Russia: Intimidating or Misunderstood?

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Date of Travel: 17-21 May, 2008
Duration of Travel: 4days
Main Cities Visited: St. Petersburg, Moscow

A common response when you tell a friend that you are headed to Russia for a holiday is "is it safe?" That was my exact sentiments. Far too often, through the media and stories you read of Russian history, from the Tsar to Stalin, from purges to the KGB, from censorship to Putin himself, we get a great sense of fear and possibly intimidation of what to expect in Russia. Sure enough it was a European city, one tt reeks of history, culture, art and even romance. But the other side as we so more commonly associate with is terror, secret police, evil, the sickle and the hammer. So what exactly is Russia? Or more specifically, what does Russia mean to us tourists. These were burning questions I always had at the back of my mind ever since something called a history class took place. There was only one way to find out. Enter the land of the Tsar, a country spanning Europe to Asia itself. To St Petersburg and Moscow we headed to.

We arrived at St Petersburg following a near 6hr train ride from Helsinki. As it was far too late already, we headed straight for our hotel in the city at Park Inn. The hotel was huge and the first impression I got of Russia were the security guards standing outside my hotel. Dressing smartly in Tuxedos, standing at a towering figure of easily 1.9m with shades on and a ear piece attached at the back of their ears, these security guards did not move throughout the entire time I was watching them while we unloaded the luggages from the bus. It kind of dawned upon me whether these really security guards or KGB agents were. It looked too much like what you would frequently see in earlier James Bond movies where the cold war theme was still prevalent. But yes, so there we have it. My first impression of Russia was tense, suspicious but kind of sexy at the same time. It got arguably even more interesting where our hotel was hosting an apparent "Russian-theme night" where many tall scantily dressed Russian women were hitting the bar dancing to traditional folklore music or something of the same genre. Wow, in the space of minutes, I was starting to grow an affinity with Russia's culture and heritage. Headed for the bed right after a nice warm bath eagerly awaiting what more Russia will thrill me with the next few days.

The next day was spent touring St Petersburg, a city of architectural ensembles and romantic charm. First up was the excursion to Peterhof (Petrodvorets or something like that) Summer Palace just outside the city. Apparently, this was the summer residence of the Czars and is world famous for its golden Grand Cascade - a steep fall of 64 glided fountains flowing in front of the grand palace itself. This place was awesome. Maybe it’s because I have never been to the main European cities like Paris or Florence to provide any comparison, but grandeur of the interiors were quite astounding. From gold plated walls to rich China porcelain and a huge collection of art pieces assembled from all over the world (probably from the Tsar's conquest or diplomatic travels), this place was really screaming out "majestic". But the best part of enjoying this palace was the outdoor gardens where the Grand Cascade was. I am really not sure how I can express my delight at just admiring and soaking in the atmosphere of where I stood then, so I will leave a couple of pictures for them to paint their thousand words (hopefully my pictures can do enough justice to how amazing it really was).

After lunch, an even more famous Palace was conquered - The Winter Palace. Yes, this is the place you frequently see in monochrome black and white photos depicting the red guards tearing down the palace in their quest to stem communism on the world map in the Revolution of 1917. Now we got to see it in real life. Absolute cracker. Dressed in dirty green with white trimmings and columns, Im not exactly sure if this was the exact colour then in the 1917s but it stretch along the Palace Square was undoubtedly impressive. Within the Winter Palace now lies the priceless collection of the Hermitage. Again, our eyes were treated to yet another sumptuous buffet of rich tradition in all forms of paintings, silverware, china, interior decors etc. Maybe this can compare to the all famous Uffizi in Florence but just having the know Russia attached to it immediately gives it an even more exotic feel to it.

By late afternoon, we took a trip down the gracious neva river, not on boat but on foot enjoying the view of the Winter Palace from across. The waterways were really blue and I think that St Petersburg charm is still preserved because you don’t find any high rise modern buildings erected around their main historical buildings. We were due to depart for Moscow that very night but time permitted that we still managed to see the magnificent cathedral of St Isssac, and even managed to take a walk down Nevsky Prospekt - a busy shopping centre street brimming with fashion - quite unthinkable if we imagine that this was once the communism American so often lambasted.

By evening, we headed for the overnight trains to Moscow. Again this was another experience. Described as the James bond train (b/c apparently this train featured heavily in many of the James bond movies), the first instructions we were told prior to boarding was "never to let anyone into your cabins. Doors must be locked from the outside and inside. If your friend leaves the cabin, remember to lock your cabins and have secret passwords. At all times, do not consume the food you find inside the cabin. There have been reported instances of them being drugged." Wow, that was quite a mouthful. Kind of intimidating wasn’t it? It seemed to suggest almost certainly that something does always happen on board this train. Initially, we tried to stay awake in case of a potential danger and so we sat down to play many rounds of chess till it was boring the hell out of us. And then we lied on the small crammed cabin bets waiting for something to happen. After 4hrs, the inevitable happened - we slept.

We woke up the next morning to the near stopping of the train. We immediately checked around to see if everything was okay and sure enough it was. We survived. Amazing! Maybe those stories were really told to make the journey an exciting experience. Or maybe we were just plain lucky. Whatever it is, we were in Moscow. Finally, the stronghold of the communist power was ours for the taking, not quite.

Straight off the train, we headed for the Pushkin Museum, apparently another arts centre only second to the Hermitage. I didn’t really think that the Pushkin Museum was particularly impressive and if anything, it was the cathedral situated across the museum which caught my attention. I believe it was the Christ the Saviour Cathedral. Dressed in white with its gold plated top, this was one magnificent cathedral. It was a pity I could only take pictures from way outside its walls. In the afternoon, we took a drive up the Gorky Parkand Sparrow Hills to enjoy the panoramic view of Moscow and the Moscow State University which looked extremely grand. Wished my university looked anything like that. Haha. We didn’t have time to visit the Victory park but we managed to stop by somewhere to get a nice good shot of the Luzhniki Olympic Stadium. Yes football fans, this was the stadium that hosted the 2008 UEFA Champions League final which was just 2 days away! What an appropriate time we actually visited Moscow. Too bad I’m neither a man utd nor Chelsea fan. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have wanted to leave Moscow at all. Prior to dinner, we headed down to Novodevichy convent o take a view of its exterior. Yes, this was supposed to be one of Russia’s finest religious buildings and even from the outside one can already easily feel the its grandeur. Enjoyed sometime along the river bank separating us from the convent away from the communist “threat” (I mean it in a seductively inducing manner). In the evening we were treated to the all renowned Moscow Circus. Initially I was quite excited and was really hoping for some mega performance; I mean we were in Moscow where it all started surely it had to be good. Regrettably it wasn’t. Not only was the circus was small, it was hardly filled and those in there were either sleeping or paying more attention to their handphones. Yes, that was precisely how boring the circus went. Damn. I went back to do some research on whether this was truly the state of Moscow Circus and thankfully I found that the best Moscow Circus is actually another one which we didn’t visit. Why didn’t WE?!!!

The next morning was all about Soviets. And arguably the best day of my entire trip. In the morning, we headed to the Krelim. What was I to expect? Read so much about how intimidating yet beautiful this place was, it sure did not disappoint. We walked around the Krelim easily for about close to three hours. Apart from any sightings of possible KGB agents dressed in their tuxedos and stern faces, the interior of the Krelim was fascinating. From the Tsar’s Bell, huge imperial cannons, the Belfry of Ivan the Great(or evil), to even the three Krelim churches namely Cathedral of Assumption/Annunciation/ Archangel, everything was just plain fantastic. I think my post doesn’t really justify how beautiful this place was. Intimidating? Yes it could be if probably the Cold War was still on as everything was kept within the high walls of the Krelim that never look a bit like being penetrated in the event of war. But it was equally a place of romance, heritage and above all Soviet. Im not sure if I am right on this next point but apparently the Russian parliament still conducts its party meetings within these high walls.

If the Krelim all but took my breath away, then the Red Square and its surrounding features was simply enchanting. The first typical impression that the Red Square gives to people are a massive display of Soviet military strength and nuclear capabilities. This is what we constantly get on your history channel, or even in computer games for that matter. Maybe Im really out of date and Moscow is now longer what it was, but I would still like to imagine how awesome this place was when the Cold War era was still at its most tense. There are four major icons at the Red Square – Lenin’s Mausoleum, the historical museum, the GUM departmental store, and the most notable icon that reeks Moscow…St. Basil’s Cathedral. Now just try to imagine pack all four of this majestic icons along the perimeter of the Red Square, what do you think you will get? Enchantment. Yes. I absolutely fell in love with the Red Square. In fact, it was even better by the fact that the Square was filled with Champions League Fever with the final due to play the next day. Managed to catch a glimpse of the UEFA Champions League trophy and spent some time wandering through the carnival. It was really an experience on its own. How often do you get stuck in the venue that is hosting the CL finals and add that to an atmosphere that screams the sickle and hammer in the background of red to you. Ok, yes the Russian flag now has been changed to white blue and red, but arguably just standing right in the middle of the Square you can only picture its communist flag standing high.

By late afternoon, we headed, I reluctantly, to the underground city of the arts – the Russian metro. This is by no means any ordinary metro station. This was a labyrinth of artistic glamour all packed onto the walls and tunnels of the Soviet subway underground. We took the metro to a couple of stops and everywhere Lenin was just screaming out at my face. It was awesome really. Apparently, the interiors of the Metro consist of more than 20 varieties of marbles coming from Urals, Altai, and Central Asia. What was interesting was how each station had its own distinctive look. I’m not sure if its origins stemmed from the need to propagate the belief of the communist system but whatever it did, it sure did it really well.

Finally, and yes the last stop of Moscow, we headed down to Arbat Street for some last minute shopping. This was no ordinary shopping lane. If my history is right, this was where there was apparently fierce fighting in 1611 against the police force thrusting against the Krelim. This was where the troops commanded by Dmity Pozharsky held their ground against Napoleon’s troops. The rest they say its history. Now, this place is simply a shopping haven for tourist souvenirs. Managed to get a soviet army beret and by nightfall, it was time to head back sadly.

Took our flight back to Singapore the very next morning but it couldn’t have ended on a high without Russia being at the back of the itinerary. While there were occasional times that Russian people treated its not so white coloured friends with disrespect and possibly discrimination, everything else that Russia had to offer, was certainly beyond pictures. It was about being there, soaking in the atmosphere and imagining what it had been centuries ago. Pictures paint a thousand words but they cannot explain how it must have felt like being there. For this, Russia is a definite must go for anyone seeking the exotic and excitement.

Russia…intimidating or enchanting, you decide.

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