Advertisement
Published: December 24th 2005
Edit Blog Post
ФПОМ РҮССЯ With Love
(From Russia With Love)
Date: December 25, 2005
Temperature: -6C
Snow Depth: 10cm
Time Zone: +11 hours
Well I’ve made it to Russia and am still in one piece. The train journey from Helsinki to St. Petersburg was stunningly beautiful. I had snowed about 10 centimeters and everything was covered in white. The sun was out and even the 10 kilometers of non-stop ugly Russian apartment buildings looked lovely!
I got out of the train station and felt literally in a different world. The cars are different, the language (obviously), alphabet… people EVERYWHERE selling everything. If this place was once communist, one would never know it. It’s as if they are making up for lost time. I forgot to print off the instructions for how to get to the apartment I had rented and decided to take the metro to the centre of town. The thought process being that I would surely be able to find an internet café where I could access the instructions. This took a good hour as I wobbled through the packed streets with my three bags trying not to standout (difficult) and be robbed. I eventually found a 5 star
Very very nice
Typical St. P canal... hotel and was surprisingly only a 15 minute walk from my final destination.
I had rented the apartment over the internet and am paying approximately $90CAD/night for it. I have my own sauna, hot tub, kitchen… the works and I’m in the VERY centre of the city!
St. Petersburg is beautiful. It is the brainchild of Peter I who in 1703, after turfing out the Swedish, built the city with the intention of making it the cultural and industrial hub of Russia. He attempted to model it after Venice but I’m told he dug a few too many canals and it started to sink. Nevertheless, there are a number of beautiful canals which add to the beauty. There are now 5 million inhabitants and the city has a mix of European and Russian influences.
The city boasts 181 museums!! The Hermitage and the Russian State Museums being the most famous. The Hermitage has over 350 rooms and features everything from ancient Egyptian artifacts to Van Gogh paintings. The Russian State Museum features solely Russian art and has in excess of 120 rooms. It could take weeks to see both museums in detail.
I have been busy trying to keep warm.
It isn’t terribly cold however the wind and humidity make it seem MUCH colder than it is. The rivers and canals are pretty much frozen over completely which is an interesting sight. I went to the opera last night (Mozart’s ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’) at the famous Mariinski theatre. Of course I understood nothing and the Russian subtitles were of little help! The gist of the opera was that women can’t be trusted (I am NOT making this up). Mozart likely wrote this at the age of 12 so what would he have known about women… but he was a genius… hmmmm… I will be smart and shy away from further comment. The St. Petersburg Opera is in its 223rd season of performing!
I have just gotten back from Tchikovksy’s Swan Lake ballet performance at the Hermitage Theatre. The HT is small and there are no assigned seats which is unusual. There seemed to be more performers than viewers! I could not get over how rude the Russian audience was. They talked during the performance, took photos (no flash, but loud) and one lady even talked on her cell phone! I could not take it anymore and actually swatted her across
the knee in disgust. I felt a bit ashamed afterwards but a few people around me patted me on the back so I figured if she was connected to the Russian Mafia, I would at least have a few supporters!
I have met a few Russians and have actually made a number of friends. We’ve been to Reggae, Drum and Bass and other shows. Nightlife here is quite an experience. Russians don’t even think about going out until 11pm and bars/clubs are open until 6am which is when the metro starts up again to take people home. The Russian friends I have met are very nice to me. I found it odd that there was always one or two clutching onto me until I realized that it was to prevent me from slipping on the ice/snow. They always take off their gloves to shake hands (learnt this the embarrassing way… but it’s SO cold!). There are many ways to drink vodka I have learnt. Chasing the shot with a tooth pick of red fish and lemon being a favourite. Russians ALWAYS eat while they drink with an array of ‘zakuski’ (snacks) on the table. There is a Russian saying to
What?!
Surely, that doesn't spell: McDonald's? the effect of ‘drinking without food is only for fools.’
Russians don’t really celebrate Christmas and certainly don’t on December 25th. If anything, they celebrate the Eastern Orthodox Christmas which is on January 7th. I am told that during Communist rule, religion was banned and hasn’t really caught on since the fall of Communism. The big celebration occurs New Year’s eve. The present weather forecast is for -29C!!! Having now been below 0C for the better part of 2 weeks, the three exclamation marks are not of joy but rather horror! I don’t really have any plans for Christmas. I was thinking of going to one of the 5 star western hotels for dinner but eating alone might be a bit boring and depressing. I have also considered having a few Russian friends over for turkey dinner but of course that would involve cooking. My job at home is always the stuffing… short of shoving a live turkey in the oven and hoping for the best, I’m not really sure what to do!
The funniest story thus far occurred when I went to buy eggs. Russian grocery stores are an array of counters where the shopper stands to buy whatever
Comrades and I
drinking in public is legal here Mom it is they are looking for. There is a dairy counter, a meat counter, a bread counter and so on and so forth. The annoying bit is that one has to pay at each counter and is not able to pick out the fruit or vegetables. At any rate, the ladies behind the dairy counter had no idea what I was wanting as I kept saying ‘eggs, eggs, eggs’ as if the more times I said it, they would all of a sudden learn English and bring me my eggs! I decided to go the charades route and started to cluck up and down the counter like a chicken. We all had a laugh and I got my eggs!
I will end this by wishing those who celebrate Christmas a very happy one! I will be thinking of you half way across the world and wishing for a few moments that I was at home playing foose ball, snow bocce and eating dinner with family and friends in Whistler. It doesn’t really seem like Christmas to me even though there are Christmas trees and pretty lights all over the place. It is comforting to know that even in 2005 it
Money exchange
Look how small the difference is between the buy/sell... a little over 1%! Communism?... where? is still the people that make this time of year special. Anyhow, das vidanya (bye) and spasiba (thank you) for reading this blog. Incidentally, I have now surpassed 1500 viewings of the various entries I have written! Best always, Jason.
PS... all I want for Christmas is a REAL goalie for the Canucks. I have simple yet important demands... get on it Santa.
PPS... sorry for the repeated sends... I got a little trigger happy!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.107s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 61; dbt: 0.0697s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Steph biggs
non-member comment
wow
Your travelblogs are so interesting. You look and sound like you are haveing a trip of your lifetime. Good memories.... Merry Xmas to you and your friends.