Russia Trip

Happy Monday, friends!

2 weeks ago in my Sisterhood of the World post I mentioned that I went to Russia for the Paralympics. One of my blogger friends, mentioned that I should post about it. I was excited about that idea because I want to remember this trip for the rest of my life. 

So, I was in Russia for about 2 weeks. We went primarily for the Sochi Paralympics event. Then after the Paralympics ended we went to Moscow. It was a very full trip so I'm just going to give my highlights rather than trying to recap the entire trip. 

Here are a few general thoughts on my experience with Russia:

1. Life is harder over there. I definitely returned home with an appreciation for all I have. 

2. The Russian people blew me away with how many of them spoke at least some English. 

3. People often asked if the people were nice to us since we were Americans. Yes and no. Some people were obsessed with us and would want to take pictures with us. Others, weren't so thrilled to see us.

4. It was a 2 week study abroad trip through Clemson so there are a lot of selfies with my trip friends :)

We started our trip in Sochi. We went to several Paralympic events such as skiing events, hockey (my personal favorite), and curling. 

Here's our group of ladies the first morning before heading to Olympic park. We stayed at a great, small hotel in Sochi. 

Us on the inside of Olympic Park.

My friend, Meredith, and I in front of the Paralympic symbol. It's equivalent to the Olympic rings. 

We also had the opportunity to go to the opening ceremony! We were in the same room as Puten...my claim to fame.

We always had lots of fun with the greeters that were throughout the park!

 

My favorite event was hockey. The men were such incredible athletes. It didn't hurt that America crushed Canada for the gold medal!

We had great seats!

We were able to see the athletes come in!

The night after America won the Gold medal in hockey we celebrated with a picture in front of the Olympic torch.

When we had some free time we walked along the Black Sea...

...and we went shopping.

This will probably make me sound so lame but whenever I travel abroad I like to go to a McDonalds. It's more for away to compare different countries. It started when I went to a McDonalds in France. So naturally, we enjoyed some french fries!

We went to a skiing event and it was kind of warm. I didn't end up needing my jacket. When we were there a sweet girl, Darya, came up to us because she was so eager to practice her English. Also, she wanted to have the opportunity to learn more about us. One of my favorite memories. She is such a sweet and smart little girl.

Then the next day we headed back up the mountain and it was FREEZING. It was snowing like crazy and it was miserably cold and wet. Not one of my favorite days.

Then we headed to Moscow. We just landed!

 We headed to Red Square. St. Basil's cathedral was absolutely stunning.

The buildings were so beautiful.

We went inside a church where women had to have their heads covered. 

 This is probably my favorite picture of the trip. I loved traveling with these ladies and the background really captures the beauty of Moscow. Shortly after this picture it started to softly snow. It was slightly magical.

Well this post just scrapes the surface of what I saw and did in Russia. It was an amazing trip that I'm forever grateful for.  Have a great day, everyone! xoxo