Fall Break Day 1: TRAIN!

One of the most fantastic things about the study abroad program at LCC International University is that they sponsor a fall break trip every semester for the study abroad students to go to RUSSIA! This trip took a lot of planning by the staff and I am so thankful that I was able to be a part of it. The adventure began in the beginning of the semester when we all had to get our pictures taken for our Russian visa application. We weren't allowed to smile, and we all agreed that we looked depressed and miserable. Once we were all approved for our visas we were all set to go to Russia by train. Yes, we took an overnight train 4:45pm-9:40am and it was AWESOME. Let's back up a moment. On our way to the train station in Riga, Lativa, we all stopped at the hill of crosses, which you can read about in the hyperlink.

This hill had thousands of crosses of every shape and size on it. We walked around for about a half hour and went on our way. We stopped to eat at LIDO, in Riga, where we had eaten last time we were there. Lunch ended in a surprise snowball attack on Emas, our trip leader. We still had about a hour to wander around Riga before our train left the station.

The group of 36 students piled on the train. We took up almost a whole carriage to ourselves. Since it was an overnight train we each had a fold out bed. We had a nice time just chatting with each other, playing card games, drinking tea, and preparing our minds for Russia. We had a few stops, including two boarder patrol stops, one before leaving Latvia, and one after entering Russia. It made us all nervous as we turned over our passports, hoping that our Russian visas would be sufficient to let us into their country. It was a little difficult to sleep. Probably a mixture between discomfort, extreme heat, and excitement for Russia. I woke up every 30 minutes thinking it should be morning already! In the morning we stripped our beds, had some more tea, and watched the snowy fields of Russia rush by us as we came ever closer to the Moscow station. To continue the story, see Fall Break Day 2: CIRCUS!