Day 9 (15 Sep) A last look at St Petersburg

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The touring was supposed to start at midday as some of us had to pack and prepare for our journey home. A majority of the group had chosen to stay for an extra couple of days. Yet at breakfast it became clear that one or two people had not had enough touring and wanted to cram more in. So a harassed Michael managed to contact Natasha and the bus came half an hour early.



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Our first stop was to take photos of the Grand Choral synagogue. It is true to say that many stayed in the gift shop checking out the beautifully crafted ceramics by a Russian artist, whose name escapes me. The group also had a chance to speak with the Rabbi.



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Then back on the bus to make an unscheduled stop at the Jewish Day School. We were greeted by the headmaster who told us about the school and the community. The school was purchased by the community with help from outside donations. Although the school is run by the Chabad it is not an ultra orthodox school as most of the Jews are not religious. The area around the school is considered to be a "Jewish area." The kids learn Hebrew, religious studies and the full Russian school curriculum. There is a gan (nursery) for ages 3 - 7. We were introduced to some of the little ones who serenaded us with songs in Hebrew. We interrupted their lunch but they were pleased to see us. We also saw the room where they have their nap in the afternoon. Those little cot/beds drew an audible sigh from all of the women.

Upstairs are the classrooms for the older students. The children stay at school until 18. There is also a synagogue, a library and all modern gadgets like an electronic white-board in each class. The school is fee-paying as if it were run by the State they would have to admit all children. All the children attending are halachically Jewish.

In the basement is a sports hall laid out for soccer and basketball. Then to the outside. At the back of the building they were in the process of laying out a playground with playground toys for the younger kids and a safe playing area for the older ones.

We were told that the Chabad know of about 100,000 Jews in St Petersburg but they suspect that there are many, many more. So they have built two mikvaot, one for the ladies and one for the men. The ladies' one has two jacuzzis, marble pillars and is beautifully planned. It is designed to be a place where a woman can luxuriate before entering the mikvah itself. The men's is not quite so luxurious but they don't need such pampering. When we got back on the bus Donna was quite flumaxed. It would appear that she'd almost fallen into the men's mikvah. This begs the question - what was Donna doing in the men's mikvah?



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Then back onto the bus. 10 years ago in 2004 Don and I went on a fun trip to the Moika Palace better known as the Yusupov palace - the death place of Rasputin (Steve: cue Boney M song!).

Natasha took us into the reception area which was part of the living quarters of young Felix Yusupov and his wife, and she told us what happened that night. Grigori Rasputin was a monk of peasant stock who had too much influence over Felix (so his mother believed) and others. It was decided to remove Rasputin from society. They enticed him into the small basement dining room and, so the story goes, fed him cakes laced with cyanide. When that didn't work they shot him and when that didn't work they clubbed him with an iron bar and then carried him to the river where they disposed of his body. The truth is that nobody really knows what happened that night.

In 1985 the museum had wax models of the main characters made, which gives this museum some atmosphere.

We walked through a couple of small rooms containing exhibits such as the postmortem report which shows that Rasputin was probably alive at the time he was thrown into the river and died from hypothermia. That man must have had an iron constitution.

The next part of the visit was a new experience for Don and me. We went upstairs to Felix's parents part of the palace. The Yusupov family was wealthy. They were originally Muslim Tatars from near Crimea. The family converted to Russian Orthodoxy and it was said that their punishment for apostasy was that each generation would bear only one male child who would survive into manhood. The Yusupovs always supported whichever monarch ruled and in return for their loyalty they were paid large sums of money, hence that was how they accumulated their fortune.

The upstairs was lavish but not ornate like the royal palaces. The family acquired 40,000 works of art which were nationalised after the revolution. Many of these are to be found in the Hermitage museum. Felix's mother, Zinaida was a stunningly beautiful woman. She was also a patron of the arts and in the palace is a theatre where plays and ballets were performed. Further along was the ballroom which is now a concert hall where musical recitals take place. We heard another acapella recital which was quite moving.

Photography is prohibited in the Yusupov palace, hence no pictures within this blog. Of course a web search would probably show some sights to anyone who cares to view this interesting place.



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Then back on the bus to the Russian museum where we sat in the square eating lunch in the beautiful sunshine. The museum was not part of the official itinerary so we opted out. We watched the pigeons flying onto the statue of poet Aleksandr Pushkin. Then we went into the five star Grand Hotel Europe to use the posh loos. We took a quiet stroll down Nevsky the main shopping street. We found a book store and wandered around. I recognised a few book titles, including the Russian edition of Anna Karenina. The bookstore had a cafe so we sat and drank coffee. Then we wandered back to the bus at the meeting time of 6.45 pm. Unfortunately for the others the Russian museum closed at 6 and so they had to wait for us until this agreed time.



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Then it was off to the Golden Cafe for our last group meal.

That turned out to be a very lively event with speeches and songs and presentations and photos. Natasha was presented with an Israeli shopping bag weighed down with a bottle of champagne. Michael was presented with a mysterious envelope. And we all received a bar of Russian chocolate from Natasha which she had meticulously read the ingredients to ensure that it complied with our dietary requirements.

Then came the tour song composed by Penina to the tune of O Field, My Field (Polushko Pole) together with a dance choreographed by Judy and Trevor.



The words are:

We are the Trekkers

We were going to Morocco

Then we decided not to do Morocco

We went to Russia instead.



We are the Trekkers

We went on a trip to Russia

We saw the castles of the tsars of Russia

Peter, Alexander and more.



We are the Trekkers

We went with Michael to Russia

Svetlana, Victoria and Natasha

They were guides extraordinaire.



We are the Trekkers

We went to Moscow, saw the kremlin

Toured in the metro and we saw St Basil

And historic toilet in the GUM.



We are the Trekkers

St Petersburg is very pretty

Visited the palaces around the city

Buildings in yellow pink and green.



Now we are leaving

Michael and Natasha thank you

You gave us memories and many photos

And lots and lots and lots of fun.



From Trevor and Judy

Jill and Hagit and the other Judy

Stephen and Ellie and Don and Donna

Penina and Lesley and the other Don



La la la la etc

Hey! seeeeeee Steve

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Note: SCROLL DOWN to see more pictures than fit around the text. ALSO we suggest current followers reread our previous days in this trip because we updated the blog details and photos as we discovered more highlights to add.

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Photos

Shivtei Yisrael plaque in St Petersburg Jewish school
'Tribes of Israel' is same as the name of our local synagogue in Ra'anana