Blogs from Saint Petersburg, Northwest, Russia, Europe - page 11

Today we slept in as my phone did not adjust it's time, and and the alarm was hours away from going off; I think it was a soviet plot personally. We had breakfast at Zoom Zoom, an interesting little cafe just around the corner from us. It was actually about 15 minutes away but I think I'm adjusting to the Tim and Natalia Timezone where everything is underestimated, to lull you into a false sense of security. After breakfast we walked through a few backstreets and went to a local market which no tourist would normally visit. It sold all the things real Russians needed at the right price. It was like busy Asian market meets mafia sort of tone and I'm sure the roaming security guards were there for a purpose. This was a very ... read more

Hi All, First real blog on where we are and what we are up to. So we flew out this morning at 9am after staying in the worst hotel location ever, planes going over us that were shaking the bed it was that close, still they stopped at midnight!!! The flight was good only three hours with BA, not free booze so was very disappointed!!! lol When arriving in Russia we ended up getting a random bus (not the ones on the paperwork) into Moskovskaya then met an English couple who were as lost as we were. But together we managed to find the metro station together. They are doing the vodka train like us but different dates. Once on the metro we got to Mayakovskaya which is on the Nevsky Prospect which is the main ... read more

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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. ... read more

Shabbat could be summed up in a few words: service in the hotel, breakfast, service in the big synagogue (for those unlike me who wanted to attend), lunch at the Golden Cafe, sleep, rest, seudah (late afternoon meal) at the Golden Cafe and Havdalah. So I will use this space to write about the history of the Jews in Russia and particularly St Petersburg and then describe our party! In 1703 the Jews started arriving in the St Petersburg region from distant lands. They were conversos - Jews who had been forced to convert to Christianity to avoid persecution. They were accepted into society. For example the first chief of police was a Jew called Otto de Vere. However, the first sign of anti-Semitism came in 1738 when Alexander Voznitzin became disillusioned with the Russian Orthodox ... read more

Today Natasha was well enough to be our guide as scheduled. She arrived at the hotel to take us on a very good tour of what, to my mind, is one of the most impressive museums in the world - The Hermitage. The coach took us to St Isaac's square and we walked along the river via Senate Square to see a statue of Peter the Great on a horse with a snake sneaking up the rear of the horse. This square is famous because in 1825 there was an uprising called the Decembrists uprising. This was a secret society that wanted to reform the monarchy and have a constitutional monarchy. In 1825 Alexander I died in mysterious circumstances. His brother Nicholas I succeeded him. It was thought that this was an opportune moment for the ... read more