Saint Petersburg, Russia Mid June 2014, 'White Nights'

Saint Petersburg, Russia Mid June 2014, 'White Nights'



June 19 Helsinki, Finland

Two alarms go off at 4:15 in the morning. Our plan to store Daisy in a hotel garage and catch a cab to the train station goes smoothly with the support of Crowne Plaza employees. At 5:10 on a very cold morning, we reach the train station and wait for boarding time breakfasting on croissants, coffee and a hard boiled egg in a station coffee shop. Then we board the train with lots of tourists. Fifth car, seats 9 & 10, roomy and comfortable. We are off down the tracks, soon leaving behind any trace of city replaced by scattered farms and small homes. Russia. My pretty temporary white passport sets off a few alarms and questioning looks. Three times I have had to show it to officials. We are traveling through forests and lakes, shorter trees. Lupine spreads though grassy areas, blooms of purple and pink. Now a customs check. We have nothing to declare and carry only backpacks. Oh, oh. Another passport check. Another person is called to confer with the official about my temporary document. Finally it is stamped!

At the St. Petersburg station we hail an old Russian-made taxi (with Aleksandr) to take us to one of this city's Crowne Plazas, our 4-star hotel. Even after talking to him about price before getting into his cab, we are charged too much. The hotel is close to what we want to see. Walking distance or short rides on trams. It is a beautiful city, all hustle and bustle. We walked the wide main street this afternoon, about 3 km. People are so helpful, even without us asking, they jump in to see what they can do. We would like to find a ballet performance of course, but without reserving a place there is no room for us. Don Quixote is at the Mikhailovsky Theatre and Anna Karennia at the famous Mariinsky Theatre. All seats are taken by tour groups from the train and the cruise ships tied up at dock. So, a concert. Where shall we start to look? A local lady, out shopping, leads us to a concert hall and spends time talking to the consierge. So helpful. Soon we have tickets for two performances, one tonight and the other the next evening, and a voucher for the Hermitage tomorrow.

The concert is good, a performance of choir and symphony celebrating the centenary of Kudryavtseva's birthday, the first Russian female conductor/director. I love every bit of it. The hall itself is light and bright, white with butter yellow and pink accents. Organ pipes are the center stage background. Each side of the hall has 12 glossy white tall columns topped with leafy corinthian capitals. Eight glass chandaliers fill the ceiling. At 9:30 pm we come out the doors to pure daylight. In fact I need my sunglasses!

As I write from the hotel room and watch the streets below at 11:15 pm...they are filled with folks loving this time of 'white nights' and I peek through the curtains periodically all night and find that the happiness (and thankfullness?) of these long long days continues through until morning. I feel so lucky to 'happen' here at this time.




June 20

A full day. Breakfast at the hotel. There is something here for anyone on this earth and their customs! Beans and grilled tomatoes for the British, fish for the Finns, bacon and fried potatoes for the North Americans, sausage for the Germans. And lots of people to watch.

We walk the central city again, our eyes catching everything we can. A soldier and his girl walk past, she is wearing his military hat... majorettes on the streets, shopping in their perky uniforms... the men of one family wear phony Russian fur hats. Many nicely demonstrative couples. Lots of smiles and laughter. Style concious people. Faces are all so interesting from far reaches of the world. Pretty women, some very Russian, some with the Siberian look. Traffic is very bad. Buskers are very good. Police everywhere but just there to help, not intimidating.

We take a bus to the Hermitage. Riding the bus is a pleasure. A ticket seller on board takes care of us, we do not have to try to figure out the price, the machine, the transfers etc. The ticket seller and the bus driver watch out for everyone...happily telling us what stop to get off at. Our experience so far has been so positive. These St. Petersburg ordinary folks are so nice.

Because of the voucher we received yesterday, we do not have to stand in the long ticket line. But, oh, there are way too many people here at a most famous art museum, rivaling the Louve and the British Museum. A huge and gorgeous monumental building, but when we get inside it is hard to see its beauty around all the colliding people. Pushing, pulling and noise. It was not the experience that I was hoping for (I think the popularity of bus, train and cruise tours have taken away the romance and excitement for the rest of us, and maybe for them). I was quite rattled. But through it all I get some good shots of art pieces from the 7th to 1st century BC; glass, metals, gold, intricate sophisticated carvings and Siberian jewelry of malacite. Also, thin sheets of malacite are glued to wood or other similar common substances to make it look like massive carved pieces of green malacite. Our tour leader was a scream. Older lady, though probably younger than me...not pretty, bad teeth and bad breath...but she really knew her stuff passionately. “I can only show you so much. I am a very busy woman,” she says. I wonder, 'How do these older women wear shoes with high heels working all day at being docents?'

We move on alone. I see Gauguin, Van Gogh (colors and technique!), Cezanne, Vuillard, Renoir, Seurat, Pissarro, Monet, Manet, Bonnard, Dufy, Andre Derain and Kees van Dougen. Whew! That group never fails to thrill. And I have never seen originals of any of these particular paintings. Up stairs, down stairs, halls going here and there. Some exhibit rooms were a quiet relief, maybe not part of the tour itineraries. And then, we had had enough. We leave this place that we had waited a lifetime to see.

We decide to walk back to our symphony concert tonight, stopping for a bowl of borsht and a Thai salad. We needed this rest! Museums can wear one out. Drain all energy.

A Classics Concert tonight. The conductor did a lot of instructive talking which we could not understand but it didn't matter. The music was lovely. The second half was filled with gems...bits of many wonderful pieces demonstrating something? We took the bus home tonight. Have walked enough. Tonight we are in bed a tiny bit earlier, pulling the shade to block the daylight hoping to get enough sleep to fully function here one more day!




June 21

The longest day of the year. We discuss the meaning of communism. David says that in general, communism might have been a noble idea but as so often happens the leaders ruin a good idea, in this case ruling with an iron hand. During this morning's '4-star' breakfast we hear bird calls singing from all around the room and get to listen to our old familiar robin warble for a good 15 minutes and then we are out the door.

Some THOUGHTS and OBSERVATIONS of this day...

> Bag ladies on the streets, sad but 'street cozy' as only a woman can do!

> Cute babies in strollers and buggies, often pushed by fathers. Families are out together.

> We stand on a street corner waiting to cross, and talk with an Australian family who have just arrived for three weeks. They haven't found their hotel yet.

> Familiar balloons twisted into animals are here also. And cotton candy.

> All the outdoor buskers are good. We enjoyed jazz and a young talented girl on classical violin.

> Signs for hockey clubs.

> The river Neva is like the Danube with its bridges in Budapest, but it is not really a river, it is made from and fed by a huge lake.

> Lunch on the Nevsky Prospekt (Blvd.). We try to remember this menu for home. A creative pea soup with a toasted slanted slice of baguette with bacon and parsley on top.

> A note to myself: Read a biography of Pushkin, he was killed in a duel! What a waste.

> Red and black clothing is the latest trend, and square scarves which you tie to the back, point to the front.

> Russian women have large hands.

> Hotel receptionists are an anchor for us. They give us maps, answer questions, call a taxi, show us to an ATM and in general offer information that we may have not even known to ask.

> It seems that St. Petersburg was designed by architects outside the country, such as Italian and French architects.

> The citizens of this city are called St. Petersburgers.

> A restaurant hostess, when we ask what it is like to live here, says that, “There are too many rules.” She also tells us that there are more jobs in Moscow.

> Many languages are offered in schools, English not being mandatory.

> Hats on military and police are ugly and outdated. They look like frisbies sitting on top of a sailing captain's hat.

> Traffic signs look much like the EU signs all across Europe. That is a surprise to me. Conforming to something European?

> On a city tour bus we were told that Stalin liked to read poetry, but only after the poet was dead!

> At midnight, all the bridges open at the same time to let large ships through.

> McDonald's is everywhere here, too.

> We walked into a beautifully decorated hotel, just to take a good look. A man was taking photos of the interior. He thought it lovely also. David jumped into his view and posed for him. The fellow laughs and takes a photo. “I'm from India!” he says proudly. He comments on the height of he and David being the same, and says that it makes David feel familiar to him. “The love of God shines down on us all and we know each other”...he says this with his hand on his heart. He hands us his card, Ravindra Maithani, Secretary General of India.

> In our hotel, on the telephone note pad is the heading; 'GREAT IDEAS. YOU JUST NEVER KNOW WHEN THEY'LL COME TO YOU.'


We hop on and off a bus today. A great two hour tour with a good english recording. Our favorite stops are Kirkon kirjavat kultahatut and Kazan cathedral. The former is “The Church of Spilled Blood”. Colorful designs and shapes of mosaics on many onion domes. The whole fairy tale structure is covered in decoration. It is incredible. I feel so awed that humans can design and build such a place. The latter, Kazan Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox church, is a place to visit for its astounding beauty. Not understanding these orthodox ways, I am mesmerized by the customs practiced, the crossing of chests over and over, bowing, kneeling and the kissing of objects. The columns holding up the high ceilings of this building are finely built and gigantic.

We will need to walk 6K along the Neva to the train station to catch our train back to Helsinki, later this Sunday evening. Walking is the best way to see and experience as much as we can. We have a nice sidewalk dinner, taking more opportunity to people watch. I think I might do this more often than David, at least the object of my curiosity differs. At the next table there is a very made-up lady with a smart short haircut and tight red dress. High heels. She is having lunch with a very chubby man with a huge bulbus wart on his face, a bit hard to look at. Hmmm. And at another table, a very handsome older couple are having a cool drink. They are both slim and trim. But her beauty is outstanding. She has bushy but pretty grey hair with barrettes holding it out of her aged but still handsome face. Her thin tanned body is clad in a low cut short dress. Beautiful long legs are folded one on another, feet in high wedge sandals. Painted nails on fingers and toes. Her proud partner cannot keep his eyes off her. I think they have been together a long time...but then I am known for making up fantasy stories about people I see!

Along the Neva, many tour boats ply the waters and smaller private boats dip in and out of them. We look for and find, the large island across the river, containing Peter the Great's Peter and Paul Fortress.

As usual, people are out enjoying their city. We duck into the 'Summer Garden' and from this point we can see down a hedge-walled corridor, fountains placed one after the other, as far as we can see. Finally we cross the bridge over the Neva River at Liteynyy Most, to Akademika Street, turning off of it in a few blocks to find the train station where we wait an hour before boarding. David changes our ruples but still has other change. The lady behind the little store counter says...”Don't worry! It is not worth anything!” So we buy souvenier chocolate and promptly eat it. On board...Coach 2, seats 15 & 16.

It may be nighttime but it is daylight, so we can watch out our windows. Lakes and forests speed by as we head west going about 120 mph...the coach is silent, no clickity clickity on the tracks, but it does wobble from side to side. Using the WC is pretty tricky. 3 ½ hours to Helsinki. We move along trying to see as much as we can. We have all heard about how the Russians go to their dachas for holidays. We see these country huts/cottages with gardens all around them, a lovely escape from the cities and its tiny apartments. Now in Finland we see cars speeding toward civilization, a working day in Helsinki tomorrow. Home from country excursions.

From train to taxi and at about 11:30 pm we arrive at the hotel where our car is parked.


MORE THOUGHTS and OBSERVATIONS:

- CARS, a wide variety. Ford, Subaru, Mercedes, Nissan, Toyota, nice BMW motorbikes. Hot cars.

- FAST FOOD, McDonalds, Kentucky Fried, Karls Jr., Burger King, Starbucks, Cinnabon, Subway.

- HIGH END, Gucci, Ecco, Polo, Nieman Marcus. Mothers and daughters shopping. Women looking long and admiringly into the mirrors.