Keep in mind, nobody (other than the parents) knew what was coming at the start. Everything (except that we were getting on a bus) was a suprise, even to the bride and groom.
The night started at 5 PM with a bus ride to a large party boat. The groups were split in to two, so there were actually two boats, but we didn't see where the other boat took off from (we had different busses). We found later that there were technically three boats, as the wedding party (bride, groom, best man, and maid of honor) had their own boat as well (much smaller). The boat was very flat, but s
eated around 50 people, and was decked out with a disco theme and a guy in the corner playing accordian. Champagne, vodka, crepes, stuffed rolls were served as appetizers as we started to tour through the rivers of St. Petersburg. Our host for the night was a magician who spoke no english so the boat had an interpreter. It was pretty funny seeing the guy crack a joke, break out laughing, and then have to hand the mic to the interpreter who most certainly lost some of the humor in translation. Still funny, but the magician was seriously cracking up at his own jokes. I was part of the grand finale, where I was put in a trick coat and the guy used his hands from behind my back to do tricks. The hightlight and grand finale was him tucking a handkerchief in my pants and then pulling it out with a pair of panties attached. You should check out the video to see it all!At an interlude, we got satches of food, because "when you start on a journey, you have to have some food!" They contained bread, cheese, some pickles, and an onion. We stuck to the crepes. Girls were given sailor things for their necks, and men were given sailor tee-shirts (sleeveless, white with blue stripes like popeye). We didn't all put them on.
We caught up with the other boat and were greeted by six people on bicycles with whistles and angel wings. Small fireworks set were set off and then we turned away. We heard the angels go past (blowing their whistles), but thought they were going away. It took us a few minutes, but they were followinig us! At every bridge, they would put on some sort of show, including dancing, small fireworks, and other hilarious things. They were basically mimes with whistles, and their show (going from bridge to bridge) lasted about 30 minutes. No pictures of this, but you have to try and imagine 6 people with overcoats and angel wings racing past us on bikes to get to the next bridge and then performing a show while we passed. Total shows were probably around 15-20.
We went out on to the main river (the Neva), and set up with the other boat across from us. We were instructed to retrieve a white pidgeon (a "dove") from a box and hold it (yes, they were alive and pooping). Caroline and I declined the honor. We were also told to step away from the cannon, as it was going to go off soon. Yes. A cannon. The wedding party boat showed up and headed between the two large boats. When they were between us, they were given a 3 shot salute from each boat and all of the "doves" were released from each boat at the same time that Victoria (the bride) and Jamie (the groom) released theirs from the middle boat. It was pretty neat, all of the birds immediately flocked together and circled the boats. We continued our boat ride as a group of three. 
We continued on, and then were asked to go out to the top of the boat so we could see the celebration site as we approached. The whistling biker mimes were there and had changed costume. They were waving stick like flags at us and smiling enthusiastically. The welcoming show was insane - there were these women IN tables -- standing in the center like a centerpiece, or like the table was a large skirt. There were also women standing in the top of these super tall domes, we don't even know what they were. We got off the boat, and headed inside. Part 2 will come later!
No comments:
Post a Comment