Sydney

So the Sydney part is still missing. Here we go:

As Sydney was completely crowded and it was impossible or unreasonable expensive to find a place to stay, I just couchsurfed my week there. Most of the time I've just done sightseeing, must have walked a hundred miles during that week, but it was definitely worth it as I saw a lot.

Obiviously I had to post a picture of the skyline with the famous Opera and Harbour Bridge. Both are quite impressive, especially the opera at night. Other interesting places to go to are Darling Harbour (also by night) and Chinatown, loads of good food there.

The Harbour Bridge was also one major highlight at New Year's when a massive firework took place in the harbour area, that was really impressive!!! And definitely worth waiting for it all day, we had to get there at 10am to queue to get in.

I've also been to the zoo, which is on the other side of the harbour and therefore has some magnificent views of the city.
Once you're down in Sydney you can't miss out the super-crowded beaches, where you sometimes actually have to queue an hour to get the bus back. Here is a picture of Bondi Beach.

A good, cheap and effective way to move around town, are the ferries, especially the ones close to the Harbour Bridge as you get awesome views from there.
And for those who wanna dive back into time, they should visit the Luna Park, which was opened over 80 years ago.

St. Petersburg

As unpleasant as Moscow was, the better is St. Peterburg. People are much friendlier here and, the best part, there is lots of interesting stuff to do and see over here. Besides the usual work we had to do, including lectures, bustours, etc., we went to some pretty interesting museums, like the 'Ermitage'. That is the biggest Museum in Russia and totally worth visiting. Another recommendable place is 'Peterhof', a suburb of St. Petersburg. Special about this place is a castle that was built there. From the size it is comparable to Verssailles, with huge parks.

But back to St. Petersburg, the city itself is much more beautiful than Moscow, which just felt crowed and ugly.... Nightlife here is also quite fun. The other night we went to a club, where everybody is dressed in bunny-costumes, so we got ears at the entrance, and they celebrate New Year ever night. That was really a weird place to be, but big fun, like the whole night. We continued to 4 plus X other clubs and came back at 5... which was not smartest idea, when you have to get up at 8 for lectures... but, who cares???

Unfortunately our time in St. Petersburg is almost over. Today is our last day, before we will be going back to Germany tomorrow. Once back again, pictures will follow, until then:

с Новым годом!!!