Advertisement
Published: November 27th 2009
The Singer Building
A gloriously expensive Cafe on the second floor serves great pattiseries. The building is celebrating 90 years of being a book store.Beware of Cultural Overload
Six pages ... too much to inflict on anyone ... following this shorter one and a half page version the long ramble can be undertaken if so inclined ...
Braved the Metro to pick up my Ballet tickets on Monday. Was not panicked when entering the world's deepest subway via a three minute escalator ride down to the platform. Further retained my cool when there was no sign of a track or train. Eventually huge metal doors opened and there was a train.
In the afternoon met a new friend, Tanya. We went to her apartment where her mother lives and were fed great soup and beet salad.
During the day' Tuesday I worked my way thru the third floor of the Hermitage .... Impressionists, French and European in 19th & 20th cent. The Byzantine Section is closed for renovation and the Far East and Central Asia sections were sparse, mostly paint on plaster with lots flaking off.
In the evening I walked to the theatre, enjoyed a programme of various parts of bigger ballets, endured a half hour intermission, did not know one had to buy the programmes, waite
Wrought Iron
The fence is a semi circle around a small parkette donly until the second intermission and since it was after nine walked backto the apartment. Did not want to have to navigate my way later than 22:00.
Wednesday was laundry day. The washing machine is tiny ... and there is no dryer ... just like there is no internet access ... am still trying to figure out how that got past me. In the afternoon walked thru the Interiors of the building, on display at the Hermitage. The rooms themselves are magnificently restored with new plaster and paint. Often put in a room and reflecting more than one period, the furniture is presented in a hodge podge manner.
After six went for a beer and a meal of shashlik and cabbage salad(coleslaw). Tanya took me to a superb market that consists of a series of glass vitrines each selling one specific thing and each having its own cashier. Bought meat and veggies to make a curry but could not find any curry. Dixie, the cheap shop came to the rescue.
Thursday being a day of rest I worked on the IBM Multimedia Machines and bought a ticket for a tour of the Diamond Room. No pics allowed
The Griffin Bridge
This bridge leads across the canal to the University. ... no Fabrege eggs... some Lalique ... diamonds galore on snuff boxes, swords, antique Swiss watches and saddle blankets. Once more had beer and chips after six and was back in the apartment by 20:00.
Friday was a day away from the Hermitage. Went to the Ethnography Museum and saw the various tribes and groups who have and do inhabit the Russian Territory. It was so interesting that five hours were not enough. Paid for the privilege of taking pictures ...150rub ... and will enter a separate story giving full details.
Saturday had a late start .. finished downloading a blog ... it all happens in russian so it takes a while. Went on the Gold Room Tour and was bedazzled. Again no pics. Scithian and Greek masterpieces in filigree and two sided relief work ... one piece more amazing than the next. Lots of smaller than miniature work all done without the aid of magnifying glass. Went to the silver collection after a coffee and my homemade sandwich. In comparisson to the gold work the silver was brash and loud ... and wonderful. Having squinted at enough beauty for one day I went in search and found
A view from the 15th Floor
The brightly lit building is a parking garage. High rises of varying economic strata fill the night view. the French Art of the 15th &16th cent. After two rooms it was time for an end of the day beer. The beer is realy helping...its a young Russian beer full bodied and Smoooth! ... a connaiseur?
Sunday the SUN WAS SHINING ... for a few hours anyway. I took the opportunity to walk the perimeter of the Hermitage. Found Peter the Great's Palace ...walked across the bridge to the Admiralty ... saw a wedding with two white doves ...not of two white doves ...came in with a cold shooting hand ... had coffee and went on the search of more French Art.
This evening Tanya has invited me to come with her to the 'suburbs' = large collection of high rises.
With three other friends we drank good wine ate fantastic homemade quiche, had a pear flan and spent a lovely evening in a very modern, expensive apartment. The boyfriend of one of the women friends picked us up at the Metro and at the end of the evening he was kind enough to drop me and Tanya right downtown, steps from our respective apartments.
Monday is Tanya's only day off. She has been kind enough
St Isaac's Cathedral
This wooden model was made recently and attracts much attention as it stands with four other models by the same craftsman. to spend the last two Mondays with me. This week we visited St Isaac's Cathedral; went to the office where people pay for the telephonic land line; went to the local vegetable, meat, fish and fruit market; looked for the felt boots famous in Russia but apparently unknown in the city; and found hand knit THICK socks.
At the market enough meat (pork and beef) for a good soup and a stew for two cost less than a cauliflower and stalk of leek. Have to go back to this market during the day to take some pics. In the evening ...18:00...it is quite dark and crowded with people going home from work.
The market is behind the Sennaya Plaschad Metro Station. The place is not mentioned in DK's Ten Top Things in StPB. Have to send them an email!! It mentions the GostinyyDvor which is a mall that anyone in a backpack cannot even afford to pee in... besides, as sumptuous as it presents itself when you near the toilets you fall over from the stench. Your step quickens to a rush up the stairs where once again there is over-the-wall opulance. Who shops here?
While watching
St. Isaac in Mosaic
The depiction of St. Isaac holding the plans for the Cathedral appears repeatedly in the building. the news I noticed a story that I witnessed on the street while on my way to the hermitage. Maybe I've been here too long.
A car had backed up on to the sidewalk and took out a telephone booth ... the hanging on the wall type .... Cannot tell you the details ...have not been here that long ... can read the names of teams during the sports report ... Canada has been on my Russian TV screen twice ...no correction ... more often than that if you count the VISA ads for Vancouver 2010 ... the other two times it was Toronto Basketball and Winnipeg Hockey.
Not enough space to go into detail about politically incorrect ads nor to list all the products being advertised here that are the same as in Canada .... let me just say that Penelope Cruz speaks better Russian than
________________________________________________________________________________
And now for a longer version... with more details:
________________________________________________________________________________
Nov 16th Monday
Today the big test was undertaken and successfully accomplished .... THE Metro... Saw the sign ...could not find the entrance never mind a ticket vendor ... did see a big blue “I” , so went to
Malachite Lapiz and Gold
Malachite columns form a protective guard at the front of the church. Lapiz columns stand at the entrance to the inner alter ... a profusion of gold ... and accessible only with extra ticket. Tourist Info ... this one is more obscure than the one in Stockholm.
Entrances will always be found in a building. The one I needed was in the Gostinyy Dvor Shopping Complex. Once inside, streamlined order met my eye. Twenty Rubles, one fare, one trip ... you get a token, put it in the slot and you're in. There are four lines; 1 -red, 2 -blue, 3 -green, 4 -orange. There are 100km of track and the escalator takes 3 min to carry passengers down into the world's deepest Metro.
One must know the end of the line station name ... then you pick your line colour and direction. Pretty much the same procedure as other Subways ... no need to mention Toronto and my distress thereof ...
Imagine my confusion when I reached the platform, at the end of an escalator ride steeper than the sides of the Mayan Temple at Tikal, to go one stop to an exchange station and see ... NO TRACKS! People were waiting ... I waited. When the train came black metal doors opened and there was a train on the track ... no suicides at this station!
Went one
The Winter Canal
This canal separates two of the Hermitage buildings. stop ...got off ... name could not be seen from train ... advice read in St. Petersburg in Your Pocket, Oct 09, to count your stops, came in handy. Found the red line ... read the cyrillic names ... got of at the count of two and was extremely proud of myself.
Picking up my tickets at 41 Komsomola was another exercise in finding ones way thru a russian paperbag. Not every door has its own number here is more than one door per number ... that's my impression anyway. Went into 41 to be confronted by a security desk. Showed the man what number I required and he gave me a plastic pass. The lift was on the second floor. It went to five. Had to walk the rest of the way to six. Office 615 came after 18-22. Found the agency that sold me the Ballet and Aida tickets. For $56 she could arrange transport to and from the theatre as is arranged for tourists who stay at hotels. I am walking! It is not far and I have done a practice run ... no sideways like last time to the Castle Internet Game Cafe! ... straight...right....left
Impressionistic Other Side
There is blue beyond those clouds. and straight to my door.
Have made a new friend and met her at an appointed corner. We visited St. Nicolas Cathedral ... for the safety of sailors ... and then went to visit her mother in a flat she owns. Mother was a lovely lady who set the table and we ate Borscht, red beet salad and coffee with cookies... a real feast. The apartment has a foyer, two rooms, a kitchen, bathroom and toilet closet. Very pleasant....very clean ... very comfortable. It was a lovely visit. Borscht here is not the red beet soup with a blob of sour cream we call borscht
After more walking and getting a bead on how to walk back from the Marinsky Theatre, westopped at The Crocodile for beers, some small food and lots of talk.
Came back to the apartment by seven ... much relieved and less anxious about going to the Ballet. Will hopefully fall asleep more quickly today ... no need to make myself worries about how everything will work out.
By twelve on Monday, I was at the Zoom eating cream of mushroom soup, Skyping and downloading a blog. Working on internet at the
View from the Door
At each entrance along the embankment an access has been made to the river with steps and mooring possibilities for arrivals by sea in days gone by. Don't thing delegations arrive by Neva these days. Hermitage is confining ... the computer does not know the passwords, telephone numbers and does not have my stored info. Its easier to eat mushroom soup and get an hour of WiFi free. And what am I to do with my notebook after finishing work ...walk around with it all day long ... net ... easier to go to Zoom ...& Zoomzoom its done and my notebook is safe back in the apartment.
Nov17th Tuesday
Was at the museum by 11:30 ... Its a Tuesday and still the crowds are in the place ... did the third floor today ... there were lots of people in the rooms. The European Art rooms 334 to 342 have a special exhibit marking the 100th Anniversary of Sergei Diaghilev's “Ballet Russes”.
Walked thru it three times to get to the Art of the Far East, which was less than impressive.
The Byzantine and Near East rooms contained bronze and copper pots, bowls and vessels, lots of shards with deep coloured glazes of blue, and green. There were some examples of glass decorated with coloured glass and applied and shaped glass. Textiles were exhibited behind glass and the glass frame was covered
The Entrance
On the embankment side this looks like an originall entry point. Doors do not open to the public now. with a limp green protective cloth. The rugs were mostly woven ,old and behind glass.
Room 392 has had the ceiling redone with a “persian” flavour.The amazing hardwood floors have designs of different coloured wood. Could they possibly be original? I think not. But because all the info is in Russian we'll never know. The most amazing thing on display inthis section is a tiles chimney. From far away it look perfect order. When I took a picture and wanted a closeup of one of the flowers i noticed how many pieces it had been broken into. The whole height of the chimney ... 4m ... was pieces stuck together.
Rooms 364 to 367 of the Winter Palace have, Holy Images: Greek Icons from the Velimezis Collection, on display. This collection has been travelling around the world for the last ten years going as far as Lima, Peru and Soeul, Korea. It examines the different schools of icons. The wood is showing thru where the gesso has flaked off. Muchof the gild remains. No extravagant gold frames were on view.
Japanese prints are always a joy and the collection here has a few that appealed to me. Learned
Babushka Look-out
The sun may have been shining but the wind was cold. of a new character ... Fukurokuji ... saw it in a print and as Netsuke. There were five cabinets of little treasures but thru the glass it is impossible to take good close up shots.
Took pictures of the four Van Goghs. Am not a Matisse fan but Morozov surely was. There are 30 Picassos but only the two sisters from his blue period hang under protective glass. Did not count the Matisse, am not a fan. But Morozov was and also a man called Shchukin. These two men seem to have at one time owned most of the Impressionist Art hanging in the Hermitage. There is only one Gustave Courbet ... he is one of my favourites ... and it is a dark picture of a dead horse. There are five Renoirs, seven Monets, eleven Cezannes, the most impressive being The Smoker and Dame en Bleu. Room 316 contains fourteen Gauguins.
Much of the third floor is closed. Found the info at the public entrance while I waited for the tour of the Diamond room. This exhibit costs an extra 350rub and can only be visited with a guide. I was the only person on the tour
so I had the guide to myself. On Saturday I want do the The Gold Room with her at 14:15. She spent 2hours with me on Thursday will give her a generous tip ... had to ask how much ... apparently 500rub is good.
After spending Tuesday at the Hermitage I returned to the apartment and ate some food so my stomach would not growl during the performances.
Walked to the Marinsky Theatre for an evening of ballet. The programme was a collection of pieces from different productions. After a half hour of a ballet with eight pairs of auxiliary dancers and three principal dancers in tartan costumes a half hour intermission took place.
I tried to get a programme to see what it was and what was to come. As soon as I sat down and looked down from my nose-bleed seat I saw a woman selling the programmes. No wonder I was not given one on the way in. Of course now at intermission the women were selling other books and no programmes could be seen. I peeked at my neighbours when once again seated for part two. The whole programme is in russain any
Rustic Wear
This is for all the snake phobists. There were four big serving trays like this on display ... what was served was not mentioned ...or it could have been .. its all Russian to me. way. I was able to that there were three parts.
The second part took one hour. Again an intermission ... now its after nine ... plus a half hour intermission ...when would part three end? ... I got my coat from the coatcheck and decided to leave early. Had seen traditional ballet russe, some interpretive dance, lovely tutus and generous male attributes.
Getting thru the smokers, who milled around the front door, was a feat in itself.
Returned to the apartment without incident. The streets were quite busy and I was never the only person walking. But ... Aida is one of the longest operas ever ... won't be staying for the end of that either. And besides not only are my seats in the nose-bleed section ... 3rd circle ... there are no individual seats ... its one long curved bench with a bit of softening on the seat, hard wood totally straight back and very little leg room. I had seat 43 exactly above the royalbox ... dead centre of teh third circle tier. There are five tiers altogether. My Aida seat is not so well positioned ... higher up and to the left.
German Wood Furniture
Characters surrounded the dining cabinet ... one more grotesque than the other. Its the experience of seeing the theatre and being part of the audience that is the most thrilling. The floor seats werenot filled and the sides of 3rd circle were a bit sparsly filled. Even the japanese tour group sat in 2nd circle. Of course I paid more than would a russian buying the tickets at the wicket. I would pay less too even as a foreigner if I bought directly from the theatre ... which is what I thought I was doing ... OH Internet!!
Nov. 18th Wednesday
In the morning had to do a small laundry ... small is all one can do in this washer which is half the size, depthwise, of my Sweedish frontloader,
At the Hermitage today I did the palace interiors, the Peacock Room and the Throne rooms. The rooms have new walls and ceilings and the furniture is displayed in a hodge podge mixture of periods in many of the rooms. Took some general impression pictures but was less than enthusiastic.
The ceilings of some of the rooms were beautifully rendered to reflect the french period of some of the furniture in specific rooms. Its all very sad when you
Droopy Boobs
... always has been a long suffered problem... know the whole time that all has had to be replastered, refloored, repainted, rearranged. And what one sees is probably what is in good enough condition to be displayed. No where is it mentioned how much is still being worked on ... at least I cannot read the info ... even a russain was heard to say that there is no write up about the rooms ...that much russian I understand.
The throne room is splendid. The small throne room is held in semi darkness. The peacock only crows on Wed. At 13:00 ... just missed that ...have to wait till next week. The mechanism is so delicate and the crush of people so great that nowhere is it written when this creature spreads its tail. Peter the Great's living space can only be reached froma separate entrance on another side of the Hermitage Complex. To get to parts of the first floor it is necessary to go to the second floor and then decend a flight of stairs in an obscure corner.To avoid getting lost, as was predicted by 'St.P.B. In Your Pocket, I restrace my steps and return to where I began.
At days end, Tanya
Susanna and the Elders
Who was Susanna and what did the elders have to do with her? This theme appears more than three times in paintings seen at the Hermitage. and I went to a small local cafe for beer and food. I had a pork shashlik with cabbage salad, french fries and house made tomato sauce. Washed with Baltika beer it made for a good meal.
Because I need to cook we went to a complex that is made up of a succession of stores ... ready to eat, cold cuts... cheese ... cream cheese, cakes, candy, fish, vegetables, fruit, meat, and more meat. Each shop has the goods behind glass. The prices are per kilogram. You say what you want, how many pieces or how many grams and your choice is put in a plastic bag, weighed and you pay. At one counter I had to pay at the cash and then give the paid proof to the girl behind glass counter. Here the vegetables are washed! And everything looks very appitizing. Am certainly going togo back for sausage. Found salt but could not get any curry powder. Dixie to the rescue ...
At the Dixie grocery store ... no relation to Winn-Dixie the movie or the American convenience store chain ... I buy water, bread, papertowels, toilet paper, shampoo, milk, and Nescafe by Nestles!!!! and
Last Supper with Guinnea Pig
The only other guinnea pig last supper I have seen was in Cusco, Peru. I found a packet of curry. Also bought black pepper, red paprika, bay leaves garlic salt.
By the time I came back to the apartment after 20:00 it was too late to cook my curried chicken.
Nov 19th Thursday.
This was a day of rest so i sat at the IBM Multimedia Machines for most of the day ... I never get to the Hermitage before 11:30. At 13:00 went for a walk and decided to buy the ticket to view the Diamond Room.
No pictures are allowed. The pics I have seen of the crowns is really a picture of miniature reproductions. The real ten times larger crowns are in Moskow. It is also Moskow that has all the Fabrege eggs even though Fabrege had his workshop here in St.P.B. I walked past the house he used to live in. Must take a picture during the day.
Bejewelled, bedazzled, unbelievably splendid ... medals, swords, snuff boxes, watches, toiletry sets, saddle blankets, chatelaines, dance cards, makeup boxes with tiny side modules for holding paste beauty marks, mirrors, crosses, chalices, bibles ... all encrusted with emeralds, rubies, diamonds, garnets, you name the stone and it
Stupendous Hardwood
All the floors are magnificent. Too bad the 'no high heels' rule is not enforced. can be found in these rooms. No pictures were allowed ...boohoo!!
After two hours I had stars before my eyes. Thee were samples of early Lalique; the miniatures crowns were made by Fabrege and there were many other great masterpieces by numerous famous jewellers I have never heard of.
I went to the Internet Cafe to finally eat my lunch sandwich and have my Americano. Then I Skyped ... imagine my distress when I could not find my earphones ... luckily the guy at the Cafe had found them the day before and he returned them to me ... and started to download a blog.
Whereas the Museum closes at 18:00 the Cafe closes at 17:30. Am going to go on internet first on Saturday and then go to the Gold Room.
After six went for beer again. Ate eggs and potatoes. Not drinking on an empty stomach again. Bought water and bread and headed back to the apartment.
Having people to speak with makes the time pass more quickly, gives me something to look forward to besides a day of silent communications with the great masters of antiquity and gives me a chance to see
Heavenly Ceilings
All the ceilings are painted, plastered, gilded, mosaiced ... or unadorned ... this being a temporary state as restorations continue constantly the side of StPB that is real. And even St.P.B. is not the real Russia. That will be another trip.
Nov 20th Friday
Today i visited the Ethnography Museum. Was overcome by the magnitude of information, met Irma from Poland who will correspond with me I English, had a coffee all by myself in the museum coffee shop, was not able to see all of the displays, bought a small doll, paid the extra 150rub to be able to take pictures, did not begrudge them the 350rub entrance, wore the footsise the whole time without falling and saw a group of elderlies on an outing enjoying the same splendours that i was looking at ...except their tour was in Russian and they could read the explanations.
Nov 21st Saturday
Puttered and organized my papers and stuff to send back by mail ... have another 15 days to collect stuff ... won't be sending the box too soon.
Went to the Hermitage to finish the blog about the Blood Cathedral and answered emails and Spyked. At three fifteen met the guide who would lead the group thru the treasures of the Gold Room. The Hermitage closes
at 18:00 so had time to bedazzle myself a bit more while viewing the silver collection housed in the museum.
Photos are not allowed in the Gold Room. There were many examples of Scithian and Greek materpieces worked in gold. Stones did not come into use until after Alexander the Great had been to India. He brought back the semi precious stones. It is more difficult to incorporate stones that to use just gold when making a piece. One display is of a horde that was found by a gardener while he was working in hi vegetable patch.It is theorized that the pieces may have been hidden while danger loomed. Most of the pieces in the collection have been found in burialmounds. These Barrows sometimes contained more than one body and therefore yielded unconnected items.
A method called double sided relief was used to create some intricate compositions, one being a woman seated on a horse.Golden wreaths reflecting olives and olive leaves have been found in sargophaguses meant to continue success in the afterlife
One earing was so tiny that the figures were less than 10mm high. Looking at it under a magnifine glass one can see
Centerpiece in Silver
This piece would barely fit on your average coffee table. horses, a chariot and figures. Also prominent was the placing of four grains of gold inthe shape of a diamond. This apparently is a difficult feat even today. Do not know enough about gold work to comment more.
Swords of damascus steel, 16kg of wedding jewellery from Uzbekistan, and a Ruyi sceptre to bring good fortune are all stored in the Golden Room. Sorry no pics.
The silver collection does not compare in finess. The workmanship in this collection is also breathtaking. The pieces are bigger because most of them are meant for table centres, wine dispensers, coffeepots, competitive cups, vases and religious pieces.
My eyes were burning and my glasses were tired. Went to the exit and waited for my friend. At six we left and went to the local cafe and had a beer and talked the talk.
It is still pissing rain. One good result is that all the cars are getting rinsed and the strets atre loosing their build up of soot and grime. Where it is draining to one can only guess ...probably into the Neva and then out to the Baltic Sea. Its a wonder any marine life lives considering
Van Gogh - In the Garden
The blobs of paint are just there ... the faces of the woman so expressive ..love this piece. how many cities empty their rain drain water, not to mention raw sewage, into the oceans.And that's my environmental rant for the week!
Nov 21st Saturday
Have a late start. Go on internet first to download blog. There are many machines available but because it takes a bit of contortionto get under the desks the young chap who helps all who need access comes and helps me plug in microphone for Skype and USB for download. It helps that i have learnedhow to control the language of themachine ... it does want to use Russian. Find and begin the french section. Only get to two rooms. Meet Tanya and we have a beer and I eat a country salad ...just a bit too much mayo ...I notice the next day when I have aMoscow salad with the same generous load of mayo!!
Nov 22nd Sunday
SuSuSunshine!!! I walk around the perimeter of the Hermitage complex ... Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, New Hermitage, Old Hermitage and Hermitage Theatre and Winter Palace of Peter I. The Theatre is only accessible during performances. The entrance to Peter I's residence is outside on the Neva Enbankment. The tickets have to be
Mucisians - Matisse
And what instument is number three playing? bought at the main entrance of the Hermitage. Going to do this on a non-rainy day ... backing and forthing...
Tried for quite some time to get across the street so that I could walk along the river side of the street ... traffic was heavy and fast ... was a bit apprehensive ... finally a break in the rush of cars and I dashed across. Walked back to the Dvortsovyy Bridge. This bridge opens at the middle during the summer months to let large ship (cruise liners?) further up the river. Not during the winter because the river freezes but from the pollution I saw stirred up by two crazy seadoos I doubt that brown bracky water becomes solid.
Once across the bridge I saw a coule in wedding regalia ... behind them a two man band with horns. It was a picture opportunity with white doves, men in track suits and windbreakers, family in their best attire and a photographer that kept adjusting the position of doves, bride and groom.
Walked back to the Hermitage side of the river. The sun had disappeared behind clouds or smog, loudspeaker noise called tourists to boat tours and
Picasso Plate
The ethereal Don Quixote! crowds were headed to have a look at a tall ship. The wind was blowing ... had to tie my headscarf over my blowing hair .. a real babushcka look ... my shooting hand was cold ... time to gointo the Hermitage.
Did one and a half hours of french art, limoge enamel ware and german furniture. Shopped at the Dixie for groceries ...water and bread are what get used up the fastest ... watched Russian TV ... all five channels in the apartment.
Am now watching a blonde Angeline Jolie ... can't get worse!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.462s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 10; qc: 60; dbt: 0.1207s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb
