last full day in Russia


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Europe » Russia
July 17th 2011
Published: July 30th 2011
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Today is my last day in Russia, and I need to do a couple of things I didn't get to do when I was in St P at the beginning of my holiday. So earlier in the day off I trotted to the Peter and Paul fortress which was a good 40 minute walk along the riverside. I walked though a walkway that was held up by statues, I earwigged an english guide saying that it was said that these statues held all the worries of the world on their shoulders, so it was customary to rub the feet of the statues and ask them to take all your troubles away, or to make a wish and they will grant it ................ so when in Rome or St Petersburg ..... I made a wish 😊

Then I crossed the bridge that I saw open last night on the boat trip, and just before I arrived at the fortress, there was a crowd of people, so not wanting to miss anything I went over. There was a pedistal made of a vertical tree trunk with a carved wooden hare, on top of it, people are throwing coins at it, so its like a wishing statue, so I get a handfull of coins and start to throw, eventually I managed to hit the afore mentioned hare and made my second wish of the day. It is meant to be a "must see" when in St P. Yes it was lovely, but to be honest I think I have seen so many churches, cathederals, beautiful statues, etc etc etc that I have become immune to beautiful buildings ....... so I went, I looked, I took photo's and I ate ice cream !!!! it was a very very hot day.

I returned to the hostel via the Metro this time, as I was hot and tired, and after a nice cuppa and a biscuit I felt revived, and realised one very odd thing about my time in Russia. I came here mainly because my maternal grandparents were both born and raised in Russia, they were jewish so thought it was about time I visited a synagogue.

I never knew my grandfather as he died when my mum was 7 years old, but I was very close to my grandma, who lived until she was 84 years old. She was a lovely gentle lady, about 5ft 1inch tall, with a realy cute russian accent, and a girlie giggle. She came to Liverpool when she was 16 to visit relatives, but due to World War 1 starting very soon after, she was unable to go back, as all her relatives in Russia had been killed during the war. She couldn't speak english, so she learnt quickly, and taught herself to read english. She married and had 4 children, sadly she was widowed when her children were 2, 5, 7 and 9 years old. She raised them alone, with very little money, and did a fantastic job in doing so.

I remember she lived in a bed sit, on the first floor of a big house, for retired jewish people, with a shared bathroom. She was very easily pleased, and used to tell me that after she became a pensioner, she had never had so much money to spend !!! My mum, dad, our Phil and me, used to go and see her every monday evening, and every time she would give us Chelsea buns and tea. I also remember it was the only time we were allowed to watch Coronation St, as she used to watch it, but we weren't allowed to watch it at home !! I also remember being shocked that she used to get the "News of the World" newspaper every sunday, as she loved all the naughty and scaladous gossip !!! much to the discust of my dad !!!

She never talked about Russia, but she did teach me to say "I love you" in Russian which is "Ya vas loo bloo".

Anyway ......... the reason I'm telling you this, is that I realised that after seeing literally hundreds of churches in Russia, as a tribute to my grandma, it was about time I found a synagogue to visit !!!!
So I did my research, and hey presto, found that there was a big synagogue a bus ride away. So after asking my hostel hosts what bus to get, off I went.

I found it quite easily, the outside was quite impressive, and quite amazingly the inside looked exactly just like the one I used to attend as a child, in Fairfield Liverpool. Compared to the elabourate churches I had seen, this was plainer and far more conservative. It was however very beautiful, as you can see.

My last evening was spent with Katherine from the hostel, we went for a meal, and after going on a long goose chaise looking for a russian resturant that was recommended to me, we gave up after 30 mins of walking around, and settled on a fast food chinese !!!! however it was lovely 😊

So its time for me to say "bye bye" or "pukka" to Russia. I've had a fantastic time, seen some amazing sights, and met lots of people, some lovely and friendly, some miserable, rude and unhelpfull.

If anyone is thinking of going I would say ..... GO !!!!! but make sure you visit the countryside and not just St Petersburg and Moscow 😊

Where next ????????? I have no idea

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