, some questioned whether it was actually his body as he looked quite wax like. Going back onto Red Square, our tour guide, Natasha, told us a bit more about its history, which involved many mass protests, stapling of some testicles to the ground in protest, mass church services and army parades.
The other side of Red Square (opposite the Kremlin), hosted the famous Goom shopping centre, which during the time of the communists was meant to be a symbol of equality but ended up split into the levels of hierarchy of Russia at that time. Sam Grants attempts at buying a hot chocolate failed as he peered over te counter and saw a pot of chocolate sludge in a cup. Whilst Robin Franklin's keen eye spotted a rather fetching and aesthetically questionable Russian hat whilst there, which we thought made him look a bit like some sort of communist dictator.
Next was a trip to the gravestones of the most famous Russian artists, generals, musicians, politicians, clowns, and others. Shown in the pictures are the gravestone of a heart surgeon, with hands holding a red crystal to symbolise his life's work. Also the black and white gravestones shows the different sides to a morally questionable politician (kruschev).
Finally, the circus was probably the most interesting, thrilling, almostwatchingsomeonedyingandtryingnottojumpoutofyourseating experience of the day.
It entailed watching many amazing tricks, and by the end of the show about 8 tigers and 3 lions were on stage (although heavily drugged) doing some pretty awesome stuff. Oh, and the teachers got their faces painted during the interval #cokewoodsarmy.
See you tomorrow!
See you tomorrow!
Friday, 14 February 2014
Day 1
Hi all,
All are waking up lethargic this morning after a late night in the town looking at St Basil's Cathedral, Red Square (or as we have found out in Russian is called "Beautiful square").
Today, we will visit the Lenin mausoleum. There are many unanswered questions about Lenin such as, "Is he still squishy?" and "Will he be wearing any clothes?" - We all hope the answers won't be too horrific.
In the picture, everyone is in front of "St Basil's Cathedral" - where legend goes that the ruler that had it built, was said to be so terrible that he blinded the architect that made it so nothing so beautiful would ever be built again.
The weather here has been disappointingly warm with temperatures around +3 to 4 degrees celsius and going out in t-shirts and coats for most of us.
Drama newsflash: After some worry Gemma Thomas' suitcase which was picked up by the wrong person at the airport has been tracked down and will be collected today for the ease and relief of all involved in this flying fiasco (Gemma's dad, don't worry every things fine now).
New section of the Blog: Russian word of the day: "Prevyet" - Hi (informal) - the word used to greet people that we know.
Ben and Delara signing out, see you tomorrow!
All are waking up lethargic this morning after a late night in the town looking at St Basil's Cathedral, Red Square (or as we have found out in Russian is called "Beautiful square").
Today, we will visit the Lenin mausoleum. There are many unanswered questions about Lenin such as, "Is he still squishy?" and "Will he be wearing any clothes?" - We all hope the answers won't be too horrific.
In the picture, everyone is in front of "St Basil's Cathedral" - where legend goes that the ruler that had it built, was said to be so terrible that he blinded the architect that made it so nothing so beautiful would ever be built again.
The weather here has been disappointingly warm with temperatures around +3 to 4 degrees celsius and going out in t-shirts and coats for most of us.
Drama newsflash: After some worry Gemma Thomas' suitcase which was picked up by the wrong person at the airport has been tracked down and will be collected today for the ease and relief of all involved in this flying fiasco (Gemma's dad, don't worry every things fine now).
New section of the Blog: Russian word of the day: "Prevyet" - Hi (informal) - the word used to greet people that we know.
Ben and Delara signing out, see you tomorrow!
We have arrived!
Signs of snow, but here we are, 4 degrees - practically tropical, hello Russia! #cokewoodsarmy
Thursday, 13 February 2014
Airport
Bags checked in, in to duty free, time for Lucas Crumb to overspend in Bulgari and Ralph Lauren #cokewoodsarmy
Final goodbyes
Everyone's boarding the coach and final goodbyes from the parents! Goodbye TBSHS. #cokewoodsarmy
The Night before...
Excitement is building as we count down the hours to board the plane! Final checks on the suitcases for everyone then off we're going
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)