Wedding post

I feel like this post is not going to do this whole experience justice but I can't write a whole book on a blog page. I am just going to hit some of the highlights and leave the rest for another time. We arrived in St Petersburg after a week of sun in Greece. It was in the 40's when we got there at 11pm (after a trial and a half getting through the Moscow airport...but that's another whole blog post) so it was a bit of a shock.

We got to the apartment we were renting for the week, which was in downtown St Petersburg by all the cool buildings and historical sites. The building was run down but the apartment did not disappoint. The whole place had been completely and wonderfully remodeled by an architect with a flair for lighting. There were these really cool lights behind layers of ceiling and wall...very creative and modern. It was clean and the beds were very comfortable, granite coutertops, tile showers, the works! We were really lucky to find it since most of the hotels in Russia are a mixed bag to be sure! So we lived in style the whole time we were there.

We spent the first day just getting acquainted with our surroundings and then traveling over to Polina's parents on the metro for a beautiful dinner. Polina's parents, her brother and his wife and little girl were all there. There were 10 of us around the table...(the most they had ever sat at dinner they said). You could tell they had cooked all day for this dinner. I was overwhelmed with all the wonderful food and graciousness of Polina's great family! We know now why Polina is such a sweet and loving person, her parents are so giving.

We stayed several hours and were made to feel so welcome. The language barrier was not really a problem since Polina, her mother, her brother, and her sis-in-law all speak some English. Her father could not speak much English but he made up for it getting Polina to translate. He toasted us several times and played his accordian for us! I can't say enough about this dinner. I was blown away. They even had coffee and little chocolates, cakes, etc at the end of it. Everything so well thought out and delicious. We left feeling very full in our hearts as well as our tummies, I can tell you!

The next day we spent walking around St petersburg. We visited many beautiful places and took more pictures than we can count. Around every corner was an even grander building or structure. The build up of St Petersburg took place in the late 1700's early 1800's and no expence was spared! Copper roofs, statuary on top of buildings, on the face of buildings, in the intersections...anywhere you looked, there was a beautiful statue or iron work.

Parks and squares where people gather are beautifully maintained. Here we are in front of one of the most spectacular buildings I've ever seen...Cathedral on the spilled blood...named after a martyr. There is also a series of canals going through the city that is just beautiful...all stone work. The sidewalks downtown are all granite blocks and crews are constantly replacing cracked ones or working on the facades of the buildings. Several construction zones downtown snarled traffic while we were there. There is only so much you can take in when you are in a place like this. You would need months to do it justice. But we got the flavor of the place at least.

next day...Here we are before the wedding. We are in a palace...a grand home that an aristocrat built in the 1800's that has been restored. They hold events in it now. We are waiting for Polina to arrive here.This is the room they were married in. This is Polina's father of course, walking her down the isle. We were a very small party..about 25 guests in all but it didn't seem to make any difference to us. Polina's grandmother is sitting in the background to the right. She was such a warm and affectionate lady. She spoke Russian to us and just hugged and hugged us. (Unfortunately, Polina's grandfather was not feeling well so he was unable to make the trip from their smaller town to the wedding).The giving away of the bride...they both look so happy! There is Polina's sis-in-law Tatiana with baby Polinka in the lower right cornerThere was a small reception right after the ceremony and we all visited and got to know each other a little better. This has to be the sweetest picture I took. Polinka is looking at her dress and seems to be thinking how she looks like Aunt Polina. She let me hold her during some of this time and we went around looking at flowers. At one point she saw Polina in the other room and pointed to her with her little lower lip out and a crease between her brows and said "POOOLLLLY!" as though she wanted her aunt to hold her and get her away from this strange lady that was holding her. (Polina's nickname is Polly in the family).After the ceremony and small reception, we all got into the Hummer limo that was waiting for us. It took us around to some of the more famous sites in St Petersburg and let us out to walk and take pictures with the couple. This is a tradition in Russia. I was glad I bought those shoes I mentioned before because we walked a lot! It was very fun and we all got to know each other even better. By the time we headed to the larger reception, we were all laughing and having fun with each other...no feelings of being among strangers at all. Polina's cousins were with us in the limo and we got to know them pretty well too.This is the reception hall we ended up in after the limo ride...another wonderful old palace with a history of being a headquarters for the cavalry or some such. The table was set beautifully and the food was very good. We tried everything and everything was delicious. We ate and drank and ate some more!There were several games and traditions that we participated in...this one is where the bride and groom break bread together...the one that comes away with the biggest piece basically "wears the pants in the family"...so this is the reaction they had to Polina breaking off more than 80% of the bread! Tatiana got up at that point and broke off about half and gave it back to Jasper. We were all dying laughing.There they are during dinner...so sweet together.The tradition of cutting the cake is the same in Russia and it was also very good cake! We were all in the lower level of the building at this point with a DJ and lots of good music and goofing around. They made Kevin get up along with several other men and wear feathers and tutus and do a dance...I have the pictures to blackmail him with if he ever gets out of line...but I won't show that here or what leverage would I have? I really can't tell you how wonderful this experience was. I know I could write a lot more. Just the fact that we were all there together was so precious to me and Kevin. A trip of a lifetime and the beginning of a wonderful family life for Jasper and Polina! We can't wait to host Polina's family here in the USA. We want them to come here and go to the cabin with us...see Yellowstone...see Boise where their daughter is making a home.

We returned via Athens a day and a half after the wedding and we were all exhausted. I posted some pictures of that brief time in Athens in my last post. It took 20 hours of travel time (including layovers) to get back to Boise. I must say I was so glad to get home! It's great having adventures and all but it really makes you appreciate what you have.

Ok, I will stop this post and go make dinner. I really wanted to get this down though since the longer I delay, the dimmer the memories get! The reception here in Boise is October 9th so we have that to look forward to. I will post more then.