Hellmouth
For a few years, I was lucky enough to be able to fly standby for free or for a small fee due to my stepdad's job working as ground crew at an airport. The flight benefits ended when I turned 24, but I managed to take several trips before then.
For my first major trip, my dad and I went to St. Petersburg for a week. I had been casually studying Russian for a while, which got my dad interested in Russian as well. This was the first time my dad and I had ever left the country, so it was a very exciting/terrifying trip. We spent a couple days just wandering the Hermitage Museum and then went to see a ballet performance at the Mariinsky Theatre. We also visited the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood, which was very beautiful and elaborate. We went to a few other museums and a cat cafe. This trip convinced me to study Russian at university!
This was my first trip by myself. I flew to London and spent a day walking around the Victoria and Albert Museum before taking the train to Canterbury and spending five days there. I mostly just relaxed and walked around. I visited the ruins of Canterbury Castle, built in the 12th century, and Westgate, a 14th-century gatehouse/museum. I also visited Canterbury Cathedral and a bunch of other old churches and cemeteries. It was raining for most of this trip, but that kinda added to the comfiness.
This was a family trip with my parents and my stepdad. The first half I spent in Haarlem, and then my dad and I took the train to Ghent. On the way to Ghent, we stayed for a day in Den Bosch, Hieronymus Bosch's birthplace. All of these places were super beautiful. Den Bosch had a museum dedicated to Bosch, which had some drawings I had never seen and some other cool artwork based on Bosch. The town also had some statues of Bosch's creatures hidden around. Ghent was absolutely stunning and full of historical architecture. My dad and I went into the main cathedral and accidentally stayed for mass. We're not religious and don't speak Dutch, so we had no idea what was going on, but it was very beautiful.
I had been studying Russian at university for a couple years and, in 2019, decided to try a study abroad program in St. Petersburg. It was an amazing time! We studied Russian language more in depth for three months at the Smolny Convent while living with Russian families. We packed so much into those three months. I spent more time at the Hermitage, visited Peterhof Palace and Catherine Palace, and saw several musical and theatre performances. Several of us took a train to Moscow for a weekend as well. I had planned to go to Novgorod but didn't end up having time. This trip was where I met my partner, who was also studying abroad.
On my way home from Russia, my parents met up with me for five days in Tbilisi, Georgia, and then a couple days in Istanbul. Tbilisi was unbelievably beautiful and full of history. And cats. I ate a lot of food on this trip. Georgian food is one of my most favourite things in the world. Istanbul was also beautiful and full of cats. I'd love to go back and spend more time there someday.
My friend and I went to LA for a convention celebrating Xena's 25th anniversary. This convention was meant to happen in 2020 but was obviously postponed due to the pandemic. I was never that interested in going to LA before, but it was really beautiful and a lot of fun. For some reason the only pictures I took are of the cemetery, which was full of cats, peacocks, and swans. I have pics of our cosplays for the convention here.
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