USC International Summer Session in Moscow

A park-museum in Moscow that remembers Peter the Great has beautiful views and is full of surprises.

You can find a 17th century Russian wedding and even be a part of it.

Another beautiful park-museum in Moscow with lakes and remnants of a splendid palace. It was almost finished when Catherine the Great came to look at it, disliked it and ordered to stop construction. It's amazing that it still looks good!

The bridges are the most beautiful part of the complex and some pavilions function as concert halls.

We were there at a salon music concert, invited by our Russian teachers.

Rachel had her birthday in Moscow.

A two-day trip to Suzdal many of us thought was one of the best experiences of the trip. This small medieval town was not touched for centuries. History is so rich here, you almost can breathe it. Peace, quietness, birds singing made us philosophical; excellent hotel and restaurants made us happy.

Ivan Kupala is an ancient pagan Russian holiday. It is believed that on the night of Ivan Kupala you should cleanse yourself jumping across the fire, that all the treasures hidden in earth can be found. Girls make flower wreaths and throw them in the water. If the the wreath floats away, the girl will have a long life. If it sinks, she will die. We did not throw the wreaths into the water, but saw the holiday!

We visited many museums and galleries, saw Kremlin and Red Square, visited more than 10 theaters and concerts, walked along the main streets of Moscow and even went to the famous historic cemetary, Novodevichie. We know Moscow as "our five fingers" (that's how Russians say it) and we love Moscow metro that took us everywhere.

We had enjoyable projects exploring banks and galleries, architectural designs and markets, interviewing Russian students, creating decorations for Checkov's plays. We were at the presentation of Prof. Zholkovsky's new book in Moscow. We talked to Russian veterans of WWII. We had dance and culinary sessions. We had fun!